Why Pennsylvania Needs a Statewide Independent Authorizer for Charter Schools
May 14, 2012
Visit www.ChildrenPA.com and take two minutes to let your legislator know you want to see an independent authorizer in Pennsylvania.
After more than 14 years of operation and experience in Pennsylvania and from educators in 39 other states, we know what makes for high-performing charter schools – dedicated teachers, involved parents, individualized attention, exceptional curriculums, enlightened leadership, and strong authorizers. None of this is surprising, and with the exception of the strong authorizer, everyone is identical to what makes a high-performing traditional public school. So let’s take a closer look at the issue of authorizers as a unique and fundamental component in the success or failure of charters.
Under current Pennsylvania law, school districts are the sole authorizers for brick and mortar charter schools and this sole authorizer philosophy has, for the most part, been a failure in both nurturing good charter schools and closing bad ones. There are some school districts that are doing an excellent job of providing strong charter authorization, but many are not for two primary reasons.
First, charter schools are often viewed as competition to be eliminated rather than partners to be challenged and nurtured. There are numerous examples throughout the state where high-performing charters have been denied renewals for unstated or illegal reasons and well-deserving charter applicants have seen their applications for new charters denied because the districts are well aware of the expense of the appeal process. Many Pennsylvania charter operators feel they are participating in a football game in which all of the linesmen, back judges, and referees are employees of the other team.
Second, most school districts have proven to be unwilling or unable to close down under-performing charters. Since 1997, only a handful of brick and mortar charter schools in Pennsylvania have been closed. There are under-performing charter schools that deserve to be shuttered for the sake of the children, but districts have never demonstrated the willingness to do so.
Part of the problem is that there is absolutely no consistency in processes, procedures, forms, methodologies, metrics, or accountability measures anywhere in the state. Every school district was left to develop their own, and they did so without talking with each other. The result is a confusing mash up of different, and sometimes contradictory processes and procedures, but most importantly, there is absolutely no consistent quantifiable measurement process to assess performance.
A strong, independent state authorizer can provide consistency, quantifiable performance standards, independent assessment, and the guts to make charters perform to those standards.
In Pennsylvania, the sole authorizer for cyber charter schools is the State Department of Education. Authorizing and renewing cyber school charters has been inconsistent at best. Delays on responses to cyber charter school renewal requests have exceeded six months. The department is expected to deal with the enormity of public school issues for five hundred public districts, one hundred and forty five charter schools and twelve cyber charter schools. Adding the new dimensions of Cyber school oversight to the already challenging responsibilities of the department has not worked well since 2002. An independent authorizer with some background in the dimensions of online learning and with a focus on charter schools would substantially improve this process.
In the states that are realizing the greatest benefit for their children from the charter school concept, strong, independent authorizers are a given. It is a national best practice.
Furthermore, limiting the creation of independent authorizers to only schools with the lowest academic performance results is both discriminatory and demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of why parents choose charter schools.
Fundamentally, parents choose to send their children to a charter school so that their child has a better opportunity for a brighter future. But that decision is not based as often as you might think solely on the academic performance of the school the child is in, but rather on issues such as safety, individual attention, and discipline. Eliminating the opportunity for any parent in any school whose child is being bullied, whose learning issues are not being addressed, or who is forced every day into an environment that does not encourage learning is choice and freedom denied.
As the legislature embarks upon charter school reform, a strong, independent authorizer will guarantee accountability and higher quality of charter schools across our great Commonwealth.
I concur and applaud your efforts to create such a commission.
The State Commission (overseeing charter schools) has seven positions.
Three are appointed by the governor.
Four appointed by the general assembly by:
1. President pro tempore of the Senate,
2. Minority Leader of the Senate,
3. The Speaker of the House,
4. The Minority Leader of the House. The Governor appoints the chairperson of the Commission.
The Governor appoints for terms of tow, three and four years.
The general assembly appoints for four year terms.
An appointed member of the commission shall be eligible for reappointment. (p. 67)
The commission will hire an Executive Director (and other staff) to provide authorization and oversight to the charter schools. Charter schools and grants will pay for this staffing.
