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Success Academy CEO Eva Moskowitz, who runs New York City’s largest charter school network, wants to give up one of her schools.
Moskowitz has proposed turning over a school in the Bronx to her husband, Eric Grannis, who has long been involved in the charter sector.
The move was approved by the State University of New York, the charter’s authorizer, in October but has raised eyebrows among state officials, who questioned its legality.
With a strict cap on charter schools in New York City enshrined in state law, no new charters can be issued without action by lawmakers in Albany. Success submitted its proposal as a revision to an existing charter. But State Education Department staffers wrote in a January memo to the Board of Regents that such a move was a “circumvention of the cap.”
The Education Department recommended that the Board send the proposal back to SUNY without approving it.
At a public meeting Monday, the regents did just that. “I think the larger issue is that SUNY doesn’t have any accountability for this at all,” said member at large Brian Krist, of Manhattan. “This is a joke.”
The regents’ vote may be symbolic, however. The proposal will now go back to the SUNY Board of Trustees, who do not need regents’ approval to move forward. SUNY can send the transfer proposal back unchanged and, short of legal action, it will happen.
Under the proposal, Success Academy, which runs 59 schools in New York City, would transfer an elementary school in Mott Haven to a new entity called Strive Charter Network. Grannis, who has founded and sat on the boards of several charter schools as well as running a charter school incubator, would be the founding executive director.
Moskowitz is a fierce advocate for expanding the charter sector, often pointing to demand at her own schools. But enrollment at several charter networks, including Success Academy, has fallen in recent years, which may give the network room to transfer a charter without diminishing its own headcount. Moskowitz has also eyed expansions elsewhere and begun laying the groundwork to open schools in Florida.
Strive would receive a newly renovated school building and have access to Success Academy curriculum “at minimal ongoing costs,” according to a description of the school that Grannis circulated among charter supporters.
Both Grannis and Success Academy declined to comment on the record, referring Chalkbeat to SUNY.
Strive’s new model would add before-school, after-school, weekend, and summer programs that would result in the school being open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week, all year round. The extra hours would be optional for students but could represent a major draw for families that need child care beyond the traditional school day.
More than half of the staff would consist of teaching assistants, including college students and community members, who would assist with reading, tutoring, and math support, and be able to enroll their own kids at the school. Strive also plans to use “AI tools to streamline operations, cut administrative costs, and eliminate much of the mid-level bureaucracy common in schools,” according to the description Grannis circulated.
The SUNY Trustees voted to approve the charter revision on Oct. 15. Combining Success Academy’s “highly effective academic program with an extended-day, year-round model” is “the type of innovation that SUNY seeks to cultivate,” wrote Mike Lesczinski, director of strategy and communications at the SUNY Charter School Institute, in an email to Chalkbeat.
In response to the Board of Regents decision, Lesczinski wrote, “We are aware of the Board of Regents’ action. SUNY will review it and consider the appropriate next steps.”
The New York City Charter School Center, an advocacy organization, defended Success Academy’s effort to hand off one of its schools.
The move “is entirely consistent with state law, and the Board of Regents should approve it,” James Merriman, the organization’s CEO, wrote in a statement.
“If we didn’t have nonsensical rules and caps preventing high-quality charter schools from opening and serving children,” he added, “we wouldn’t be wasting precious time with fights over technicalities that distract from the major issues impacting NYC students and families.”
Abigail Kramer is a reporter in New York City. Contact Abigail at akramer@chalkbeat.org
Alex Zimmerman is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Alex at azimmerman@chalkbeat.org.
