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Answers to Frequently Asked Questions1. WHAT DOES I-729 DO? Initiative 729 gives Washington voters the opportunity to join 36 other states in authorizing the creation of charter public schools. The official ballot title of I-729 was prepared by the Attorney General and asks this question: "Shall school districts and public universities be authorized to sponsor charter public schools, independently operated, open to all students, and subject to revised state regulation?" The official ballot summary was also prepared by the State Attorney General and summarizes I-729 as follows: This measure would authorize school districts and public universities to sponsor charter public schools. Charter public schools would be run by nonprofit corporations, accountable to their sponsors for financial and academic performance, but operated independently of school districts. Charter public schools would be open to all students and staffed by certificated teachers, who could choose to unionize. Charter public schools would be exempt from most state school regulations, except in health, safety, and civil rights.
Charter public schools are alternative public schools that are created by educators, parents, or community leaders to provide more, high-quality public school choices, with less bureaucracy and more accountability. In other states, these schools are sometimes referred to as "charter schools" or "community schools" or "public school academies,"
Charter public schools are authorized in 36 of the 50 states, including every large state and every state west of the Rocky Mountains -- except Washington. Fueled by strong parental demand for more public school choices, the charter school movement has grown from one charter public school in Minnesota in 1992 to almost 2,000 schools serving about 500,000 students across America. Vice President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush both support charter public schools and advocate policies that should double or triple the number of charter public schools over the next few years. Senators John McCain and Bill Bradley also support charter public schools. Many of Washington's best known political leaders support I-729, including Governor Gary Locke, John Carlson, Clyde Ballard, and Frank Chopp. Gigi Talcott and Dave Quall, the Republican and Democratic co-chairs of the House Education Committee, both support I-729. The Tacoma News Tribune has already endorsed I-729, and virtually every major newspaper in the state endorsed the 1998 compromise bill that is virtually identical to I-729.
The state House of Representatives has passed a bill authorizing charter public schools in four of the last six years. The Legislature would have passed a bill this year except that state Senator Rosemary McAuliffe, the chair of the Senate Education Committee announced that the bill ready for passage in the House would be "dead on arrival" when it reached the state Senate. For the past six years, Senator McAuliffe has made a habit of supporting the "concept" of charter public schools while at the same time using her power in the Senate Education Committee to block public hearings on bills authorizing charter public schools. Senator McAuliffe is very powerful and has used every other tool at her disposal to kill every charter public school bill that came her way.
The purpose of charter public schools is to provide more, high-quality public school choices for children and their families. Charter public school supporters reject the idea that "one size fits all" and believe instead that the best way to make sure every child gets a good school "fit" is to offer more high-quality public school choices. Although there are many wonderful public schools in Washington, too many children fall through the cracks of the current public school system and don't even graduate from high school. Many others lose interest in learning and fail to reach their full potential.
Parents like charter public schools because they provide parents with more, high-quality public school choices for their children.
Teachers like charter public schools because they offer more professional freedom and autonomy than conventional public schools. Charter public schools offer talented, energetic teachers the opportunity to create the public school of their dreams, to work with other teachers who share their vision, and to work with parents who believe that the school offers a good "fit" for their children. Because everyone at a charter public school chooses to be there, charter public schools tend to have more parental involvement and fewer discipline problems, even when serving "at risk" children.
Charter public schools are created with "sweat equity" not local property taxes. Charter public schools are generally more efficient because they are subject to less "red tape" than conventional public schools and because they are allowed to "contract out" support services such as accounting, payroll, food service, and maintenance. Charter public schools tend to shop for bargains in everything they buy because every dollar they save is another dollar that can be reinvested in improved curriculum, smaller class sizes and better teachers. Charter public schools are funded solely with the current state funds that are already earmarked to "follow the children" when parents transfer from one school district to another or use the "Running Start" program to pay for their high school student's tuition at a community college. Charter public schools do not receive any local levy funds or bond funds unless the local school board specifically agrees to "sponsor" the school and local voters give their approval.
Except for matters involving health, safety, civil rights, academic
testing, and open public meetings, charter public schools do not have
to comply with the voluminous regulations that govern other public schools.
However, because charter public schools are strictly accountable for
their academic and financial performance, they are, in fact, much more
accountable than conventional public schools. 10. HOW ARE CHARTER PUBLIC SCHOOLS HELD ACCOUNTABLE TO PARENTS? Charter public schools are, by definition, schools of choice. No one is every forced to attend, and parents are free to withdraw their children at any time. Charter public schools are funded on a per-pupil basis. So if no one wants to attend the school, the school receives no state funding. Similarly, if the parents at the school become unhappy and withdraw their children, the school loses all of its funding and all of the adults who work there lose their jobs. That's real accountability. As a result, charter public schools are very "customer-oriented" and work very hard to serve the children and families in their communities.
Charter public schools are much more accountable than conventional public schools for delivering results, measured in terms of high levels of academic and financial performance. Every charter public school must have a "sponsor." The sponsor -- either the local school board or a public university -- is the government agency that issues the "charter" or license required to create a charter public school. School boards and public universities are not required to grant charters, but if they do, they must closely monitor the academic and financial performance of each charter public school they create. Every charter school must provide detailed reports to its sponsor at least once each year, and any school that does not perform well can lose its charter. Schools that lose their charters are no longer eligible for government funding, and without government funding, every adult who works at the charter public loses their job. That's real accountability.
OPEN TO ALL. Like all public schools, charter public schools cannot discriminate in their admissions or operations based on race, religion, ethnicity, national origin, gender, income level, disabling condition, proficiency in the English language, or athletic ability. ADMISSIONS LOTTERY. Like most public schools, charter public schools must enroll all students who submit a timely application. If capacity is insufficient to enroll all students who submit a timely application, a lottery must be used to determine which students are offered admission. TUITION FREE. Like all public schools, charter public schools must not charge tuition. CERTIFICATED TEACHERS. Like all public schools, charter public schools must hire certificated teachers. STANDARDIZED TESTS. Like all public schools, charter public schools must administer the standardized tests required by the Legislature and report the results to parents and the public. NON-SECTARIAN. Like all public schools, charter public schools cannot be religious schools. NON-PROFIT BOARDS. Like all public schools, charter public schools must be managed by a non-profit board of directors and must satisfy all of the requirements established by the federal government for public charities.
BUILT WITH SWEAT EQUITY. Charter public schools are "bottom up" schools created by concerned parents, educators and community leaders. They must first prepare a detailed plan, get the plan approved by a sponsor (this approved plan is the school's "charter"), and then use their "sweat equity" to turn the plan into a new public school. Once the school is created, parents are free to choose it if they prefer it over their other public school choices. LESS POLITICAL. Charter public schools are operated independently of local school districts, and because they are not monopolies, but must compete for customers, their boards are selected by the parents, educators and community leaders who create them, rather than being selected through the political process. However, charter public schools are directly accountable for their academic and financial performance to either the local school board or a public university through the specific contractual provisions of their charters. LESS RED TAPE. Charter public schools are deregulated and given much more autonomy than conventional public schools, but in return are held to a much higher level of accountability. They respond to accountability requirements from government agencies because they will be closed down if they don't. They are accountable to parents because they will go out of business if they aren't. NO ADMISSIONS TESTS. Unlike the "magnet school" programs operated by many school districts, charter public schools are never allowed to use admission tests to determine which children will be offered admission. SMALL SCHOOLS. Charter public schools are usually much smaller than conventional public schools, and rarely serve more than a few hundred students and their families. This creates a strong sense of community and encourages parental involvement. CENTRAL THEME. Charter public schools are typically organized around a central theme, such as the performing arts, science, technology, Montessori, or "back-to-basics." FOCUS ON "AT-RISK" KIDS. Charter public schools are often focused on serving student populations that are considered "at risk" of academic problems such as drop-outs, students from low-income families, students with disabilities, and students who do not speak English as their primary language.
A tremendous amount of information about charter public schools is available
on the world wide web. For example, the U.S. Department of Education
just completed a four-year study of charter public schools. That report
is available on the world wide web at: www.ed.gov/PDFDocs/ |
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