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.
For additional information on the effects of the parent trigger, please see Kristine McLane's response which can be found on the home page.
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