Cap on the Number of Charter Schools

Great Lakes Education Project ^ | 6/19/03 | E-Mail

[netmilsmom]

A BIG WIN FOR KIDS! State Senate approves raising the cap on the number of charter schools in Michigan

[netmilsmom]

GRAND RAPIDS Today GREAT LAKES EDUCATION PROJECT (GLEP) applauded members of the Michigan State Senate who voted YES supporting legislation to lift the states cap on the number of charter schools allowed in Michigan, marking an important step forward in the battle to provide more educational options to parents and children.

Today is an important day for the more than 10,000 children across Michigan currently on waiting lists to enter charter schools, said Dick DeVos, Chairman of the Great Lakes Education Project, a statewide organization that supports meaningful education reform and greater school choice options for parents. (For more information, please visit www.glep.org)

Great Lakes Education Project enthusiastically supported Senate Bill 393, which was passed by the Senate Education Committee last week by a 3-1 vote before going to the full Senate during todays session and passing by a 21 to 16 margin. The measure would allow for up to 20 new charter schools to be authorized per year over the next ten years, plus 5 additional charter high schools per year for five years, and 15 urban project schools in the City of Detroit, for a potential total of 240 new charter schools. Additionally, it requires the State Superintendent of Public Instruction to assign district code numbers to any newly-authorized school within 30 days or the State Treasurer would have to assign a temporary code in effort to prevent any delays in a school from opening its doors. This provision was proposed in the wake of State Superintendent Tom Watkins recent attempt motivated by personal politics to refuse issuing tax codes to seven newly-authorized schools that were scheduled to open next fall.

Many moms and dads have been waiting a long time for a choice and a better education for their children, added DeVos. After years of debate and numerous blocked attempts by teachers unions and school bureaucrats to raise the cap, the verdict is in; charter schools are obtaining results, saving Michigan taxpayers millions and making our public education system more accountable by accelerating the pace of reform in districts that need it most.

Thanks to the 21 Senate members who voted YES on SB 393, disadvantaged children are now one step closer to getting equal access to a quality education. More charter schools in Michigan will result in competition that creates greater accountability in public education and SB 393 is a meaningful step forward for true education reform.

This is a huge step forward in the battle to give disadvantaged children trapped in our states failing schools renewed hope for a better educational opportunity, said DeVos.

[sharktrager]

This is not a win by itself.

Some of the charter schools have been disasters as well.

It still gets down to parents taking responsibility for holding schools accountable.

[netmilsmom]

You may be right about other states but in MI, this is the best thing that could have happened. Our local districts are not the best and with a cap on the charters, there is no competition between them. My charter is great but knows that it can get away with the barest minimum because of the waiting lists to get in.
Now they will have to offer more and the district schools will improve from the competition as well.

[jackd]

It not only still gets down to parents taking responsibility but also the fact that you get what you pay for.
Charter schools will still be underfunded, especially if money comes from state legislatures, and "teachers" will be underpaid.
One immediate result of No Child Left Behind is that the uncertified, horrible teachers that will be forced to leave public education because of their inability to pass the Praxis (re.98.6) test and will go to the charter schools where such restrictions will not exist.
Teachers will be underpaid, they now make less than municipal garbage men, and not be able to speak, walk, talk or think in their assigned subject area.
Charter schools: The "answer" to Public Education!?

[redbaiter]

Why would the charter schools hire them?

[netmilsmom]

Good question. I speak with teachers in the charters who would not go back to the district schools for any amount of money. The admin is more like a family and the teacher's opinions matter. We have teachers driving from Toledo to North of Detroit to work at one of the schools (that my daughter started in). I think that the teachers are quality. Unless someone can back up the slamming of charters with facts, one should be quiet.

[netmilsmom]

In Michigan, Charters are public schools. The teachers in the charters must meet any criteria that the public school teachers do.
That's why they are called "Public School Academies".

[jackd]

I can give you any number of facts that you wish Why don't you try going to the National Association of Charter Schools,
; Pose the question of actual RESULTS on national testing! Ask why they don't have to include Special Education scores, as the public schools do. Ask for their results on individual state assessments on EACH AND EVERY STATE that they exist in. Then. . . . when your tail is between your legs and you know that you are beaten, contact me.

[jackd]

Because THEY are the job pool.

