Eleanor Bartlett resigned her position on the education-policy setting board to join New Covenant. Inc. That amendment is currently pending before the Regents. New Covenant opened under a strict probation plan put in place by the Institute. The three new schools were chosen, with 14 other schools, from more than 90 applications received in 1999 by the Charter Schools Institute. The schools survived one of the nation s most rigorous and thorough review processes, involving detailed review by the Institute, the University Trustees as well as the State Education Department and the Board of Regents.
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.