Giving Compass' Take:

• Charter school advocates in New York are pushing for funding for school safety, but want to take money from the instructional budget since there is no pre-existing security funding set up for charter schools. 

• Would it be beneficial or potentially harmful to take money from other budgets in order to fund school safety measures? 

• Read about this potentially groundbreaking study that will focus on filling gaps in school safety. 

Charter school advocates are asking the City Council to revise a city law that funds security at non-public schools with more than 300 students. This minimum enrollment cap and the exclusion of charter schools, they charge, means many charter schools housed in private spaces have to pull funding for school security guards from their budgets that could otherwise be used in the classroom.

The push represents a new line of advocacy for the charter sector and touches on a national conversation about school safety. After devastating school shootings this year in Texas and Florida, New York’s lawmakers have been debating the best way to keep children safe in schools.

Now, the charter sector is adding its voice to the mix — arguing that school security funding is a critical tool that schools use to keep children safe. However, in the absence of security funds, charter schools remain committed to dipping into instructional budgets to hire school safety officers, said James Merriman, the CEO of the New York City Charter School Center.

Read the full article about how charter school advocates want funding for school safety by Monica Disare at Chalkbeat