Friday, April 28, 2000
Report: State laws weak on charter schools
Backers: Most need more freedom, funds
By
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — States attempting to promote charter schools are heading in the wrong direction if they don't give the special public schools ample freedom and funding, say supporters in a new report on state laws.
“Some states think it's OK to pass a relatively weak law and still be part of the charter movement,” said Jeanne Allen, president of the Center for Education Reform, a privately run school-reform research and advocacy group. “A large number believe it's all right to have charter schools as long as they liberate the system from bad kids.”
Charter schools — public schools created by parents and teachers and run with exemptions from most state laws and regulations — usually represent a public school choice for parents in poor communities, where schools often struggle.
The Washington-based group evaluated the 36 states and the District of Columbia that have laws governing how charters open and are run — and concluded that just nine states ensure good charter schools.
The group — whose newest analysis comes as charter school support widens and intensifies — examined states for policies it associates with strong charter school laws. The best states, Ms. Allen said, tended to allow universities and other groups to join school districts in sponsoring charters, make sure those charters get their funding directly from the state, approve a variety of schools, and protect charters from restrictive teacher union contracts.
Arizona ranked first; Mississippi last. Massachusetts got high marks for giving charter schools more direct access to their special pool of state funding. Others such as Kansas were panned for opening charters narrowly targeted to troubled kids.
The report, to be released next week, did not include information on student test scores. It counted schools opened in a given state and detailed how and when a state allows such a school to open. The group put a premium on how many charter schools a community has.
There's little evidence of how much better a charter school student does in testing and other academic performance, says Amy Stuart Wells, a researcher at University of California at Los Angeles.
Ms. Wells noted in a recent interview that her longterm study of the schools found that many presented vague goals, little accountability and antagonized relations with the local school district.
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