Charter school CEO says 'system failing' as nearly half of New York 3-8 graders not proficient in English

"The children are fine. It is the system that is failing to deliver with incredible consequences," Eva Moskowitz said in an interview with Fox News Digital.

When asked what she meant by saying "the system is failing," Moskowitz told Fox News Digital that it's "complex," involving "politicians, unions and bureaucracies."

"These failing schools go on year after year after year, and the way it works in most urban areas or rural areas, for that matter, people are zoned for schools. And if you live on this side of the tracks, you are zoned for one set of schools, and if you live somewhere else, you have access to better schools," Moskowitz said.

Most states restrict parents to schools within their ZIP code or the school district that presides over their residential area, but charter schools allow parents the option to send their kids to a different school.

"We all know that parents move - real estate is very connected to the quality of schools. And so parents who can afford to often move to affluent suburbs in order to escape the bad schools. But people without resources can't do that, and that's why the charter movement is so important, because it finally gives what affluent parents already have: it gives parents a choice, which is so powerful," Moskowitz told Fox News Digital.

Founded in 2006, Success Academy is the fourth-largest school district in the Empire State. Although Success Academy is a network of charter schools, they consider themselves a "school district" because they serve over 20,000 students and provide district level services.

The charter school network serves an enrollment of 22,000 students that are primarily low-income Black and Hispanic.