Niagara Falls City School District Superintendent Mark Laurrie says charter schools are out to make a buck and they’re leaving his students stranded.

“Trying to make money on the backs of kids is morally reprehensible,” said Laurrie. “Schools are not here to make money, they’re here to serve students.”  

Laurrie has been an educator in the Niagara Falls district since 1986. For nearly four decades, he has shepherded students through the halls of learning, making sure that they get what they need to lead healthy, productive lives. In 2016, he was named district superintendent, and he has used that role to make the district more responsive to the diverse needs of students.  

Charter schools, like the nearby Niagara Charter School, prioritize profits over pupils, and kick out any kids that lower their test scores, Laurrie said.  

“Usually around March, we start to see an influx of kids from charter schools, because state testing is coming up, and so they’re sending them back to us,” Laurrie said. “It’s my opinion that it is because they're trying to shape their test scores around sorting and selecting kids. I find that ability to dismiss kids without any sort of formal review or due process disgraceful.”  

Surprisingly, the money paid to charter schools does not come back with the students. Each year, the public school district is forced to pay about $4 million to the charter school, but those funds are not returned when they ship the students back, Laurrie said. The charter school is essentially charging full price for students they only educate for part of the year.  

That’s another significant financial setback for a district that has been historically shortchanged on state aid. The resulting budget shortfall is hitting the district hard.  

The funding shortage means the district can only offer one social worker for every 2,000 students and only eight guidance counselors districtwide, Laurie said. That isn’t enough staff for 7,000 kids. 

The district also had to cut its art and music programs, and now student transportation is in jeopardy. “Bus transportation has become a huge issue. We need 80 drivers; right now, we have 40.” The district added hiring incentives, but the posts remain unfilled. “We have a contract, but there's just not enough money in it. Even though the CPI went up almost 8 percent for the bus contract we have, it’s still not enough to get the positions filled.” As a result, many public school students can’t get a ride to school.  

Meanwhile, payments to the charter school are helping it guarantee bus transportation for its students. The irony of the situation is not lost on Laurrie.  

“It's my opinion that many of our parents are going there, not all, but many of them because they are guaranteed transportation,” he said. “They don't do anything different than our school district does, but they’re taking our money.”