When the Commissioner goes "Let's Make a Deal" on charter expansion

At the beginning of yesterday's Board of Ed meeting, Commissioner Riley announced a deal that the mayor of New Bedford and the leadership of Alma del Mar Charter School had agreed to around Alma's charter expansion. The school had applied for over 1000 seats in expansion, something naturally opposed by the city. Instead, Riley announced, the school would get over 400 seats, a building that the New Bedford Public Schools have closed, and be assigned an enrollment zone, much as the New Bedford schools have.
I tweeted this out earlier, but I want to be sure it's up and out there: the deal was hailed as Solomonic, but Solomon didn't actually cut the baby in half. As Chair Sagan pointed out last night, the option remains with the Commissioner to move forward with recommending the full more than 1000 seats. He also has a markedly pro-charter board who one assumes would support such a move. It is thus crucial to note that this "deal" wasn't made with everyone at the table having the same agency; the city and school district have this implicit threat hanging over them. It need not be made explicit, as everyone knows how this works.
The charter school gets half the seats they asked for, for now--nothing prevents them from later expansion--a building, and the support of at least some of New Bedford's leadership. The district gets...a pat on the back? And a charter school having assigned pupils, who may or may not wish to attend; I know I would be dubious as a parent, having no local recourse if I had issues with my child's school.
Obviously, I can't and don't speak for New Bedford, but I am also (as one who also lives in an urban district) dubious about mayors cutting deals on behalf of the school system (chair or not). Superintendents and school committees should be those at the table.
The Commissioner also floated the availability of targeted assistance grants for this work: that isn't how those are supposed to work. Any district seeking those should question how those decisions are now being made, if they're instead being handed out in advance.
Let's also recognize that this entirely ignores the underlying issues: of local democratic governance, of local spending decisions (which New Bedford loses, incidentally), of true public education.