Kristine McLane Responds: Charter Schools

In response to my previous post Ten Reasons to Say No to Charter Schools, Kristine McLane, librarian and parent, offered this:

The parent/teacher trigger is one of  the most troubling parts of this flawed legislation. If 1240 passes, then any school in the state could become a charter school by petition of either parents or teachers. In this scenario, all local control over that school AND the building its housed in is gone. An approved charter operator could start to circulate a petition among, let's say, Shorewood High School teachers asking them to approve the conversion of the high school that my property taxes will be paying off for the next 20 years, and if 50 percent plus 1 of them sign the petition to convert, then Shoreline voters will have zero say in the operation of the new high school still under construction.  Shoreline parents and taxpayers would  have no say in any of the curriculum decisions, policy decisions, or building use decisions.  On top of that, the district taxpayers would be obligated to pay for all maintenance, utilities, etc., and to fork over any share of future levies that are approved. 

This initiative has very little to do with improving the educational opportunities for underserved or special needs kids and is simply a power and money grab by individuals and companies who see public education as a way to line their pockets.  All of the organizations that support the initiative are funded by Bill Gates and a few other wealthy individuals who stand to profit immensely if this initiative passes.  Rupert Murdoch has invested millions in companies that provide standardized testing services to schools.  We don't need to guess what side the WSJ comes down on when it comes to "holding teachers accountable" by looking at how well their student test scores improve.  If 1240 passes, you can bet money that the non-profit charter operators that are approved by Washington state will soon be signing multi-million dollar contracts with companies owned by Murdoch, Nick Hanauer, Gates, Allen, Broad, Walton, etc...

Please Vote NO on 1240 and preserve locally controlled public education in Washington State.

Ten Reasons to Say No to Charter Schools (No on I-1240)

1) Funding

The Washington State Supreme Court has ruled that the state has never fulfilled its paramount duty to fully fund public education. The charter schools initiative does not provide additional funding for new schools. It simply aims to siphon off per student funding to additional schools, leaving the schools that are already here even more desperately underfinanced. Those of us in education know how critical those first day counts are to get funding for the entire year. Sixty students under projected enrollment could mean a loss of two staff members. In states with charter schools, reporters have documented the practice of charters enrolling as many students as possible (in some cases teachers had caseloads well above 250 students).  Many of these students were weeded out very quickly after their funding was secured from the state. These students ended up in regular public schools that did not receive any funding for them.

2) Privatization

Although Initiative 1240 states that charter schools are public and nonprofit, there are no restrictions on school operators who wish to contract with private organizations for any and all services. In many other states, “public” charters are managed by CEOs who earn very high salaries (in some cases charter school managers have been paid well over a million dollars a year). High administrative fees lead to less money for students and teachers.

            I find myself dumbfounded that in the wake of a devastating financial crisis resulting from private market actions and deregulation there are many who still believe that the market will always do better than the government. There is a reason Rupert Murdoch is investing heavily in education and promoting education investment. I don’t think it’s because he cares about the achievement gap.

3) Teacher Turnover

Personal individual anecdotes aside, evidence clearly shows that experienced teachers are better for students, and novice teachers perform better with experienced mentors. I am a much better teacher now than I was in my first year, and the teachers I respect the most continue to improve their practice no matter how skilled and experienced they are now. Many charter schools experience very high teacher turnover for a variety of reasons, including poor working conditions and low salaries. Something we often forget amid the union bashing is that teaching conditions are learning conditions.

4) Inequity

Even with a lottery system, students whose parents are unaware of or unable to sign up for the lottery will not have the opportunity to be considered for a charter. The location of a charter school will limit the ability of some interested parents who will have scheduling or transportation challenges. The most disadvantaged students will get the least benefit from any changes in the school system.

5) Resegregation

In states where charter schools have been implemented, there is a clear trend toward racial as well as economic segregation. This nation fought a painful and bloody battle many years ago for civil rights and desegregation. While one can argue that we are already on the path to increased segregation in public schools, charter schools are hastening and facilitating this process. Some have argued for segregation as a way to help close the achievement gap. I have seen no studies that support this approach, and returning to the path of “separate but equal” should be fought at all costs.

6) Disrupting communities

The sad reality in our country is that the schools that struggle the most are in the communities with the greatest poverty. Neighborhood schools are often the cornerstones of these communities that are damaged by school turnaround models which dismantle schools and send students in different directions. The parent trigger component of the charter school initiative could create a similar dismantling of public schools. Rather than disrupt a community, why not support and nurture a school and its students on the path to improvement?

7) Accountability and Transparency

In many states, charter schools are not held to the same standards of accountability and transparency as public schools. I have read reports from other states (Florida is one example that comes to mind) where the legislators have actually passed laws to make it easier for well-heeled charter school boards to skirt some of the state auditing requirements, and in some states charter school test scores are not reported to the media or made available to the public.

8) Narrowing the Curriculum

If there is transparency in reporting, charter schools (along with many traditional public schools) prize high test scores above all else, and a significant amount of time is spent on prepping for tests in core subjects at the expense of music, art, shop classes, and similar electives. Many people call such classes enrichment; I think they are fundamental, and they are being lost at a phenomenal rate throughout the country.

9) Performance

If charter schools were consistently doing a better job than public schools as measured by high test scores, challenging and rewarding course options, high graduation and college acceptance rates, low student and teacher turnover, a diverse student population and no achievement gap, I think I would be a strong supporter of charters. The reality is that on average charter schools do no better and many do worse than the schools they are supposedly competing with, even though their student population is less diverse than that of nearby public schools. This has been documented in many studies. Charter school supporters will point to a few shining examples of successful charter schools while ignoring the far from stellar truth about the vast majority. 41 states now have charter schools. They have been operating in some states for decades. We have plenty of data to show that charter schools clearly have not delivered on their early vision and promise.

10) The Wrong Solution to the Wrong Problem

In order to decide if charter schools are the solution, we must first define the problem. One argument is that charter schools are needed because public schools are failing, and (in a free market mindset) charters will provide competition that will force public schools to improve. I have never read of any study anywhere that supports the market competition approach to improving public schools. Some schools are struggling for reasons that have more to do with factors outside the school environment. For more on this please see How about reform based on evidence and data?

            Another argument for charter schools is parental choice. If X number of dollars is attached to my child, shouldn’t I get to choose where that money is spent? If parental choice is the primary motivation for charter schools, then it makes more sense to give parents vouchers for schools (public or private) with a track record than to implement costly new schools that may not succeed. Vouchers are still problematic for many of the reasons already described. Public schools are part of the social contract and people with no school-age children pay taxes that support public schools. For more on this, please see 7 Reasons why public school dollars should stay with public school students.

Please vote No on I-1240.

Disclosure: I am not a journalist or a researcher, and my statements have not been footnoted. My views are based on hundreds of articles I have read over the years. If you would like to see some of these source articles you may find some of them here and here.

How about Education Reform Based on Evidence and Data?

When we discuss education reform, there is always an underlying assumption that public schools are deteriorating and teachers today are worse than they have ever been. This is simply not true. DoE and NAEP data show that black students today are performing better on many measures than white kids were in the 1980s. There is still an achievement gap because white students have improved as well. When we make international comparisons, our schools with a poverty rate of less than 10% outperform all schools except those in Shanghai, which doesn't release demographic data. When the PISA rankings were released, they were downplayed in China, and many Chinese education officials have come to America to see how we foster creativity and innovation. With the "reform" efforts now taking hold here, I wonder if in a few decades American officials will be making similar trips to China.

There is much animus directed at teachers and unions. We have heard many unflattering anecdotes of individual teachers that have had the unfortunate effect of tainting all. For each of these anecdotes there is often a story of a union charged with protecting those teachers at all costs to the detriment of students, parents, and schools. I am inclined to believe that the rest of the story in each case is not so simple. I would never support keeping an abusive and/or incompetent teacher in the classroom. It is up to administrators to do the work of removing these teachers, even as I support their due process. We cannot tarnish the reputations and motivations of all teachers because of the actions of a relative few.

Can educators improve? Of course - we improve with experience, with professional development, with supportive administrators and collaboration. I am concerned about the loss of collaboration if our test scores will be compared to the teacher next door. I am concerned about what happens to the evaluation of teachers who are especially gifted at working with special education students who struggle to perform on standardized assessments. I am concerned about a culture of test-taking that narrows the curriculum and stifles creativity and problem-solving, the true 21st century skills. I am especially concerned about the very unscientific and bizarre  value added measures used to rank teachers in New York City and the public humiliation and excoriation of many teachers that soon followed. (For more on this, please see the NEW YORK section on the Education Reform page. It may be important to keep in mind that this sort of practice is already taking place in several other cities.)

I am concerned about the soaring profits of testing companies who have always produced appalling question banks for tests (ask any teacher who has had to create their own tests because the textbook exams were so poor). I am concerned that we are implementing significant changes to education (narrow standardized testing, value added measures, charter schools) that have not been demonstrated to consistently improve teacher effectiveness or student achievement (and in fact many studies have shown all of these changes to be more detrimental than helpful). The amount of instructional time lost to standardized testing is significant. For students who care, the stress of testing can be destructive. Students who don't care can have a devastating effect on the process for those who do. For example, a middle school teacher told me about a student who deliberately disrupted the testing environment. He knew that low test scores would be inconsequential to him but would reflect negatively on the teacher and school. If a teacher's job depends on test scores, this sort of malicious sport will be elevated to high art.
 

I am concerned that we are doing exactly the opposite of what Finland - a PISA success story - is doing. Finland invests in the basic needs of its children, has great respect for its teachers and pays them extremely well. They do not have the high stakes tests we have here, and a teacher's evaluation is not based on students' test scores. And, in Finland, teachers are represented by unions.

I am concerned that the voices of  "reform" do not include true educators, that there is no evidence to support the changes advocated by Duncan, Gates, Rhee, et al. I am concerned about the persistent and pernicious drumbeat vilifying teachers while our society takes no responsibility for a collapsed financial system that has dramatically increased poverty in this country. When teachers express concerns about the students who go hungry, lack safety and stability at home, and have behavior problems so severe that it hampers our ability to teach, I am deeply troubled by those in the "reform" camp who respond by saying we are simply making excuses for our own ineptitude and laziness. Mostly I am concerned for the nation's children and for the loss of a public education system envisioned by Jefferson as the true foundation of a great democracy.


Post Script:  The following article provides a detailed analysis of actual educational data and the Gates Foundation's misuse or misrepresentation of the data. In the article Arne Duncan and Bill Gates are both quoted making statements that, while not dismissed by the author as false, are simply not supported by evidence. Fact-Challenged Policy by Richard Rothstein, Economic Policy Institute.