If you have not already contacted your
state representative (for most of us, that’s Lisa Lyons, but after the next
election cycle, it will be Peter MacGregor, so it is worth contacting him, as
well) about SB 618, please do so today.
If you have already contacted them, please consider contacting them
again. SB 618 will eliminate caps on the
number of charter schools that may operate in this state. Charter schools will even be allowed to operate
in districts that are well-performing.
The competition that charter schools foster is competition for rather
scarce dollars. So far, they have not
proven to be the panacea for failing schools that they were promised to
be. Here are some facts that you may not
know about charter schools:
Charter
schools in Michigan are NOT performing at or above the districts from which
they draw students. In fact, 75% of
Public School Academies (PSAs) in Michigan are in the BOTTOM quartile of
districts and buildings!
Charter
schools in Michigan DO NOT provide equitable special education services based
on student needs as required by Federal law.
In terms of actual services delivered,
charter schools offer less than 25% of the special education services that
traditional schools within Kent ISD offer.
Charter
schools in Michigan – as compared to the districts from which they draw
students – ARE NOT serving higher need students or students of more diversity;
most diverse PSAs are VERY homogeneous.
Michigan
provides much more publicly funded parent choice already than do most other
states in the United States.
Ask your
legislator why Michigan would enact a policy to create more one-building
schools at a time when many of our districts are facing significant deficits.
Why would Michigan expand one-building districts when traditional schools are
being encouraged to consolidate operations? Most importantly, why would Michigan lawmakers allow
an unlimited number of schools that are failing our students at a MUCH higher
rate than traditional public schools?
When you talk
to your legislator, explain that any expansion of charter schools should be
limited to districts where there are persistently low performing buildings with
the provision that new charter operators demonstrate a track record of success
and commit to providing the same level of service – transportation, food
service, special education -- as the schools they are replacing.
Our reforms should be focused on quality, not quantity. The
charter school choices offered to parents must be better than the traditional
schools they are seeking to leave.
