Nearly two-thirds of New York voters support lifting the state's cap on charter schools, a move that would allow more campuses to open in New York City, according to a poll released by a new charter-school advocacy organization. The survey, conducted by HarrisX and SKDK for Great Public Schools New York, found that 64% of voters favor raising or eliminating the cap, while 22% oppose the change and 14% remain undecided, a margin of roughly 3-to-1 in favor statewide. Among suburban and upstate voters, 63% backed raising the cap compared with 19% who opposed it, based on a survey of 4,478 registered voters.

Charter schools are publicly funded but privately managed, and they typically run longer school days and school years than traditional public schools. Most charter educators are not unionized, whereas teachers in traditional public schools are represented by unions that wield significant influence in New York's heavily Democratic state and city governments. Authorized under state law in 1998, New York City now has 286 charter schools serving 152,000 students, about 15% of the city's public-school population, and many charter students outperform their peers on the state's standardized reading and math exams.S1S2

The expansion fight has a recent history. In 2023, Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Legislature agreed to allow only 14 additional charter schools to open in New York City, following a contentious battle with anti-charter teachers unions. The city has now reached its charter cap, so no further licenses can be issued unless Albany raises or removes the limit. Teachers unions and their legislative allies oppose expansion, arguing that charter schools divert money from traditional public education, and Mayor Zohran Mamdani opposed charter expansion during his campaign for City Hall last year.S1S2

Support for lifting the cap cuts across demographic and party lines. The poll found 72% of parents whose children attend traditional public schools favor raising the cap to give families more options, along with 69% of Black and Hispanic voters, 62% of white voters and 57% of Asian voters. By party, 59% of Democrats, 74% of Republicans and 62% of independents favored the policy. A broader question on expansion drew similar results, with 63% of New York City voters and 54% of voters elsewhere in the state supporting it.S1S2

Voters also weighed the value of choice itself. In New York City, 77% of respondents called having multiple public school options, including charter schools, extremely or very important, compared with 54% of voters in the suburbs and upstate. The poll additionally presented the statement that parents should be empowered to choose the best public school for their child, whether traditional or charter.S1S2