Democrat Could Aid Charter School Push

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The state senator poised to take over the Democratic leadership in his house could add momentum to the statewide push for additional charter schools.

Senator Malcolm Smith, the founder of two charter schools in his Queens district, has joined Republicans to champion a lifting of the current charter school cap, which now stands at 100.

Top senate Democrats, union leaders, and other prominent elected officials from the party are scheduled to endorse Mr. Smith as the new minority leader this morning at City Hall.

While some say he is cut from the same political cloth as the outgoing Democratic minority leader, David Patterson, who is running for lieutenant governor, the party chose Mr. Smith over Senator Eric Schneiderman, who is considered more liberal.

Charter school advocates viewed Mr. Smith’s ascension as a harbinger of political change.

“I think it signals a shift in the Democratic Party, that it is no longer monolithically, knee-jerk supportive of the teachers union,” the president of the Foundation for Education Reform and Accountability, Thomas Carroll, said. Mr. Carroll said Mr. Smith and with the leading candidate for governor, Eliot Spitzer, could put pressure on the speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver, who has resisted on the charter school issue.

Democrats and Republicans alike acknowledge that Mr. Smith is more conservative than many members of his party’s caucus — not just on charter schools, but on social issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion. Also, he has supported Republicans running for elective office.

“Make no doubt about it, he continues to have a conservative philosophy,” state Senator Martin Golden, a Republican, said. “We feel and I feel that it’s a breath of fresh air to see a Democrat coming there not following a philosophical divide.”

The head of Naral Pro-Choice New York, Kelli Conlin, was quoted in the Daily News last month expressing concern about Mr. Smith’s position on abortion. She said it would “put a chill” on the relationship with senate Democrats to have a leader who wasn’t “pro-choice.”

Mr. Smith has said he has “always been pro-choice,” but he voted for a ban on late-term abortion a few years ago.

His position on same-sex marriage is unclear. The Empire State Pride Agenda, the largest gay rights lobby in the state, gave him a ranking of “3” out of “5” on a scorecard it issued last month.

That ranking means that his position on the issue is unknown. Mr. Patterson, by comparison, was given a “1,” meaning he is publicly in support of samesex marriage.

While the position of minority leader has historically been seen as one of the least powerful in the Legislature, some say it will gain prominence this year if the Democrats narrow the gap of seats they hold.

A political consultant, Hank Sheinkopf, called Mr. Smith “pragmatic” and said he would bring “good centrist Democratic think” to the Republican-controlled Senate.

“He may be perceived as conservative on some issues, but so is General Spitzer,” Mr. Sheinkopf said, referring to the leading candidate for governor, Eliot Spitzer.

“He is not a doctrinaire Democrat,” he said of Mr. Smith. “But Hillary Clinton isn’t a doctrinaire Democrat, nor is Chuck Schumer, so he is consistent with the mold and the kind of people that are being elected in and going into leadership positions in New York State.”

Mr. Smith did not have the support of the powerful labor union Local 1199 when gunning for the leadership position. But that union and others will be out supporting him today. And, he has had the support of the Mr. Spitzer from the outset.

The president of the United Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, whose union runs a charter school but favors the cap, said in a statement yesterday: “He’ll be a good leader and we look forward to working with him.”

Telephone messages left for Mr. Smith’s office were returned by a spokesman for the senate’s Democratic conference, Kyle Kotary, who said that the caucus was fully behind the Queens’ legislator. “We have members with varying positions on different issues who have all given Senator Smith not only their vote, but have also entrusted him to lead a diverse but united conference, particularly when it comes to reforming state government and winning the senate majority,” Mr. Kotary said. Mr. Smith, who served as an aide to Rep. Floyd Flake and was a real estate developer, also has backing from business leaders, including the head of the Partnership for New York City, Kathryn Wylde.


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