From TEA: Charter Schools bill up in Senate, Tennessee public schools at risk

[Jamey Dobbs]

Does anyone have any information on this? Copied from TEA website http://www.teateachers.org/News.asp?s=1&nid=149

Tennessee public schools at risk

Three extremely costly and dangerous charter school bills go before the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday. If passed the bills would send public tax dollars to for-profit companies and private organizations to operate and manage, what would no longer be, public charter schools. At a time when Tennessee is strapped to pay for public schools, these bills would skim off millions of dollars to pay for the unproven experiment that is charter schools. The cost to Memphis public school children alone is over $23 million this year according to figures from Memphis City Schools.

As currently structured, Tennessee school systems must pay public charter schools the full per pupil expenditure for each child who transfers to a charter school. This money comes from the school systems' operating budget each year.

If one child from every classroom in every school in a school system transferred, the regular school costs to that community would not change. Why? Because the remaining children would still need their classroom, their teacher, their lights/heat/air, transportation, etc.

For an estimate of what the loss of just one child per school would cost Tennessee public school systems, click here. http://www.teateachers.org/Images/Users/Research/CostOfCharters.pdf [note: for Knox County, the estimate is $716,967]

[Jamey Dobbs]

No public money. Teachers just like all of us have the right to lobby for our interests with our own money. I'm a member of the League of Women Voters and pay my dues. We pay for a lobbyist. It's not inherently wrong. The question is the issue raised...do charter schools drain money from strapped school districts--districts that we all pay for and expect quality from? I'm concerned. I see the merit in "working from outside the system" but in our economy, shouldn't we try internal reforms using more (free) community involvement and partnership? Schools can experiment under state law...why pay for extra buildings?

[Debi]

There is nothing at all wrong with paying for a lobbyist. The problem is when one is FORCED to pay for a lobbyist in which they disagree. I disagree with a lot of the political stance of ANA and if I was ever required by my job to hand over a portion of my hard-earned money I would be very offended.

To answer your question, yes, I do believe charter schools may pull money away from districts struggling financially. I also believe that may be necessary for the sake of the student. Charter schools are community involvement and partnership, but in a new way.

We don't have to pay for extra buildings, we could use current ones refurbished.

[Jamey Dobbs]

In Tennessee, charter schools are state-charted schools, not private. They don't have to function like a public school in some respects, but can't remember the details. The critical question is that in an underfunded system like Tennessee's, with no slack, we have a system of almost 80 (expensive) schools/buildings that should accommodate the demand, and provide a quality education. If KCS lost $719K, that would otherwise go to paying for building level staff, maintenance, administration--none of which will cost less if some students leave-- how do we make that up? Would we hire fewer teachers if some students left? Doesn't seem likely. Seems like it would be a major drain on our budget. Anyone with alternative data? -- Jamey

[Debi]

We need to shut down schools not performing up to task. I heard a talk show host today put it eloquently. Some of these schools none of us would ever send our kids, yet we are forcing families in those zones to continue to send their children there. Shut them down and realign the students in schools that are safer and have a more positive attitude for their futures. Give the kids a chance. Allow taxpayers to have the best possible use of their dollars.

[granma2]

Debi, I'm sorry I missed that talk show because I would have liked to have heard someone in Knox County suggest that we close the failing schools. We keep throwing millions of dollars down black holes, and I hope that someday we quit. Can you tell me where it was so I can try and listen to it online if it was recorded? Thanks.

[Ginevra]

Debi, I would also be interested in which talk show, if you recall which one it was.

Earlier I posted a link from CER (Center for Education Reform) on Tennessee Charter schools (many of them in Memphis).

If you look at the link, you'll note that one of the Memphis charters (Yo! Academy) was closed down for not meeting basic goals.

Everything has positives and negatives, including charters. One positive point in favor of charters is that they can be shut down if they demonstrate waste of taxpayer funds. Taxes were gathered and distributed in order to provide basic education to students.

If a charter school's management does not do its job effectively, then they may be shut down, and another set of leaders can use their funds, buildings, and supplies to serve our community's students (and real estate industry...who wants to buy a home in an area where the school is a disaster)

[Debi]

I cannot recall now, I just saw your question. I believe it was Rush Limbaugh if you wanna research his archives. I am not a member & don't have access to his site.

