An advocacy group for charter schools is supporting a lawsuit against the state, arguing charter schools are getting short-changed.
Kyle Rosenkrans is interim president of the group Northeast Charter Schools Network.
He says the suit was filed by four families in Buffalo and one family in Rochester, but is on behalf of 107-thousand charter school children and another 50-thousand children on waiting lists.
He says if you are a student in Rochester charter school, you'll receive less than 75 percent of the funding that students in traditional public schools receive.
Compounding the problem is the fact charter schools don't receive funding for buildings, according to Rosenkrans.
The lawsuit states “For all but the most privileged families, Buffalo and Rochester are educational deserts that starve our most vulnerable children of all meaningful access to the American dream.,
It goes on to say “In these cities, a ‘sound basic education’ is in short supply, and public charter schools offer a glimmer of hope for many families, but the ability of these charter schools to meet this profound need is stymied by an unconstitutional funding scheme.”
The suit, filed in State Supreme Court in Erie County, names the state, the governor, the legislature, its budget office, the Board of Regents and education commissioner.
There was no immediate response from the Governor's Office.