In a dramatic turnaround from its previous strong support for charter schools, the Buffalo, N.Y., school board voted last week to impose a one-year moratorium on allowing more of the independently operated public schools.
The 5-4 vote in New York state’s second-largest school district was a victory for charter opponents, particularly the local affiliate of the National Education Association. Following the board’s unanimous endorsement last December of a plan to set up a network of district-authorized charter schools, the Buffalo Teachers Federation successfully pushed for the election last spring of a cadre of strong charter opponents to the board.
The turnover on the board led to an attempt to impose a moratorium of three years—rather than the one-year ban imposed on Oct. 27—but that bid was stymied last month when one board member abstained, resulting in a 4-4 split. (“Buffalo Board Rejects Charter Moratorium,” Oct. 6, 2004.)
Twelve charter schools currently operate in the 40,000-student district, enrolling some 4,700 students from the city. All but one of those schools obtained their charters from either the state board of regents or the state university system.
