Proposal would let charter schools rise independent of districts
Gary Porter
Camile Olig teaches a Spanish class at Lake Country Academy, a charter school in Sheboygan. Lake Country could benefit from proposed legislation that would loosen local school district control over charter schools.
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>Lake Country Academy, a public K-8 charter school in Sheboygan, starts each Friday with an assembly on a human virtue.
It's delivered in the school's hallmark call-and-response style of instruction, with students then returning to class to write about the topic.
Academy leaders are eager to take their methods — right down to the uniforms — to the high school level, but that's not possible right now. The Sheboygan School Board is taking a two-year break from chartering new schools.
However, controversial legislation recently introduced by a Milwaukee lawmaker would allow new charter schools to open across the state without the blessing of local school districts. If it passes, the proposal by Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) would dramatically change the system for chartering schools in Wisconsin.
Critics say the proposal would mean further cuts in funding for public school districts and further attempts to circumvent the kind of accountability that many legislators claim to champion.
Darling's proposed amendment to Senate Bill 76 would allow the University of Wisconsin System two- and four-year campuses, as well as technical colleges and regional state entities known as Cooperative Educational Services Agencies, to approve charter schools to operate independent of school districts. It would also allow independent charter schools performing 10% higher in achievement than their local
Read more from Journal Sentinel: http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/proposal-would-allow-charter-schools-to-rise-independent-of-districts-b99113676z1-226843721.html#ixzz2h9IeVyrF
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