Charter Schools 101: The basics behind a hot education topic
Amid the many education issues now in flux, the future of charter schools seems to attract a high degree of heat and, frequently, misunderstanding. So I thought it might be good to offer a Charter Schools 101 primer.
Q.Just what is a charter school?
A. Launched in Minnesota about 25 years ago, the idea was to offer kids independent, publicly funded schools with creative, different programs. The movement grew rapidly. More than 2.5 million students nationwide were in charter schools in 2013-'14.
Q.Why are they called "charter" schools?
A. Let's say you and I have an idea for a school. We go to a government body (usually a school board, but, around here, a few other bodies, such as Milwaukee city government), and say, hey, give us permission to open this school, give us money and we'll give you something different with good results. (At least, that's the ideal.) Down the road — usually after five years — you can either give us a green light to continue or you can cut off our money, based on our record. If the government body says OK, then we formalize an agreement that is called our charter.
Generally, I'm describing what we'll call an independent charter. There are quite a few charters created within school districts as alternatives to their traditional programs. Most of the charter schools in Wisconsin fit this description.
A significant difference between school district charters and independent charters is whether the teachers are employees of the district or whether they are hired (and potentially fired) by the individual school. Almost all of the controversy around charter schools involves independent schools.
Q.What's the difference between a charter school and a voucher school?
A. Around here, a simple answer is: Voucher schools can be (and almost all are) religious. Charter schools cannot be religious. Overall, both involve public funding of schools outside of the traditional system.
Q.Are independent charter schools intended only for poor kids?
A. No, but that's pretty much what's developed, both in Wisconsin and nationwide. There's a bunch of reasons why — a subject for another time. Charters have emerged as one of the most prominent (and controversial) strategies for trying to improve education outcomes in high-needs urban areas. Large charter operators have arisen, some running dozens of schools, most of them offering programs with high expectations, step-on-the-gas styles of education, a lot of structure, strong emphasis on behavior, and longer school days and years.
Q.Are kids ever assigned to go to charter schools?
A. No.
Q.Do charters charge tuition?
A. No.
Q.How much money do they get?
A. The current public payment in Wisconsin is about $8,000 per student per year. That's less than public schools get. Most high-quality charters also benefit from quite a bit of private donations.
Q.Do charter schools enroll any student or do they attract better students?
A. A controversial question. Charters aren't allowed to be choosy about who gets admitted. And good ones work hard to help any child. But, as reality plays out, there is some truth to saying that a lot of kids who don't fit into the program don't stay. Charter critics say one outcome is that charters overall have fewer students with special-education needs and big behavior issues than conventional schools.
Q.Are charter schools getting better results?
A. Yes, no and maybe so. Frankly, your answer often depends on your politics. Setting that aside as best as I can, I'd say some of the best schools in Milwaukee, both in results and school culture, are charters. There is data to back up saying that, although critics disagree. Overall, locally and nationwide, charters aren't a panacea and the outcomes aren't that much different than traditional public schools.
In Milwaukee, there were — and still are — charter schools with bad results and bad operating practices. Some of those are gone, which is how the system is supposed to work. Some are improving.
I watched a Milwaukee Common Council committee wrestle on Thursday with what to do about King's Academy, a northwest side charter with a poor record but evidence of improvement. The discussion focused on data, serious talk about how to improve, and what's best for kids. The committee backed a two-year extension of the school's charter, rather than the five years the school wanted. The school will remain under pressure to show further improvement. It struck me as a good example of how the idea is supposed to work.
Q.Is the charter movement going to expand in Wisconsin?
A. In the last four years, while voucher school advocates were scoring big victories in the state Capitol, charter advocates got pretty much nowhere. But as the new state budget is shaping up, charter people have scored some victories.
It's a mess to describe, but it seems likely there will be at least a few more charter schools in Milwaukee in the next several years. There might be independent charters for the first time in Madison, Waukesha County and possibly some other places. But there will be no green light for independent charters statewide, while private school vouchers are getting a green light.
Opposition to charters is strong. In short, the more kids who go to schools outside of the traditional system, the more problems there are for the system. This applies to Milwaukee, but it also applies out state, where opposition to independent charters has succeeded in stopping independent charters. The vast majority of Wisconsin kids will continue to be educated through public school systems.
My guess overall is that with funding capped around $8,000 per kid, and with an atmosphere that is so contentious, there won't be a big surge of new charters. I'd go with a forecast of some growth, with reason to hope it will generally be connected to an upward movement in the quality of the schools involved.
Alan J. Borsuk is senior fellow in law and public policy at Marquette University Law School. Reach him atalan.borsuk@marquette.edu. Alan J. Borsuk - Charter Schools 101: The basics behind a hot education topic:
