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There won’t be a deal to allow more charter schools in New York today, either, our sources on the train back from Albany report.

That leaves tomorrow and Friday for lawmakers to figure out a way to boost the state’s chances in the Race to the Top competition — without throwing away their concerns with charter schools. The final deadline for submitting an application is June 1, next Tuesday. Lawmakers have Monday off for Memorial Day.

As the deadline nears, a standoff is developing between the state Senate and the Assembly. Each chamber has passed its own legislation tied to Race to the Top: The state Senate already passed a bill that would raise the cap on charter schools to 460 from 200. And yesterday the Assembly passed legislation to build a new teacher evaluation system.

The Senate could easily sign on to the teacher evaluation legislation and make it law. But we’re hearing that some senators might not sign off so easily. The idea is to prevent Assembly members from taking an easy way out by passing a teacher evaluation bill, but no new charter school laws. Then the Assembly could say something like, “Well, we did at least one thing to help our state’s schools win the contest!” (more…)

New York State’s Senate is heading for a vote on a bill that would more than double the charter school cap today, but Albany observers said it’s unlikely the bill will make it through the Assembly unchanged.

Introduced last Friday by the Senate Rules Committee, which is chaired by Senator Malcolm Smith, the bill is part of the state’s second bid for $700 million in Race to the Top money. Sources in Albany said the Senate is likely to vote on the bill this afternoon — it’s being pushed by Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson and won the endorsement of Governor David Paterson — but the bill’s chances in the Assembly are considerably less certain.

Though Assemblyman Karim Camara introduced Sampson’s bill today, Assemblyman Alan Maisel said he doesn’t think the bill has enough support to reach the floor, especially because it doesn’t give the state comptroller the power to audit charter schools.

“I don’t think it will be going to the Assembly,” Maisel said. “People who are pushing this bill are making it sound like, ‘God, we need this money so badly.’ But you cannot use the money for the current budget deficit that we have.” (more…)

There’s another round of federal stimulus dollars that local school districts can hope for, but it may be out of reach for New York schools. That’s because the state has a law Secretary of Education Arne Duncan says could jeopardize applications for the funds: a cap on the number of charter schools educators are allowed to create.

Duncan told Congress last week that, in awarding a new pot of stimulus funds meant to encourage innovation, he will give preference to states without charter school caps. He said he would also give preference to states with caps that agree to lift them.

The pot includes $5 billion to be given through a competitive grant process known as the “Race to The Top.” Chancellor Joel Klein has indicated that he wants to apply for Race to the Top funds to expand innovations such as the citywide data system and the bonus program for schools whose students show improvement on test scores. (more…)