Charter Schools Transferred from Hostile Work Environment
It may sound like bureaucratic mumbo jumbo, but moving the North Carolina Office of Charter Schools out from under the state’s Department of Public Instruction (DPI) and placing them under the State Board of Education was celebrated by charter school advocates across the state.
The legislature approved the move this session – which charter schools had been requesting – and Gov. Pat McCrory signed the change into law.
The reason charter school supporters were in favor of the change is that it takes charter schools out from under the control of the Democrats who oppose charter schools and places them under the control of the Republicans who favor charter schools.
The DPI is run by State Superintendent June Atkinson, who is a Democrat elected statewide. Neither she nor her department like the idea of public schools that don’t have all the state and local bureaucracy controlling their every move.
The State Board of Education is made up of members of the elected Council of State, including Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, who is an outspoken supporter of charter schools, and eight members appointed by McCrory, also a supporter of charter schools. Atkinson is on the State Board of Education but is seriously outnumbered by the Republican members.
Debbie Clary, a former North Carolina state representative and state senator who is now a lobbyist on behalf of charter schools, said that the move from the DPI to the State Board of Education was the most important legislative action this past session involving charter schools. Clary said that the Department of Public Instruction does not show support for charter schools and that it is very hard for the Office of Charter Schools to work under an organization that does not support them.
Clary also said, “If DPI had their way, they would turn public charters into just what we have in traditional public schools, and eliminate choice for parents.”
One charter school supporter gave an example of such a roadblock related to money the state appropriates to schools. DPI distributes that allotment. The supporter said that DPI has been known Charter Schools Transferred from Hostile Work Environment - Rhino Times: