Charter School & School Choice

EDN 200

Today’s Plan

• NCLB - Review

• School Choice/Charter Schools

• Religion in Schools

NCLB Review• President Bush discusses NCLB:

– "It is important for all of us to make it clear that accountability is not a way to punish anybody. It's an essential component to making sure that our system, our education system, frankly is not discriminatory.“

» AP Newswire (4/12/2007)

• Reg Weaver, President of NEA– "While NCLB has laudable goals that we support – closing

achievement gaps and raising student achievement for all – its overly prescriptive and punitive accountability provisions have failed to move our nation closer to those goals. It has had many unintended consequences, such as narrowing of the curriculum, that have actually moved us away from those goals."

» Congressional Testimony (3/13/2007)

Conditions for Funding

• Each state must develop challenging achievement standards in language arts, mathematics, and science

• Develop valid assessments aligned with those standards

• Test annually in mathematics and language arts in grades 3-8, and once in 10-12 – starting in 2007 science testing to same extent

Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)

• Based primarily on performance on state assessments

• Baseline set at percentage of students in lowest performing subgroup in 2001-2002

• AYP based on raising that percentage from 2001-2002 level to 100% in 12 years

• To reach AYP, schools must demonstrate year to year improvement overall and by every sub-group

• % of students taking test also factor in AYP

Adequate Yearly Progress• School subgroups must be “numerically significant”

– 100 or more students– Makes up 15% of the school’s population and includes at least 50

students

• Subgroups may include:– Ethnic/racial groups

• African American • American Indian or Alaskan Native • Asian • Filipino • Hispanic or Latino • Pacific Islander • White

– Socio-economic disadvantaged groups• Neither parent has a high school diploma or participating in school

lunch program

– English learner– Students with disabilities

School Choice

• "It is the beginning of an experiment that will show whether or not private school choice makes a difference in quality education in public schools. I happen to believe it will."

• President Bush announcing $15 million school choice plan in Washington, D.C., 7/1/2003

What Types of Schools Are Out There?*

• Neighborhood Public School: – Local School Assigned by School District

• Charter Schools:– Public Schools that operate free of many regulations

• Magnet Schools:– Designed to attract diverse students to study

particular topics (science, art, etc.)

• Virtual Schools:– On-line “distance learning” programs where students

can take one class or an entire course of study

*US. DOE, 2006

Non-Public School Types*

• Religious Private Schools– Majority of Private Schools are religious– Catholic Schools are majority

• Secular Private Schools– College Preparatory– Waldorf, Montessori– Deaf or Blind

• Home Schooling– Use Curricular Packages or Develop Own Course of

Study

*US. DOE, 2006

School Choice

• School choice can be best defined as empowering parents to select the educational environment they feel is best for their child. In other words, school choice is parental choice.*

*Alliance for School Choice, 2006

How Does School Choice Work?

• There are numerous ways to implement school choice

• Within District Choice: – Students are given the right to attend any

school within district• Transportation usually not provided

• Magnet, Charter, Virtual, Private, Home schooling

School Choice• School Vouchers:

– A set amount of money is assigned to each student and follows that student

– Money used to pay for enrollment at private school• Two common objections:

– Money raised with taxes should support public education– Public funds should not support religious schools

» Some voucher programs remove religious schools from eligible institutions

– Money tends to be <100% of per/pupil funding• Supporters argue that this increases per pupil funding for

those students who remain• Detractors argue that schools are further harmed by the

loss of their highest caliber students

Public Attitudes*

• Do you favor or oppose allowing students and parents to choose a private school to attend at public expense? 

06 05 04 03 02

Favor 36% 38 42 38 46

Oppose 60 57 54 60 52

Don’t Know

4 5 4 2 2

PDK/Gallup, 2006

Charter Schools

• Started in 1992• In January 2004, there were 2,996 charter

schools*• 97 in North Carolina**

– 28,030 students enrolled

*US DOE, 2004

**USCS, 2006

Public Knowledge

• Just from what you know or have heard about charter schools, please tell me whether each of the following statements is true or false.– A charter school is a public school– Charter schools are free to teach religion– Charter schools can charge tuition– Charter schools can select students on the basis of ability

Public Knowledge

• Just from what you know or have heard about charter schools, please tell me whether each of the

following statements is true or false. True False Don’t Know

A charter school is a public school 39% 53 8

Charter schools are free to teach religion 50 34 16

Charter schools can charge tuition 60 29 11

Charter schools can select students on the basis of ability

58 29 13

What Are Charter Schools?• Charter schools are nonsectarian public schools

of choice that operate with freedom from many of the regulations that apply to traditional public schools. The "charter" establishing each such school is a performance contract detailing the school's mission, program, goals, students served, methods of assessment, and ways to measure success.*

• 3-5 year contracts with state allowing individuals or groups to operate schools with public funds

US Charter Schools, 2006

What Are Charter Schools?

