On Day 1, Steiner offers support for a cap on charters

On his first day as Commissioner of the New York State Education Department, David Steiner voiced support for holding onto the state’s charter cap.

“We are many many schools short of the cap,” the newly-minted Commissioner Steiner said after taking his oath of office today. “A cap is a way of saying let’s not just go mindlessly into the future. Let’s be thoughtful about this. Let’s ask ourselves every time whether this is the right decision about the right school in the right place.”

You can listen to the entirety of Steiner’s speech and Q&A here.

At present, there are two caps placed on the Board of Regents and SUNY, preventing them from opening more than a total of 200 charter schools. During a campaign speech yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg called for eliminating the charter ceiling, which many charter advocates predict the state will reach within the next year.