From Public Citizens for Children and Youth (http://www.pccy.org):
The final straw that breaks the “worst” law?
What’s it going to take for legislators to finally take action?
We all know Pennsylvania’s charter school law is terrible. It doesn’t hold charter schools to the same standards of public schools. It doesn’t do enough to protect taxpayers from waste and fraud. And it places a terrible burden on public schools where most kids learn, draining already inadequate state funding.
In short, it fails our students.
Last year, PA Auditor General Eugene DePasquale issued a damning report on the law, declaring it “the worst charter school law in the United States.” And for a while, it was our dirty little secret.
Then, last fall, thanks to Last Week Tonight’s Jon Oliver, the sad state of PA’s charter laws made the Commonwealth a national laughing stock last year.
But last week, the PA Supreme Court singled out one of the law’s shortcomings in a decision that ruled that charter schools could not operate outside of what is permitted by state statute. A charter school requested an amendment to its charter to add 70% more students than was allowed. While that particular matter is resolved, the case only refocused attention on the already untenable situation.
We all want high performance, greater transparency, and true accountability when it comes to all schools that are publicly funded. We want predictable standards and procedures from charters and the districts that authorize them.
Lawmakers must move past their ham-fisted attempts at so-called charter reform that only makes the law even worse.
Fortunately, there is a solution that lead us out of the charter wilderness: adopting a business model.
Here are four ways Harrisburg can fix things:
- Increase competition and high performance
Allow higher enrollment for top academic performers that are fiscally sound, well-managed and are enrolling students that reflect the populations of the districts in which they are operating.
- Shut down poor performing charter schools
Close underperforming, fiscally irresponsible and poorly managed cyber or brick and mortar charter schools quickly. To illustrate, at one PA charter school, a dismal 7.5% and 0.7% of students are reading and doing math, respectively, on grade level. Students are being robbed of an education when floundering charter schools remain open indefinitely.
- Ensure public funds are properly stewarded
Make public financial, employment, criminal and historical records for contractors hired to manage the charters including Educational Management Organizations, charter school operators, their employees and affiliates. Nothing beats the intention of bad actors like the fear of exposure.
- Give all students access
Ensure all students regardless of race, socioeconomic status, and ability a chance to attend. Far too many charter schools fail to admit students they think might be “hard to educate.” The easiest way to solve this problem is to require all new charter schools to mirror the Philadelphia renaissance model where all children in the neighborhood can attend.
Educating our students is consistently our highest priority as voters and clearly the greatest constitutional responsibility legislators must perform. We demand that our representative in Harrisburg show us they mean business.
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