• In theory, Charters exchange autonomy for accountability*

US DOE, 2000

Charter Schools*

• Tend to be small – median enrollment of 130-150 students– Compared to 475 for public schools

• Non-normative grade configuration– Examples: K-12, 4-6, 3-7

• Many states allow private schools to become charter schools

• Student profiles in charters are similar to those in public schools– SES, race, special needs

US DOE

Public Attitudes*

• As you may know, charter schools operate under a charter or contract that frees them from many of the state regulations imposed on public schools and permits them to operate independently. Do you favor or oppose the

idea of charter schools?

2006 No Children in School

Public School Parents

Favor 50% 59Oppose 37 31

Don’t Know 13 10

PDK/Gallup, 2006

Your Questions about School Choice and Charter Schools?

Religion in Schools

Football Prayers:It was a cold December evening when the fans began to fill the Polk County High School bleachers. The Polk Eagles were playing cross-county rival Seneca Cougars and more than 1,500 students and parents were expected. The marching band played, cheerleaders performed for the crowd and the visiting dance squad did routines for their fans.

At 7:00 p.m. the loudspeaker crackled to life and student announcer Brian Murphy greeted the crowd, “Welcome and thank you for attending tonight’s big game. We have been anticipating this one all season…” Murphy went on to introduce the coaches and the starting lineups for both teams. The players rushed the field and the crowd went wild.

At 7:10 p.m. Brian Murphy asked the crowd to quiet for the playing of the national anthem and then he introduced Brandi Konstant and Lindsey Hickman. “Brandi and Lindsey, our student government president and vice-president will now lead us in a prayer.” Brandi and Lindsey stepped up to the microphone and thanked the crowd for coming. The two girls proceeded to recite the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father, who art in heaven…” Nearly all fans in the stands bowed their heads and recited the prayer along with the girls.

At 7:15 p.m. the Polk Eagles kicked off to the Seneca Cougars and the crowd roared. Twelve rows up in the bleachers, Melissa Reichert, a student from visiting Seneca turned to her friends and asked about the prayer. Her friends, both of whom attended Polk, explained, “We took a school-wide poll at the beginning of the season and nearly all of the students wanted a student led prayer at the beginning of every game. This is our 5th home game and a different group of students gets to lead it each week. It’s pretty cool.”

Talking Points

• What concerns/issues do you see?

• Perspectives: – Students who support prayer– Students who are opposed– Principal/Administration– Taxpayers

• What do we know about this?

• What should be done?

The Opening: Marty Thompson was in his 12th year with the Sycamore School District.

This year Mr. Thompson wrote for and received a small grant from the district to purchase 20” x 24” canvases and high-quality oil paints for all of his classes. Mr. Thompson had already made plans with the principal and the PTA to host a gallery opening throughout the school in late May.

The months of February and March were spent learning painting techniques and practicing with the oils on paper. In April Mr. Thompson proudly handed each of his students their own canvas and paint supplies and he gave them their assignment, “Paint a picture of what life is all about.” Most students looked puzzled but some, including Brian Mulhoney, shook their head in immediate understanding. Mr. Thompson refused to answer any questions about the assignment. He told them about the big gallery opening and he told them that they were free to use the school’s art facilities before and after school to work on their paintings. He also encouraged students to take their canvas home to work outside of school hours.

Mr. Thompson was surprised when 151 paintings were in classroom by the due date. As he flipped through the paintings leaning up against every wall in his classroom, Mr. Thompson was greatly pleased with what he saw. Sunsets, smiling faces, babies, rainbows, clouds, peace signs, abstract shapes, and hearts filled the paintings. One painting, however, caught his attention and he slowly shook his head. The painting of Jesus on the cross was well done and Mr. Thompson felt a pit form in his stomach.

On the night of the opening, the auditorium was filled with 400 parents, students, and teachers. Mr. Thompson welcomed them and thanked them for coming. By 7:15 the parents were walking the halls and admiring the quality and thoughtfulness of each work.

Thirty minutes after the opening, Mr. Thompson felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see Brian Mulhoney and his mother. “Mr. Thompson, we can’t seem to find Brian’s painting anywhere,” Brian’s mother said.

Mr. Thompson grimaced and said, “I didn’t feel it was appropriate to hang Brian’s in the school show.”

Talking Points

• What concerns/issues do you see?

• Perspectives: – Students who support prayer– Students who are opposed– Principal/Administration– Taxpayers

• What do we know about this?

• What should be done?

Four to Keep in Mind• First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of

religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

– “establishment” and “free exercise” clauses

• Engel v. Viatale (1962): NY school system allowed teachers and students to recite prayer allowed each morning. The ruling barred schools from conducting prayer services within school buildings during regular school hours.

• Lee v. Weisman (1992): Following a rotating schedule of faiths, a principal invited a Rabbi to deliver prayer at graduation ceremony. The court ruled that Prayer at school events was unconstitutional in this case because the ceremony was effectively required.

• Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (2000): Students led prayer at a school football game. The school provided students and opportunity to vote on whether to have prayer and they allowed them to use the PA system at the game. The court ruled that student-initiated and student conducted prayer in this case also violated the first amendment.