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"PUBLIC" CHARTER SCHOOLS

Q & A: Expanded Talking Points

1. Are charter schools really public? 

Washington’s constitution requires the state to provide a general and uniform system of public schools.  It further requires all funds in the common school fund to be distributed to the common schools.  I-729 creates a new category of public school.  The only thing “public” about I-729 charter schools is your public money.  While “operating independently of locally elected school boards free from all state statutes and rules applicable to school districts and boards except as provided in the initiative” – they receive regular student apportionment, categorical and non-basic education funds, levy funds approved after the effective date of a charter and, if eligible, state matching funds for construction.  These dollars would go to the school district in which the students were enrolled.

2. Are charter schools really open to all students? 

Even though the initiative claims that the schools are open to all students, charter schools place caps on their enrollment and have specific requirements for students and parents.  The UCLA study of California schools (http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/docs/charter.PDF) found that charter schools exercise considerable control over the type of students they serve.  Good (University of Arizona) and Braden (http://www.edweek.org/ew/ew_printstory.cfm?slug=27good.h19)  found that, although there are some notable exceptions, charter schools have generally not accommodated special-needs students, and many schools operate in violation of federal law.

3. Are charter schools really “innovative”? 

While proponents claim that these schools will spur innovation and learning, there is no evidence to support this claim.  (See Lessons from Other States).  A study conducted by UCLA last year found that no mechanisms are in place for charter schools and public schools to learn from each other and furthermore there is no evidence that charter schools can do more with less or that public schools are changing because “innovative” charter programs are forcing them to do so.  Research done by Western Michigan University (http://www.wmich.edu/evalctr/charter/reports/wmu_finalrpt.pdf) characterizes many charters as “cookie cutter” schools run with pre-packaged programs by administrators and boards ill-equipped to run a school.

4. Which laws and regulations will charter schools not have to follow? 

The initiative states that charter schools will be exempt from all state and local rules except those relating to state and federal health, safety and civil rights; state required tests; hiring of teachers; record checks; financial and audit requirements; annual performance and progress reports; and the open public meetings act.

 

The initiative does not identify exempted laws and rules which is problematic.  One problem is that state laws cannot be amended by reference and, therefore, the sponsors of the initiative needed to identify each law or rule that will be waived.  Another problem is that the statutes established by the legislature have been enacted to protect students, parents, employees and taxpayers.  Which laws will be waived? … those that apply to student’s attendance, suspension and expulsion? An employee’s rights relating to dismissal?   A parent’s right to examine curricula and exempt students from objectionable materials? A taxpayer’s right to know and review programs and materials funded with their dollars?  If these and other laws are not necessary, why not remove them from all schools currently operating under the direction and accountability of elected school boards?

While the proponents of I-729 claim that schools need to be free of bureaucratic red tape, this initiative does not remove even one law or rule from the common school manual.  In fact, it adds another whole chapter to the laws for public school districts – increasing school board and the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction duties – relating to charter applications, modifications, renewals, revocations, and funding.

5. Will this initiative increase the cost of K-12 education to the taxpayers? 

The Office of Financial Management projects that the state will be paying up to $18M more to cover the costs of students currently enrolled in private schools or home-based instruction who change over to charter schools.  This is an extremely conservative estimate.  There is nothing in the initiative to prevent private non-sectarian schools from “converting” to a charter school.  Forty to forty-five percent of the students in Philadelphia and St. Louis’ charter schools are from private schools (http://www.phillynews.com/content/inquirer/2000/05/02/city/charter02.htm).  Additional costs to taxpayers in I-729 include the “Charter School Assistance Account” providing $250 per student for start-up costs.  Let’s see . . . if each of the 80 charter schools only enrolled 100 students each  – that would add another $2M to the charter initiative price tag.  And this is just the beginning, for our state.  Six hundred million taxpayer dollars have gone to charter schools in Arizona since 1994. (http://www.edweek.org/ew/ew_printstory.cfm?slug=27good.h19)

6. How can someone make money on a charter school, if they have to be non-profit? 

The “applicant” charter school board must be a nonprofit corporation.  However, the initiative specifically allows these boards to contract with any public or private entity … for any and all real property, equipment, goods, supplies, and services including educational instructional services.

Companies like Edison Schools Inc. sell pre-packaged programs to charter schools.  70% of the 170 charter schools in Michigan (http://www.wmich.edu/evalctr/charter/reports/wmu_finalrpt.pdf) have some type of for-profit management.  The Maryland State School Board turned over three of its lowest performing schools to Edison Schools Inc. in the spring. The Edison company estimates its revenue from the state of Maryland will be $50 million over the next five years. http://www.edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=29balt.h19

7. So – are students achieving more in charter schools? 

There have been individual instances of success which have been highly publicized and generalized to all charter schools.  Unfortunately, this claim does not hold true for the vast majority of charter schools.  In many instances, the charter school data simply are not available to make a valid comparison between these schools and their public school counterparts.  The most recent and thorough research and data show that “Student achievement in charter schools has not been positively enhanced when compared with other public schools.”  Thomas L. Good and Jennifer S. Braden, University of Arizona 2000. (http://www.edweek.org/ew/ew_printstory.cfm?slug=27good.h19)

 “In most instances, California’s charter schools are not being held accountable for enhanced academic achievement of their students." Amy Stuart Wells, UCLA 1999 http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/docs/charter.PDF.  “State auditors in Florida say it is difficult to judge the success of the experimental charter schools.  When results are available they often are mediocre or no better than those of public schools.”  St. Petersburg Times 2/9/2000 (http://www.sptimes.com/News/020900/State/Charter_schools__Qual.shtml)  “The median passing rate on the state test in Texas for 133 charter schools was 39 percent.  That compares to an overall passing rate of 80 percent for all public school students.”  Terence Stutz, The Dallas Morning News 7/29/2000 (http://www.wasa-oly.org/governme/charter/media/stutz1.htm).

