Charter Schools Face Opposition to Plan for Special Needs Children - SchoolBook In the news this Tuesday morning: Charter schools are under increasing pressure to admit and provide more services for children with special needs. This spring, they have been asking the Legislature for the authority to form coalitions, so they can pool resources that will help them fulfill their mandate. The bill seemed to be cruising along, but Gotham Schools reports that the state teachers" union has thrown up a roadblock. As Geoff Decker reports, New York State United Teachers, known as NYSUT, "circulated a memo urging lawmakers to reject the bill. The memo lauded the bill's sponsors and acknowledged charter schools" challenges in serving special needs student populations. But it also warned that the bill could result in "a huge expansion of charter schools" and create an arrangement in which charter schools "segregate all of their students with disabilities to one site."" Charter school advocates say that just isn't so, the article notes: Groups that advocate for charter schools in the city and across the state charged that the union "misunderstands and misrepresents" the bill in a memo of their own. "This bill provides no new resources for charter schools and creates no new space under the cap," reads the memo, which was distributed by New York Charter Schools Association and the New York City Charter School Center. It simply provides a new, voluntary tool for charter schools to serve more students with a wider variety of special needs. We are troubled that NYSUT would oppose such an outcome. The memo adds, "The bill merely allows charter schools to do what school districts across New York State do now: gather students with similar needs to provide specialized program." New York City is moving away from this model and instead is requiring all schools to accommodate the students who enroll, regardless of their needs. NYCSA President Bill Phillips said he thought NYSUT's opposition was more pragmatic than ideological. "Obviously, they don't want more children to go to charters because a portion of the funding follows the child, and that's a NYSUT membership problem," he said. Also in the news on Tuesday, the city is not ceding any ground to the United Federation of Teachers - and vice versa - on the issue of whether the full authority to remove teachers accused of sexual misconduct should go to the chancellor. Like a Ping-Pong match, the mayor or chancellor takes a swat at the ball, which is then furiously returned by Michael Mulgrew, the union's president. Monday was Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's turn. As The Daily News reports: Mayor Bloomberg lashed out at the teachers union Monday, accusing it of protecting teachers who "admit to preying on kids." Bloomberg also blasted United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew's request for a City Council hearing on the Education Department's hiring practices, calling it a "a new height of irresponsibility." But Mr. Mulgrew did not miss his turn: "Our mayor has a problem dealing with facts as he has demonstrated over and over," he said, noting current rules allow the city to remove accused teachers immediately from the classroom and require that anyone found guilty of sexual misconduct be fired. And the State Legislature, in the closing days of its session, passed a bill Monday against cyberbullying. According to 18 WETM in Elmira-Corning, N.Y., state officials said "the legislation clarifies and expands the Dignity for All Students Act, an anti-cyberbullying law enacted in 2010 and creates guidelines for local school districts to develop policies and procedures to address the problem." The news was greeted warmly in New York City, where Speaker Christine C. Quinn and Councilman Robert Jackson, chairman of the Education Committee, released a joint statement, which said in part: We're thrilled the amendment to the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) has passed both the State Assembly and Senate and that cyberbullying will be defined and included in New York State's first anti-bullying legislation. Cyberbullying is a real and serious form of harassment to which too many New York City students have fallen victim, as was discussed at last summer's City Council Cyberbullying Summit. Today's passage of the amendment is an important day for students throughout the city, state and country and an iconic step toward combating this heinous trend. On Tuesday, at 11 a.m., Chancellor Dennis M. Walcott will be in the Bronx speaking at the graduation ceremony at P.S. 176, a special education school of nearly 700 students. Congratulations to all.