[netmilsmom]

>>I can give you any number of facts that you wish Why don't you try going to the National Association of Charter Schools, Pose the question of actual RESULTS on national testing! Ask why they don't have to include Special Education scores, as the public schools do. <<
Fact: In Michigan, charter schools do not label the way the district schools do. In my daughter's class there were 9 out of 19 kids that could have been labeled because they received special education. They were not labeled that way, because in the district schools this means that they can be sent to a "special school" and out of the regular classroom. Charters do not have that option. They work with the problems (and don't get national government funding for them either).

>>Ask for their results on individual state assessments on EACH AND EVERY STATE that they exist in. Then. . . . when your tail is between your legs and you know that you are beaten, contact me.<<
This is a thread about Michigan. I know charters work here. Why are you so hostile? Perhaps if you knew a little more about charters, you would not make blanket statements. Trust me. I have researched this for MY state farther than you possibly could have. Maybe, you have listened to the propaganda too long and need to look up some facts yourself.
And tell me why the charters can educate as well as the districts for less money????

[netmilsmom]

Are you an NEA member, or married to one?

[jackd]

It is my job to know about charter schools. They don't work any more than public schools do. Private schools only work because they have no Special ED populations and can brag about test scores when they refuse to aadmit students under 120 IQ. Charter schools are just another pipe dream made up by people trying to make a buck.

[jackd]

neither but I have enough sense to know that charter schools and public schools are failures because of the communities in which they are set up. It has nothing to do with their affilaiation or mine. It has everything to do with COMMON SENSE. Which is apparently lacking on your end.

[netmilsmom]

You know squat about charter schools in michigan. You claim it is your job to know about charter schools, well bud, it is my job as well. I work for the Michigan Association of Public School Academies. Give some references for your facts of shut your hole. Anyone can scream what they think. Prove it.
Just remember, this was about Michigan and for any studies you come up with, it just proves you do not stand for a free enterprise system and are most likely a socialitst.
Or more likely NEA.

[redbaiter]

You're not making sense. Why would a charter school, whose brand is basically that it isn't the gummint school, hire someone unfit to work in the gummint school?

[netmilsmom]

Some people listen to the propaganda of charters. They don't know anything but what people tell them. Charters have had problems, some have closed. But when one considers that charters CAN close if they are not doing their jobs, and district schools just keep pushing out uneducated children, it is a good thing.
Sounds like the other poster is just against any kind of school that has government control. Some may agree, but charters are a first step to improving schools all the way around. Vouchers would be better, but anything to improve the schools in our failing districts is good for all.
Thank you for making sense!

[SauronOfMordor]

It is my job to know about charter schools.

Ah, the truth finally comes out. So, you are either a union official or in school administration? I'm thinking the former.

[SauronOfMordor]

Private schools only work because they have no Special ED populations and can brag about test scores when they refuse to aadmit students under 120 IQ.

You're half right. Any school will work, IF they have the ability to eliminate those students who are disruptive and make it impossible for the rest of the class to learn.

[SauronOfMordor]

On another thread, we have this interesting revelation about schools whose pupils are from military families:

The NAEP (National Assesment of Educational Progress) 2002 Reading results were released yesterday.

Department of Defense Schools are very good indeed, and seem to almost eliminate the racial gaps in reading, particularly the Hispanic one. It should also make it clear that members of the armed forces seem to be either peculiarly intelligent, or they breed intelligent children.

California does very badly, BTW, and Texas does quite well, particularly for Hispanics.

% over basic

DOD schools 8th grade - Black - 80 Hispanic - 85 White - 92

US 8th grade Black - 54 Hispanic - 56 White - 83

TX 8th Grade Black - 57 Hispanic - 62 White - 88

CA 8th Grade Black - 50 Hispanic - 46 White - 79

[netmilsmom]

>>Private schools only work because they have no Special ED populations and can brag about test scores when they refuse to aadmit students under 120 IQ.

You're half right. Any school will work, IF they have the ability to eliminate those students who are disruptive and make it impossible for the rest of the class to learn.<<

You are correct to a point. In district schools, children with special needs are thrown to "special schools". In charters they are worked with, sometimes by a teacher, sometimes by another student who wants to volunteer. Our parents are great volunteers as well.
In Michigan, we cannot by law turn away any student. It is a lottery system. If my neighbor, who has a daughter with Angelman's syndrome (5 years old and does not walk or talk), puts her child into the lottery, we cannot turn them down. My daughter's class had 5 boys on Ritalin, one with CP and one girls with neurological problems the parents were fighting to diagnose. Tell me again we turned away the problems! My daughter ended up rating a 99% on the TerraNova tests and next year will be pushed to second grade reading and math.
Not all charters are as good as ours, but competition is a good thing!