8. Haven’t we already said NO! to charter schools in Washington? 

Jim Spady sponsored Initiative 177-Charter Schools in 1996.  The initiative was resoundingly defeated by over 2/3’s of the voters in this state and could not garner more than 40% approval in any county in the state.  Each year since then, Mr. Spady has come back to the legislature pleading with them to pass a charter school bill.  These attempts have also met with defeat. The most progress ever made was two years ago when one bill passed the House.  Last year, the Charter School bill did not pass either the House or the Senate.

Each time a new bill comes forth, the proponents change the language, add more requirements to the charters, limit the number of charters . . . whatever it takes to get any charter law passed, so they can get their foot in the door.

Initiative I-729 is sponsored by Jim Spady and the initiative campaign has been financed with $2.7 million of billionaire Paul Allen’s money.  Mr. Allen is on the Board and has investments in Edison Schools Inc., a for-profit corporation that sells and manages prepackaged educational programs to charter schools.  The proponents themselves will tell you that the bottom line for this initiative is the same as it was back in 1996 – give taxpayer dollars to schools that are run independently of local school boards.

9. Who is opposing the charter school initiative? 

Those of us who work with our public schools and communities serving over one million students oppose I-729.  Citizens, parents, classified employees, union workers, school directors, superintendents, central office administrators and business officers.  We know that – just like in the other states – if Washington passes a charter school law it will mean fewer resources, staff and funds for our local public schools.  We support our public schools and cannot support an unconstitutional effort to allow private boards to operate schools outside of the jurisdiction of their locally elected school boards.  Groups include: League of Women Voters of Washington; the Washington Special Education Coalition; the Washington State Labor Council; the Public School Employees of Washington; the Washington State PTA; the Washington Association of School Administrators; the Washington State School Directors Association; the Washington Association of School Business Officials; the Clark County Democrats; the International Union Union of Operating Engineers Local 609; and, the Joint Council of Teamsters. 

 

10. Why are many of the unions opposed to charter schools?

Employees in each of the independently run charters are not allowed to join the school district bargaining units.  They must establish a separate bargaining unit.  For most, this means having to start over to obtain rights, wages and benefits local unions have secured through years of negotiations.  Charter school employees will not be protected by state laws limiting contracting out options.  Teachers in Los Angeles charter schools say they are subject to long hours, extensive workloads, less pay and fewer resources.

10. What’s good about our public schools? 

The 2000 Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup poll (http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kpol0009.htm) shows again what previous polls have shown: the notion that the public is dissatisfied with its public schools is based on myth instead of fact.  Respondents continue to indicate a high level of satisfaction with their local schools, a level of satisfaction that this year approaches its all-time high among the parents whose children attend those schools.  Seven in 10 public school parents now assign the school their oldest child attends an A or a B.

Public satisfaction is also evident in the fact that 59% of the Americans believe that reforming the existing system of public schools, rather than seeking an alternative system, is the best way to bring about school improvement.  When given the specific choice, 75% would improve and strengthen existing public schools while just 22% would opt for vouchers, the alternative most frequently mentioned by public school critics.

The National Center for Education Statistics reported in its Summer 2000 Education Statistics Quarterly that Washington State ranks third highest in the nation in the percentage of students attending alternative public school programs.

Last Spring, Washington’s third and sixth-grade students scored above the national average on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, a standardized test that measures student’s comprehension of reading, language arts and math and allows the state to compare itself with its counterparts across the country.

Washington State SAT scores continued to improve at a faster pace than the national average over the past decade.  We’ve improved verbal score averages by seven points since 1995 from 519 to 526.  The average math score has jumped 11 points from 517 to 528, compared to the national increase of eight points.

The education reform laws passed in 1993, have led to higher standards for student achievement, statewide assessments and school building and district accountability goals.  Each year local newspapers across the state report to the public how their students and schools are doing.

For example, in September 1999, the Edmonds Paper stated – “they don’t come much smarter than 4^th and 7^th graders in Edmonds School District.  Students in those grades exceeded state averages in all subjects on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL).  New accountability laws require the district to have 65 percent of 4^th grade students meeting the reading standard by the end of the 2000-2001 school year.  62 percent met or exceeded the standard this year.”

Last year Dr. Terry Bergeson, Superintendent of Public Instruction said that statewide progress of the WASLs was made in four key areas:

• An increase in the overall number of students meeting Washington’s rigorous academic standards;

• Positive movement from one performance level to the next;

• Growth by all economic and racial/ethnic populations; and

• Progress toward reading accountability goals set for the spring of 2001.

“These gains are the direct result of the hard work and commitment of thousands of teachers and other school staff across Washington.  They also reflect the benefit of staying the course with our state’s school improvement strategy.  By focusing our resources, working together, and maintaining our commitment to help all students learn we are making a positive difference in their lives,” she said.

The test results for 2000 will be released by Dr. Bergeson on September 12 and can be accessed at www.k12.wa.us.

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