Nationally, there are more than 350,000 students being educated in about 1,700 public charter schools. Central New York Charter School for Math and Science and South Buffalo Charter School were chosen with 12 other schools out of 90 applications received last Fall by the University s Charter Schools Institute. The new schools survived one of the nation s most rigorous and thorough review processes, involving detailed review by the Institute, the State University Trustees as well as the State Education Department and the Board of Regents. Two new public charter schools Bronx Preparatory Charter School in the South Bronx and King Center Charter School in East Buffalo opened August 16, a full three weeks earlier than virtually every other public school in New York State. Bronx Prep and King Center were also authorized by the State University Trustees.
Charter schools are public schools that are publicly funded and independent of school districts.
In exchange for flexibility from many state rules, they are held to a higher level of accountability and operate under five-year licenses granted by the State University of New York and the Board of Regents.