“All members of the commission shall have a demonstrated understanding of and commitment to charter schooling as a strategy for strengthening public education.” (B. 2. Page 66)
Comment: There is no mechanism, other than political persuasion, to ensure that these appointments are committed to charter schooling as a strategy. The current system, however has no such provision. Overall, this new system will work only as well as the charter schools want it to work. If charter schools continue to support the PA Coalition and other support groups for charter schools with their time, money and communication with their state representatives and governor, this new system could work quite well.
As a parent I have given and given. The school system has used our children for their own gain. It is time that our children get a change to choose and that is Charter School. It works as a parent who has use the traditional school system my daughter has not gotten a complete fair change. It is our time to get what we want and that is choice.
My grandson has done so much better in school since he was taken out of public school. He is an A and B student now. His stress levels have decreased…Pa charter schools need all the support and funding they can get…I highly recommend cyber schools to improve things and make more available for those on waiting lists. They are safer than public schools. Think about it PLEASE
This past school year my son went to public school for 1 week, everyday he came home crying ( he has ADHD, but is well controlled with meds ) We found out through other parents that they too had enough of the St. Clair school district, they scored the lowest on the PSSA’s in the county, my son was bullied by the TEACHER, she would only give him 10 minutes to complete an assignment and that was it, my son got so stressed he would break out into a rash and have to go to the nurse, if I wanted my son to be timed on things I would have sent him to a Military school. In the middle of that week we filled out enrollment for him into Gillingham Charter school. Once he got there , he became much more relaxed because he was treated with respect and no longer being bullied by a teacher, yes St. Clair teachers are part of the bullying. Gillingham was a GOD send to my son and our family, my son adjusted very well, all of my concerns we addressed in my son’s IEP and were followed through with all year long, By the end of the year at Gillingham Charter School, my son was well liked by students and staff, Gillingham gave our family hope for my son again, because he is a bit slower in math, they worked with him 1 on 1 to help him. I am so grateful to have had a choice for my son, and a positive experience as well with teachers and staff, we can’t thank them enough for having made my son comfortable from day one and the help he received on a 1 on 1 basis to help him through his math struggles, they have smaller class sizes and this works in favor of the Charter school because they have the time to help a student 1 on 1 to get them through the tough spots, I can express my son is no longer stressed out when he comes home from school and he loves it at Gillingham Charter school, so please consider those kids who do have some struggles with school work, they would NOT get the attention of just a teacher helping a student, the student becomes a number and gets lost in the system, What ever happened to NO student left behind, I can tell you they are being left behind in ST. Clair School. I praise Gillingham’s staff and teachers for making education a great experience for my son and for the rest of the students that attend that school. My son has his confidence back and to me that is something that is so priceless. Please keep Gillingham funded so not just my son, but the other students that go there can continue to have a great support system and can learn the proper way to be able to express their feelings if they don’t understand something. The students and parents are ALL treated with the utter most respect at Gillingham Charter School, we owe it to our children to help these Charter schools stay open and funded.
Sincerely yours,
Diann Jones
It isn’t your grandparents “brick and mortar” anymore.
If it were, there would be no need to seek a higher level of excellence.
The truth is sometimes hard to accept.
However, it remains the truth.
Sincerely,
Deborah McLain
The old model from the 1950′s of parents sending their kids to school and then looking the other way because the school had their child’s best interests in mind is broken. It doesn’t need to be fixed, it needs to be replaced. And while there are lousy teachers out there, in addition to some pretty wonderful ones, I place a large amount of blame on the school administrators and Dept. of Education who see our children not just as a number, but as a dollar sign. The Dept. of Education also uses the schools as a platform for their political agenda, which not only impedes the academic development of our children, but the ability of the good teachers to fully do their job.The academic revolution that is being waged, so to speak, of parents rising up and saying that they want change and an end to school violence, bullying, drugs, incompetent teachers, inadequate education, and over-paid administrators who aren’t worth a dime, will make a difference if we continue to make a stand up for what’s right. Charter schools offer us a venue to make the necessary changes for the needs of our children and a concrete way to make a difference, not only in the way that our children learn, but also for education of a nation that has been previously falling behind. Charter schools are the past, present, and future model of education that not only works, but has also raised up a new generation of young leaders for our nation.