By Heather Grossmann
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Gov. David Paterson and legislative leaders came to an agreement Friday afternoon to raise the cap on charter schools, making the state eligible for $700 million in federal education money from President Obama's "Race to the Top" program.
The nation-wide program was designed to give states an incentive to make education reforms, but in order to qualify for the funds, New York had to raise or remove the 200-charter school cap by Tuesday's application deadline.
The governor's office said that no decision had been made on whether the cap would be raised or eliminated entirely.
Last week Gov. David Paterson submitted a bill that would eliminate the current cap limiting the number of city charter schools to 200, but the legislature was slow to move on the legislation.
Brooklyn's State Senator John Sampson attended Friday's meeting with Paterson, and pledged beforehand to do whatever was necessary to get the federal funds for New York.
"For the sake of our children, we must not risk the opportunity to compete for, and win, round one funds," the governor said in a statement earlier in the week.
"The money received will benefit all of our children, not just those who attend charter schools."
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said he wants to eliminate the restriction on charter schools entirely, while other local politicians — including Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and several City Council members — are in favor of at least raising the cap.
But the measure has encountered staunch opposition from critics who fear that the addition of new charter schools will displace existing public school students from already-crowded classrooms. The Department of Education is currently slated to close dozens of schools they say are failing and replace some of them with charter schools.
A coalition of opponents is going to court Friday to fight for the right to protest the issue outside the mayor's Upper East Side home.
