Kids who grow up in New York City don't expect suburban amenities like backyards, basement recreation rooms, and their own bedrooms, and they're used to thinking of shared parks and playgrounds as their own. When it comes to schools, the same mentality of sharing space often rules, although it seems the concept of sharing space is being stretched more than ever.

Today’s New York Times carried a piecehighlighting the difficulties existing public schools are having sharing space with a growing number of charter schools, at a time when public schools are also squeezed. Last week Insideschools wrote about parents angry over charter school expansion on the Lower East Side. Gotham Schools highlighted stories in the Downtown Express about overcrowded elementary schools and a principal's threat to leave for Westchester, while the New York Daily News reported that class sizes have grown.

My younger son’s excellent middle school, theClinton School for Artists & Writers, has been told it must move out of top few floors it has occupied on top ofPS 11in Chelsea since its inception. Sharing it seems, is no longer an option.<!--more-->

All the attention on crowding comes at a time when Mayor Michael Bloomberg hasembracedthe concept of privately run but publicly financed charter schools and wants New York City to lift the cap on charters. There is national context for this as well; U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has made removing barriers to charter schools a condition for any state that hopes to receive grants from the Race to the Top fund, competitive grants aimed at encouraging and rewarding states that promote education reform and innovation.

Many of New York City’s finest schools from kindergarten through high school do not have their own buildings, gyms, yards, or dedicated performing arts, and outdoor spaces. Some of these schools are among the most desirable and competitive. Clearly, though, sharing has its limits.

Insideschools would like to hear stories about sharing. What has worked in your child’s school? How can staff and children adjust and continue to focus on what is most important when they are constantly bumping up against the city’s real estate limitations—and now political realities? Is it fair to ask one school to move out, and what are the educational consequences? Can sharing work? How else can this problem be solved, beyond new construction and better planning?

And for those parents of 8th-graders now applying to high school, how has the issue of overcrowding—or schools sharing space—factored into your decision about where to apply?