Now that the Assembly has agreed to raise the cap on charter schools, perpetual charter opponent Bill Perkins is singing a different tune! He said yesterday that "this bill makes important progress in providing independent auditing making charter schools more accountable [and improves New York's chances of obtaining federal aid] at a time when . . . our budget situation is worse than ever." But charter-school parent Karl Willingham says it's all an act, and that "It would've been political suicide for him to continue on the path he was on."
The negotiations also may not have gone that smoothly, and that the city even walked out of the talks on Thursday. A final draft of the bill was done around 10:30 p.m. on Thursday, but lawmakers worked out kinks in the language until 2 a.m. The Daily News also reports the shocking information that Assembly members fell asleep in their chairs or watched videos on the internet to pass the time. Still, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver announced that the bill was a huge step for the state, and he is "satisfied that we should get the maximum points for Race to the Top." So, what kind of furniture did they ask for?
