SUNY Posts Charter School Financial Statements For 2008-09

Back in April, I wrote a post about my efforts to get audited financial statements from the three authorizers that oversee charter schools in New York City: the NYC DOE, the State University of New York (SUNY) and the State Education Department (SED).  I noted that the DOE posted the statements on their website, while I had to use the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) to get the reports from SUNY and SED.

Things are looking better for the latest set of financials.  SUNY has created an excellent web page with the statements for all of the schools they have authorized.  (In general, SUNY’s charter school reporting is very good. I encourage people to check it out.)

I have been told that the DOE will update their website by mid-December. I had to FOIL SED once again to get the financials for their schools and they are looking into why the statements are not posted on their website.

SUNY writes on their website:

“Public funds must be spent appropriately and with ample transparency. Timely audits are an important part of this transparency.”

In my experience, most people from across the political spectrum agree with these statements. I hope we can unite to push for more timely, more comprehensible, and more comprehensive information.