A recent Buffalo News editorial addressed the impact of the state’s budget deficit on Buffalo Public Schools and specifically mentioned charter schools as an extra and unexpected cost to the district. This neglects the significantly greater savings and efficiency of charter schools.

There are currently about 8,000 students enrolled in Western New York charter schools (18 percent of public school students in Buffalo), and more than 2,000 are on wait lists. Charter schools are independent public schools that cannot charge tuition or specially select students. If they have more applicants than available seats, they must choose students in a random lottery.

As for other public schools, charter school students are counted in the total enrollment of their home district for state and federal funding purposes. State and federal funding for public school districts is a set dollar amount per pupil enrolled — so the Buffalo school system is given this dollar amount for every student in its district schools and in the charter schools. Buffalo then passes along only two-thirds of those state dollars to the charter schools, and none of the federal aid.

While the Buffalo School District gets substantial aid for building renovations and does not pay at all for use of the city buildings it uses, the charters must pay for their buildings with the two-thirds per-pupil dollars. Furthermore, charters receive state funding based on the district budget from two years prior, without adjustment for inflation. Because of the charter budget freeze, charter schools have been operating for two years frozen at two-thirds of the 2006-2007 Buffalo Public School budget. Because of a significant increase to that budget in 2008, inflation and cost of living increases, charter schools are operating at less than half the per-pupil funding given to the district from state and federal aid.

The funding disparities are astronomical, and Western New York charter schools (representing the same student populations) are consistently outperforming the district schools. It is not a coincidence that Buffalo is saturated with charter schools. Charters have expanded in response to parents who were dissatisfied with a system graduating about 50 percent of its students. If a charter school performed at that level, it would be shut down.

It seems unfortunate that conversations about creating good schools are consistently impeded by adult power politics fueled by misinformation. We should not think in terms of district schools versus charter schools; rather, conversations need to focus on what is working for our children and how success can be replicated and supported.

I am not in favor of charter schools; I am in favor of access to high quality school choices for all students. We must learn from what works in order to revitalize Buffalo. When will the different education sectors work together so that we do not fail the next generation of our city’s children?

Becca Bass is program manager for Buffalo ReformED.