Meghan On Question 2 – Edition 2, What is a public school? What is a charter school?

Today we will start on some definitions, and a general over-view. I’ll start opinion next post.

In the United States, every child is entitled to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE). I think this is something we can all enthusiastically get behind! We want education to be the silver bullet that gives all students the skills for an equal playing field. Students attend their local public school, perhaps the one closest to their home or per district designation. Students are enrolled in charter schools largely by lottery.

FAPE is wonderful in theory but not happening effectively in practice. The root of this issue often lies in funding. We don’t have a comprehensive funding system for education in the US. The responsibility for educating students falls to the local education authority (LEA), with funding from the town/city/regional school district. This leads to some systemic issues, particularly because we fund based on property taxes. Low income areas often have lower home values, resulting in lower property taxes and subsequently less money to fund schools. 

There are alternative routes to fund public schools.You can apply to the state for a “circuit breaker” to cover special education costs that exceed the district’s budget. Your town can vote for a proposition 2½ override (Mass.gov, 2016) to increase funding. This is exceedingly rare. We then have crumbling infrastructure, teachers leaving for better supported districts, little access to resources, and fewer students finding success at school. I entirely understand why families would look for relief, to private schools, religious schools, or charter schools.  

Charter schools are technically public schools, in so much that they receive state funding. Let us start with the state definition:

Charter schools are independent public schools that operate under five
year charters granted by the Commonwealth's Board of Elementary and Secondary
Education. The increased freedom available to charter schools coupled with
increased accountability, infuses all aspects of the Massachusetts Department
of Elementary and Secondary Education's oversight of charter schools, beginning
with the rigorous application process that groups must go through to receive a
charter. Once the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education has awarded a
charter, the new charter school has the freedom to organize around a core
mission, curriculum, theme, or teaching method. It is allowed to control its
own budget and hire (and fire) teachers and staff. In return for this freedom,
a charter school must demonstrate good results within five years or risk losing
its charter. (MA DESE, 2016)

This allows for an arts academy or a science institute to be developed in an area that has seen diminishing test scores and graduation rates. These groups, as noted above, are independent public schools. They can, however, be funded by outside groups. For example, the most famous is KIPP charter network, which is funded by many outside backers, including the Walton family. This does, in some cases, mean non-educators are overseeing and controlling education. It also means that private money has entered the education system. 

That’s enough for today, next time we will discuss oversight further.

Citations:

http://www.mass.gov/dor/docs/dls/publ/misc/levylimits.pdf

http://www.doe.mass.edu/charter/