[granma2]

Thanks for the answer. I prefer not to ever listen to Rush Limbaugh though.

[Debi]

I think TEA cannot give a non-biased report or look at charter schools. TEA historically opposes anything other than funding-funding-funding of public schools only. What the story does not discuss is that charter schools have been around for at least 12 years, so they are far from an unproven experiment.

Below is a study just about charter schools with some points I found interesting. I will say for the record I tend to support charter schools. I haven't had time to read all of it, but lots of info.

http://www.ed.gov/pubs/charter98/chap3a.html

Broadly speaking, charter schools mirror the racial distribution of students in all public schools.

The percentage of students with disabilities at charter schools (8 percent) is somewhat less than for all public schools (11 percent). The percentage of LEP students served in charter schools (13 percent) is about the same as in other public schools.

Charter schools reported that 36 percent of their enrolled students were eligible, very similar to the 40 percent of all students eligible for the program in the 16 charter school states.

In addition to the findings discussed above, the survey data show that almost all the children in a significant number of charter schools are minorities, economically disadvantaged, or students with disabilities. We estimate that approximately one-fifth of charter schools may serve such a particular student population....Such concentrations are not accidental. Many charter schools have been founded specifically to meet the needs of a particular population of children... The second most cited reason was to serve a special population of students. Sixty charter schools (17 percent) stated this was their most important motivation for starting a charter school.

The primary reason pre-existing public schools convert to charter status is to gain flexibility and autonomy from their districts or by-pass various regulations. Private schools convert to charter status to seek public funds so that they can stabilize their finances and attract students, often students whose families could not afford private school tuition.

If success is judged by parents and students voting with their feet, charter schools are in demand. Though it is premature to rest on this slim evidence without other indicators of success--such as student performance--parents and students are choosing charter schools for a variety of personal and situational reasons. During our visits to charter schools, we systematically conduct parent and student focus group meetings. At these sessions, which last for a minimum of 45 minutes, we ask parents and students separately why they selected their charter school. From the many specific answers, two broad themes clearly emerge--many students and parents feel pushed away from the district public schools and many feel positively pulled toward the charter schools.

The most common issue across a wide variety of charter schools concerned academics. Many students, as well as parents, spoke about the low academic expectations that their former teachers and school had of them.

A second major dissatisfaction concerned the previous school's environment and culture. Students were often eloquent about their sense of isolation. Many didn't feel known, close to a teacher, or guided.

A third related dissatisfaction concerned safety.

The last generic category of dissatisfaction came from parents who spoke of not feeling welcome at their children's schools. They said they were ignored when they raised problems about their own children. More poignantly, some said they wanted to help but their offers were not acted on in any meaningful way. Instead, they felt put down and that they didn't have a role in their children's education. Whatever negative experiences parents may have had seemed to weigh less heavily for them than a frustration that their children were not receiving the education or respect that they needed to be successful.

Political resistance posed implementation problems for some schools. State or local board opposition and district and state level resistance and regulations were cited as difficulties by 15 to 25 percent of all respondents. Internal conflict posed difficulties for nearly 20 percent of respondents.

[Ginevra]

Following is a link to the website for Center for Education Reform (CER) with a map that includes Tennessee. CER puts out a monthly newsletter, and has gathered a great deal of interesting data and history:

http://edreform.com/accountability/

"Accountability Lies at the Heart of Charter School Success....Nearly 18 years since the first charter school opened, individual state data indicates that charter schools are outpacing their conventional public school peers with fewer resources and tremendous obstacles. The data also proves charter schools are being held accountable for these results."

Here's a link where you can find specific charter school information for Tennessee:
http://www.edreform.com/charter_directory/stateprofile.cfm?&sta...

[Debi]

Yet the TEA calls charter schools an unproven experiment. We've uncovered nearly 2 decades of charter school existence. Is it fair to say TEA was not being honest on their claim?

[Bob Hunter]

Charter schools have pros and cons and I am not sure whether I support teh idea or not. What I am sure of is that anything that comes from TEA I am skeptical of because they have a definite agenda and bias and it is not one I often agree with.