LI educrats drive parents to charters, then punish them for wanting good schools

Facing a $34 million budget shortfall, the leaders of the Hempstead school district are blaming ..

.those eeeeeeeevil charter schools and the diabolical parents who (gasp!) want a decent education for their kids. Seriously: Charters have attracted nearly half the district’s families, so of course that leaves it needing to shrink its regular public-school spending.Indeed, the real scandal here is that it’s only now feeling the squeeze — yet another giveaway that New York insanely over-funds its regular public-school systems.Let’s get one thing straight: When families flee traditional public schools for charters and take state dollars with them, they’re not the ones guilty of anything. It’s the schools’ fault — the administrators and educrats and in many cases teachers share the blame. Look at Hempstead: Within the past decade, its schools were failing kids utterly, with a wretched below-60% high school graduation rate.That’s what drove families out (4,000 out of about 10,000 district kids attend charters there), and is plainly a huge reason why Hempstead has the most charters in the Empire State (outside NYC). If bad schools then face closure, that’s good.Yet the state’s been keeping Hempstead’s failure factories afloat: The district expects almost $250 million in state funds next year, up $83 million from four years ago, and has a $60 million reserve fund. And still these jokers whinge, “It’s not enoouuuuuugh!”The initial legislative response to this problem shows the same perverse set of priorities: State Sen.

Siela Bynoe wants to ban new charters within five miles of the Hempstead, Roosevelt and Uniondale school districts.That’s right: Protect teachers and schools from the consequences of failing the students and families depending on them, by denying the parents and kids more choice. Thing is, New York’s public schools don’t exist to furnish teachers and staff with plum salaries and great benefits and ironclad pensions....