NEWS:
Five questions the new charter school law leaves unanswered
Posted:
28 May 2010 04:40 PM PDT
New York State Capitol, photo via Flickr.
One
consequence of the charter
cap legislation passed in
But
the new law also includes a slew of changes to the way the schools are opened
and run, leaving advocates, officials and observers with at least five big
unanswered questions.
1. What’s the deal with the new Request for Proposals
process?
Under
the old charter school law, educators could ask to open charter schools simply
by applying to do so. Now, prospective school leaders will have to
formulate their applications as responses to Request for Proposals. These will
be issued by both the Board of Regents and the State University of New
York’s Charter School Institute.
Advocates
and union officials today disagreed on exactly how the RFP’s will be
used. One school of thought is that the RFP will be a tool for limiting charter
school leaders’ freedom to open in a location of their choosing.
Indeed, the law declares that operators that receive an endorsement of their
school district will have a leg up in the RFP process. That could make it
harder for operators to open schools in some upstate districts whose school
boards strongly oppose charter schools. (Or imagine a less charter-happy mayor
in
In
an interview today, city teachers union President Michael Mulgrew said
that the union plans to “advocate through the RFP.” He meant, he
explained, that the UFT will lobby authorizers not to issue RFPs for schools in
neighborhoods deemed overwhelmed with charter schools.
But
charter school advocates said they aren’t concerned about the RFP
process. Beyond creating more bureaucratic hurdles for authorizers and new
charter schools, they said, the process will not significantly change how
authorizers determine which schools should open. “The difference may
appear larger than it actually is,” said James Merriman, head of the
2. Can the
Until
today, the city Department of Education’s charter school office played a
similar role to SUNY: It accepted applications for new charter schools,
reviewed and approved them, and then passed the applications on to the Board of
Regents for final approval. The city acted as the main authorizer for those
schools, monitoring the schools and shutting
them down for poor performance.
Under
the new law, the schools chancellor can still recommend charter school
applications to the Regents — and now can also recommend schools to SUNY
for approval. And that recommendation matters to some degree: The rubric
authorizers must use to evaluate applications gives preference for schools with
a district endorsement. But it’s unclear whether the city will retain the
power to oversee and shut down failing charters.
John
White, a deputy chancellor for the city, noted that the law still names the
chancellor as one of the state’s three “charter entities” who
legally have power to oversee schools.
But
Jonas Chartock, the head of SUNY’s Charter School Institute, said that
his reading of the law suggests that his center will retain the ultimate
oversight over schools it authorizes.
“To
me, it’s not exactly clear,” said Merriman. “A reading of the
bill would allow either interpretation at this point. It’s something that
I think we have to see how counsel for the various parties…view
that.” MORE CONFUSION LEADING PROBABLY
LEADING TO MORE LAWSUITS. THANKS
3. How does the law force charter schools to accept more English
language learners and special education students?
The
law requires that charter schools maintain a certain number of English language
learners and special education students over time. Schools are supposed to hit
targets for both student enrollment and student retention that match
neighborhood schools. Here’s what the law says authorizers have to make
sure of:
THAT SUCH 37 ENROLLMENT TARGETS ARE COMPARABLE TO THE ENROLLMENT FIGURES OF SUCH 38 CATEGORIES OF STUDENTS ATTENDING THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS WITHIN THE SCHOOL 39 DISTRICT, OR IN A CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT 40 ONE MILLION OR MORE INHABITANTS, THE COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT 41 THE PROPOSED CHARTER SCHOOL WOULD BE LOCATED; AND (2) THAT SUCH 42 RETENTION TARGETS ARE COMPARABLE TO THE RATE OF RETENTION OF SUCH CATE- 43 GORIES OF STUDENTS ATTENDING THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS WITHIN THE SCHOOL 44 DISTRICT, OR IN A CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT 45 ONE MILLION OR MORE INHABITANTS, THE COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT 46 THE PROPOSED CHARTER SCHOOL
But
it’s not clear how that requirement will be enforced. Among other
implementation problems is data-keeping. “SUNY’s going to need
access to data we’ve never been able to obtain,” Chartock said.
THEY’VE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO OBTAIN DATA ON ENROLLMENT IN
THEIR OWN CHARTERS? WHY NOT?
THIS PROVISION IS NOT JUST HARD TO ENFORCE – BUT HARD
TO DEFINE “COMPARABLE.” ANOTHER SERIOUS FLAW IN THE LAW.
4. Does the law change relationships between charter schools and
district schools that share space?
The
new law creates a “building council” to coordinate collaboration
between schools housed together. Right now, co-located schools have building
councils that include only principals from each school. The new councils will include principals,
teachers and parents from each school in a building.
THE CHANCELLOR RETAINS THE UNILATERAL POWER TO IMPOSE HIS
WILL AND DECIDE ON CO-LOCATIONS. THE COMMUNITY AND PARENTS HAVE NO VOICE. HE
WILL DEVISE THE BUILDING PLAN, AND THE BUILDING COUNCIL WILL BE LEFT TO ARGUE AND
FIGHT AFTERWARDS. THAT’S POWER? THE LAW ALLOWS COMPLAINTS TO THE
COMMISSIONER; BUT SO WHAT? THERE HAVE ALREADY BEEN COMPLAINTS. NO CHANGE
THERE.
The
council does not have the power to veto the city’s co-location plans. But
it will be able to draw public attention to the plans.
AFTER THE FACT. AND WE’VE HAD PLENTY OF PUBLIC
ATTENTION AND WHAT HAS IT GOT US?
And
public attention isn’t without its own kind of power: The new mayoral
control law created public hearings when schools were recommended for closure.
The
hearings created quite
a firestorm and arguably played a role in the recent court
decision overturning city-enforced school closures.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? ANTICIPATE MORE LAWSUITS (IF WE CAN
FIND ATTORNEYS TO REPRESENT
5. Where does the money come from?
The
increased bureaucracy and oversight required by the new law will require
resources. Given the state’s doomsday fiscal climate, it’s unclear
where that money will come from. Already SUNY’s Charter School Institute,
which will see the number of charters it oversees double, is facing a proposed
70 percent funding reduction under budgets proposed by both the Senate and
the Assembly.
The
law also includes a provision requiring that any improvements to a charter
school facility worth more than $5,000 must be matched in the district schools
that share its building. The measure was widely praised on all sides as a way
to assure equity between charter and district school students.
“But
I want to be very, very clear,” Merriman said. “We do expect that
the mayor and the chancellor step up and meet their commitment to provide such
funding so that charters and district school students attend school in equal
and high quality facilities.”
HIGH QUALITY FACILITIES? JUST FOR THE STUDENTS IN CO-LOCATED
SCHOOLS? WHERE HAS THIS GUY BEEN?
THE VAST MAJORITY OF OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS ARE FORCED
TO ATTEND SCHOOL IN OVERCROWDED AND INADEQUATE FACILITIES; AND THE RAISING OF
THE CAP WILL MAKE THIS CRITICAL PROBLEM EVEN WORSE. SLAP ON SOME NEW PAINT;
BUT KIDS WILL CONTINUE TO GET EDUCATED IN HALLWAYS AND CLOSETS.
ALTOGETHER THIS LAW IS THE WRONG ANSWER TO THE WRONG QUESTION.
Leonie Haimson
Executive Director
Class Size Matters
124 Waverly Pl.
212-674-7320
classsizematters@...
www.classsizematters.org
http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leonie-haimson
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