Money for charter schools balloons during Mayor Bloomberg's tenure

Charter schools received billions of dollars during Mayor Bloomberg’s tenure — while teachers, school aides, principals and classrooms got a smaller share of a substantially larger school budget pie, according to documents obtained by the Daily News.

Money for charter schools exploded from about $32 million to about $659 million over a decade as Bloomberg increased their number from 17 when he took office in 2002 to 125 in 2010-11, the most recent year for which spending data are available.

Funding for charter schools is set by the state.

Now there are a whopping 159 charter schools in the city — and two dozen more will open in the fall. More than 100,000 students — about 10% of all city students — are expected to be enrolled when all of the schools reach capacity.

“This administration’s unprecedented investment in education created stability and coherence in a broken system,” said Andrew Buher, chief operating officer for the city Education Department.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/charter-school-funding-balloons-article-1.1398190