Eight months after announcing his intention to audit charter schools, city Comptroller Scott Stringer on Thursday named the schools he’ll be scrutinizing — and they include the expanding Success Academy network.
“My office is going to make sure that taxpayer dollars are being used appropriately and that proper controls are in place to ensure that all young New Yorkers are getting the quality education they deserve,” said Stringer.
Success Academy founder Eva Moskowitz said she was “confident” her schools would pass muster but thought Stringer was wasting his time.
“We believe his energies would be better spent investigating the use of funds in the failing schools in which 143,000 New York City children are trapped,” she said.
Other charter leaders questioned Stringer’s authority over the privately operated public schools.
“Those matters are overseen by our state’s charter authorizers, which are recognized as among the nation’s best,” said New York City Charter Center CEO James Merriman.
Stringer will also examine the finances of Merrick Academy in Queens, Bedford Stuyvesant New Beginnings Charter School and South Bronx Charter for International Cultures and the Arts.
Stringer and Moskowitz have a history. He defeated her in a bruising seven-way Democratic primary for Manhattan borough president in 2005.