Charter Schools

What is a Charter School? Charter schools are public schools that are granted a specific amount of autonomy, determined by state law or the specific charter, to make decisions concerning the organizational structure, curriculum, and educational emphasis of their school. Charter schools are granted waivers from certain regulations that bind public schools.

What is a Charter School? Part 2 In return for this additional autonomy, charter schools are held accountable for the academic achievement of the students in the charter school, and the school faces suspension or closure within a determined period of time if accepted performance standards are not met.

Rules Charter Schools must abide by: Tuition-free Not religious Federal civil rights legislation: cannot discriminate on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, and religion in the admissions process Health and safety laws

“ Immigrants see Charter Schools as a Haven,” New York Times, 9 January 2009

Where did the idea for charters come from?

The Beginnings, late 1960s-early 1970s Educators across the nation, particularly in northern cities, worked to create community-based public schools that would meet the needs of low- income and minority students in their neighborhoods. They fought with local school boards to have control over the schools they created.

Popularization American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Albert Shankar described the idea at the National Press Club speech in The AFT saw charters as a tool to create a more professional workforce of teachers, by empowering teachers at the school site.

Key Tenets of the Charter Movement in the Early Days Trust in the professional judgment and experience of teachers Continual commitment to inquiry and development by teachers, in a search for educational solutions A substantial, but defined, time period to allow initiatives to evolve and flourish (3-5 years, 5-10 years)

Expansion and Experimentation Minnesota Charter School Law, 1991: eight teacher-created and –operated, outcome-based charter schools free of most state laws and state and local education rules, for three years. Currently, 39 states and DC have charter school legislation (much more popular than vouchers).

Changes in the Charter School Movement: Privatization of Funding and Management Both for-profit and nonprofit education management companies’ management of charter schools is increasing due to economies of scale, start-up funds, more polished applications Lack of funding mean that private businesses and foundations provide support to charter schools.

“No Child Left Behind” (2001) Those schools that have failed to meet the benchmarks for test scores will face, among other things, the possibility of conversion to charter schools.

Charter Schools in New Jersey 86 charter schools as of September 2012 (out of 2,485 public schools) Mainly located in urban areas 11 in Camden County (including LEAP Academy, founded in 2002) Charter schools educate 30,000 students, 2.1% of the 1.4 million public school students overall 15 charters have been revoked

Looking at the Law: “How it is done” Matters Bastian’s principles: 1.Does it weaken or strengthen public education as a whole? 2.Can the models created in charter schools be replicated? 3.Charter school is non-sectarian 4.Is it innovative? Does it meet a need not met by existing public schools? 5.Is it accountable to the public? 6.Is it accountable to the local community, i.e., local school board and not state department of education or legislature? 7.Charter schools should be treated the same as other public schools: funding, employee contracts, etc 8.Charters should be pilots

Funding Funding formulas have disadvantaged charter schools in virtually all the states. In only a few states is the per-pupil funding as great as in traditional schools. Pervasive lack of start-up funds

Problems of Charter Schools: Funding Lack of startup funds for new schools Capital costs of school buildings Problems of economies of scale Higher salaries of special education teachers have acted as disincentives to serving special needs students. Charter schools are dependent on private sources of funding to supplement public sources.

Findings from Charter Schools: Accountability Lack of oversight, particularly performance-based oversight Example: in Massachusetts, a model for oversight and performance-based accountability, virtually no charter schools have been shut down solely for performance.

Findings from Charter Schools: Equity Some charter schools do not use random selection in admissions. New Jersey: charter schools enrolled more African-Americans (68%) than their districts of residence (50%) and served lower percentages of Hispanic, white, and Asian students. No charters have been revoked for schools which did not meet the ethnic balance of the district.

Findings from Charter Schools, Equity Charter schools tend to enroll slightly fewer students with special needs and limited-English- proficient students than public schools in the state. New Jersey: charter schools have fewer students with educational disabilities (7.7%) than in the same districts of residence (15.6%). Also, the number receiving a free or reduced priced lunch was slightly lower (63%) than students in districts of residence (70%).

Findings from Charter Schools: Isolation from Public Schools There is little communication between public and charter schools so innovation does not spread. Public schools feel very little competition with charter schools. They have been more associated with creating “elite islands” than with strengthening the public school system as a whole.

Findings from Charter Schools: Achievement The record on academic achievement from charter schools is a mixed bag. Some charter schools outperform public schools, while others do worse.

Study of 4 th and 8 th grade math scores of 340,000 students in 13,000 regular, private, and charter schools (2006) Based on 2003 National Assessment of Educational Progress Charter school students do considerably worse (half a year behind) than public schools in 4 th grade; in 8 th grade, they did slightly better but small sample and not statistically significant. In contrast, 69% New Jersey charter schools outperform their district counterparts in language arts and math, particularly in the upper grades.

What do you think? Do charters help reduce social reproduction? Do they help create a better public school system?