The majority leader of New York’s state Senate, Joseph Bruno, yesterday said lifting the state’s cap on the number of charter schools won’t get done as part of the state budget. Meanwhile, in Harlem tonight, a lottery will be held in which at least 440 students have applied for 155 spots in the new Harlem Success Charter School run by the former chairwoman of the City Council’s education committee, Eva Moskowitz.

As a press release from the Harlem Success Charter School points out, those numbers guarantee hundreds of disappointed parents who see in charter schools an alternative to the standard-issue government-run school system that, despite increased spending and modest improvements under the management of Mayor Bloomberg, is still not working for many children.

Senator Bruno held out hope that the 100-school limit on charters in New York State will be lifted eventually. But the limit has been reached. And for parents seeking a spot in a charter school, Albany can’t act soon enough. Even the teacher’s union has embraced the charter school movement, opening its own school in Brooklyn. What is Albany waiting for?