“It has recently come to my attention that a newly established organization is attempting to locate a charter school within the Wyandanch Union Free School District. Let me be as clear as I can possibly be: I categorically oppose any attempt to establish a charter school here in Wyandanch or in any of its surrounding communities. Supporting our public schools is the most important investment we can make, and we have made too much progress with the Wyandanch School District to turn back now and allow an outside party to divert critical public funds away from one of the most financially distressed school districts in the entire State of New York.

“Make no mistake, Wyandanch has long been plagued by issues of underfunding and financial mismanagement, and this has hurt our schoolchildren the most. This is why my state colleagues and I worked tirelessly to pass and enact legislation authorizing the appointment of a state fiscal monitor to oversee the Wyandanch School District for the next five years. We also took action to authorize Wyandanch’s use of deficit financing as a means to pay down its immediate debt and be better positioned to issue bonds for critical expenses in the future. Since the recent appointment of Mr. Albert Chase as state fiscal monitor for the Wyandanch School District, the Wyandanch community overwhelmingly passed a fiscally sound, equitable budget for the 2020-21 school year and elected two new members to the Wyandanch School Board of Trustees. Moreover, I am confident in the leadership abilities of Wyandanch Superintendent Dr. Gina Talbert and her staff to work in conjunction with the state fiscal monitor to continue moving Wyandanch forward.

“What is even more troubling about this group — which goes by the name of “Proposed Long Island Career Charter School” — is that they have yet to reach out to any of the three elected New York State representatives whose districts include the Wyandanch School District. According to their Facebook page, this organization has engaged with local County and Town officials, and they have even announced some exciting future collaborations with local businesses, but I find it peculiar that an organization seeking to establish a state-authorized charter school would not want to engage with any of the three state officials representing Wyandanch who play an active role in education policy, public school funding and oversight of the State Education Department.

“We have a long way to go, but we are making tremendous progress here in Wyandanch because this community spoke out and demanded its elected officials take action, and that is exactly what we did. I can think of no worse time than the present to allow a profit-driven entity with no real roots in the community to inject itself and jeopardize all of the positive developments we have made.

“I look forward to continuing to work in partnership with my elected New York State colleagues as well as the Wyandanch School District to make sure our schoolchildren receive all of the educational resources they need to succeed.”