State Board Approves 17 New NYC Charter Schools

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) - A charter school panel has approved 17 new charter schools for New York City including 14 new Success Academy schools.

Wednesday's action by a committee of the State University of New York's board of trustees will allow the Success Academy chain to grow to 50 schools by 2016.

The committee also approved three new Achievement First charter schools.

Eva Moskowitz, the founder and CEO of the Success Academy chain, said in a statement that she looks forward to working with the city Department of Education to identify appropriate locations for the new schools.

Moskowitz opened the first Success Academy in Harlem in 2006.

The schools have been lauded for high test scores but critics have complained that they drain resources from traditional public schools that share space with them.

Last Thursday, thousands of charter school parents, students and supporters gathered in Foley Square in a sea of red to send a message to Mayor de Blasio that they are seeing red over the poor quality of New York City public schools.

Nearly 21,000 people attended the demonstration in downtown Manhattan, just blocks from City Hall.

Success Academy schools started classes late so children could attend the rally.

You Might Also Be Interested In:

(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)