Success Academy Charter Schools

The new mayoral administration in New York City brought a new stance on the practice of co-location, or the granting of free space to public charter schools in public schools buildings in New York City. Success Academy, which runs some of the highest-performing charter schools in the most high-needs areas throughout the five boroughs, relied on co-location in New York’s crushingly expensive real estate market. The threat to end to colocation, and the subsequent eviction of several Success Academy schools from public space threatened to remove access to a quality education from tens of thousands of New York students who would otherwise be forced to return to failing schools. ASA team members helped build a statewide coalition of charters school organizations and designed an advocacy plan to help identify a base of charter supporters in the Senate and Assembly. ASA and Success Academy, along with members of the charter coalition, worked with Governor Cuomo’s administration and both houses of the State Legislature to craft language that would require New York City to either provide public space or funding to secure suitable alternative private space.This language was enacted as part of the 2014-15 State Budget.