Charter CEO: Fariña has 'obligation' to release data after push-out claims

New York City Charter School Center CEO James Merriman is challenging Chancellor Carmen Fariña to prove that some charter schools have illicit enrollment practices, after she claimed schools were bending the rules on Thursday.

After Fariña suggested that some charter schools were pushing kids out ahead of state tests and selectively recruiting high-performing students, Merriman fired back with a 400-word statement that called on the chancellor to use her authority to investigate her suspicions. Merriman said that the center had “no evidence” that charters counseled out students before testing.

“The NYC DOE has access to enrollment and discharge data and now has an obligation to release such data not just for every charter school but for every district school as well,” he said. “I call on the Chancellor to instruct the DOE to do so promptly.”

“To do anything else is to smear an entire group of public schools and their teachers and leaders who work very hard every day to educate children in this city,” he said, adding that corrective action should be taken in schools where there is evidence of improper discharging of students.

The response was unusually forceful, given that Fariña has cultivated a cordial relationship with many charter schools even as Mayor Bill de Blasio has more frequently clashed with the charter sector.

A spokeswoman for Fariña emailed Thursday night to temper the chancellor’s remarks, which came during a brief talk with reporters.

“The Chancellor believes schools should share best practices, serve English Language Learners and students with disabilities—and together, we will move our City forward,” said the spokeswoman, Devora Kaye. “As she stated in her remarks, Chancellor Fariña sits on the NYC Charter School Center Board and is committed to working closely with all stakeholders who are invested in improving student outcomes.”

Kaye did not say if Fariña would authorize the release of student discharge data that Merriman called for.

Fariña, a voting board member of Merriman’s organization, has visited many charter schools — focusing on those serving large shares of high-needs students — and brought a few into her signature initiative, the Learning Partners Program.

Merriman called her a “valued member of the board for whose services I and the other board members are very grateful.”

“We stand ready to work with the Chancellor, for whom I have nothing but the utmost respect, to ensure that we not only have the highest-quality charter sector but also the most responsible,” he added. “This work will be made easier if we have this conversation based strictly on data available to all and not on anecdotes or generalized characterizations.”

In his response, Merriman also took issue with Fariña’s suggestion that some charter schools recruit students based on academic achievement, a practice that would be against state charter law. Fariña said charters should fill open seats with more than “just kids who get postcards because they’re level 3s or 4s to come to the school.”

“If there is evidence that the Chancellor is relying on in making this claim, she should immediately release it so that appropriate corrective measures may be taken,” Merriman said.

Merriman acknowledged that charter schools should enroll more students with disabilities and English language learners, a disparity that Fariña also highlighted. But he said the chancellor should also call attention to “far more troubling and gaping inequalities among the schools she oversees,” referring to screened district schools that select students based on factors like test scores and attendance.

Merriman’s full statement is below:

“This morning, Chancellor Fariña made some very serious allegations about the charter school sector and  they require a detailed response. “First, we have seen no evidence that charter schools are counseling children out prior to test time as she has suggested is a not uncommon practice. The NYC DOE has access to enrollment and discharge data and now has an obligation to release such data not just for every charter school but for every district school as well. I call on the Chancellor to instruct the DOE to do so promptly.  To do anything else is to smear an entire group of public schools and their teachers and leaders who work very hard every day to educate children in this city.  Where the data shows such a pattern for any school, corrective action should be instituted immediately. “Second, the Chancellor also seems to have alleged that at least some charter schools, all of which enroll their students via random lottery, are selecting students based on test scores. We have seen no evidence of this, either at the beginning of the year or anytime thereafter. While selecting students based on their academic achievement is a wide-spread practice throughout the district, charter schools cannot do so.  If there is evidence that the Chancellor is relying on in making this claim, she should immediately release it so that appropriate corrective measures may be taken. “Third, Chancellor Fariña rightly called on charter schools to enroll more students receiving special education services and English Language Learners.  The NYC Charter School Center, together with many charter school leaders, has made access to charter schools for these children a priority; and there is more work for us to do.  However, in calling out charter schools, Chancellor Fariña inexplicably ignores far more troubling and gaping inequalities among the schools she oversees.  We and many others have documented the startling differences among district schools that are in close geographic proximity, not only in the numbers of students receiving special education services and who are English Language Learners, but also even more perniciously by race and class. “We stand ready to work with the Chancellor, for whom I have nothing but the utmost respect, to ensure that we not only have the highest-quality charter sector but also the most responsible.  This work will be made easier if we have this conversation based strictly on data available to all and not on anecdotes or generalized characterizations.”