Commentary: Charter school lobby seeks to restrict democratic control of schools
by Ron Whitehorne on Oct 05 2012
Gov. Corbett's administration, supported by the charter school lobby, is seeking to pass a change in the charter school law that would effectively remove control of charter schools from local communities in favor of a statewide commission of political appointees. The proposed law would also ease requirements for prospective charter school operators, increase the term for renewals from five to 10 years, and dramatically increase the ability of local school boards to convert existing public schools to charters.
Under the revisions, any district-run school, regardless of its performance, could be targeted for conversion to a charter, and the requirement that some parental and community support be demonstrated is dropped. The law would also exclude the records of some charter school vendors from the “right to know” law.
For much of the last year, the prospects for the law’s passage seemed dim. But now, proponents of the bill have adopted a new tactic, attaching the essentials of their bill to the stalled bill that would change the funding formula for special education. This is a cynical ploy meant to avoid a serious discussion of the issues concerning charter schools.
Public school advocates, and, for that matter, charter school advocates who share