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May 25, 2010

Why the Charter Cap Bill Should Not Become Law

by Leonie Haimson and Mona Davids, at 4:46 pm

As parents and advocates, we are convinced that the bill being promoted by the charter school lobby to raise the cap on charter schools would seriously harm the city’s children who attend both district and charter schools.

We have seen how the city’s charter school operators have misused public funds for their own private ends because of lax financial oversight. We have seen how too often, children enrolled in charters have received inappropriately harsh discipline, and have been suspended or “pushed out” of school, especially those with learning issues or disabilities. We have seen how the city’s Department of Education has pitted parent against parent in fighting over space, in a school system that is badly overcrowded. And we have seen how both the DOE and charter school operators have deprived parents of a voice in how their children are educated.

Unlike the bill earlier passed by the Assembly, this bill would bar the State Comptroller from auditing the books of charter schools, despite the financial scandals that have erupted in New York and throughout the country regarding conflicts-of-interest, self-dealing and misuse of public funds. It would continue to allow for-profit management companies to try to make a buck off our children, despite the cuts that are decimating school budgets. And it would deny parents from having any say in where these schools are located, intensifying bitter battles that already are ripping communities apart and leading to more overcrowding and the loss of critical cluster spaces and libraries.

Class Size Matters and the New York Charter Parents Association have developed a framework of shared principles for district and charter parents, calling for enhanced accountability, transparency, and protection of parent and student rights at both sets of schools. (Read our framework at the end of this piece.)

For example, all charter schools should be required to have a Parent Association, as well as a parent sitting on their boards of directors. In our work, we’ve found that right now, many New York City charter schools disallow PAs, including all those in the Uncommon Schools chain, including the school that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan visited last week. 

The rules that govern charter schools’ operation should be posted online; now it takes a costly Freedom of Information request to obtain this basic information. Community Education Councils should reserve a seat for a charter parent, and CECs as well as parents at existing schools should have the authority to approve charter school sitings inside their school buildings.

Reportedly, the Senate bill was passed due to the aggressive lobbying of Education Reform Now, whose board is made up almost entirely of hedge fund operators who are holding out the promise of campaign dollars in exchange for legislators’ votes. These hedge fund operators do not have children in city public schools, and have made false claims in their lobbying efforts. Their ads, claiming that if the state passed a “few common sense education reforms,” New York could receive $700 million in federal funds to help prevent budget cuts to schools, are plastered all over the internet.

The reality is quite different. Even if New York won a portion of these funds, known as Race to the Top, the rules are quite restrictive as to what they can be spent on, as Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm said at a City Council hearing on May 14. The funds cannot be used to fill holes in the state or city budgets, whether to prevent damaging increases in class size or the threatened elimination of 6,400 teaching positions.

Their deceptive tactics are also revealed by a flyer that Education Reform Now produced and distributed for Long Island State Sen. Craig Johnson, a prominent supporter of lifting the charter cap, who does not have a single charter school in his district. Yet the flyer does not mention the issue of charter schools, presumably because his suburban constituents would not favor their expansion, but instead praises his efforts to increase education funding “to reduce class size,” though we can find nothing in his record focusing on this issue.

We believe strongly that the cap on charter schools should not be lifted without more transparency, accountability and rigorous protections of the rights of all parents, students, and taxpayers. If the Senate bill became law, corruption and abuse would continue to flourish and the parent voice would continue to be silenced. Most important, it would damage the conditions under which our children learn.

Leonie Haimson is the Executive Director of Class Size Matters. Mona Davids is the Executive Director of the NY Charter Parents Association. 

Class Size Matters and NY Charter Parents Common Principles

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  • http://www.sinksalive.blogspot.com KitchenSink

    Sounds like, from your suggested reforms, you would favor having all charter authorizing happen through SUNY (as opposed to none, which appears to be a proposal being floated by the anti-charter crowd). It’s been the most transparent authorizer – lots of data on its website – and the most aggressive at providing oversight.

  • Pogue

    Don’t lift the charter cap.  It lets Bloomberg and Klein off the hook in regards to their failure to help all city schools over the past 8 YEARS.  (Damn, that’s a long time) If mayoral control was only about making more charters and segregating more city children, then this mayor and chancellor weren’t smart or creative enough to come up with real solutions for ALL.  But, then again, what do you want from leaders who ask for no educator input.

  • http://blog.nycsa.org Peter Murphy

    There is something very wrong with “charter parents” advocating AGAINST allowing more charter schools for non-charter parents who want to be charter parents by enrolling their children into charter schools.

  • http://www.nycharterparents.org Mona Davids, New York Charter Parents Association (NYCPA)

    As a “CHARTER PARENT”, I am advocating AGAINST senate bill S7678 because it does NOT provide TRUE charter school reform. As a “CHARTER PARENT”, I want charters to:
    1. Serve their fair share of Special Ed and ELL students at the school and NOT ship them out to other locations
    2. Be audited by the State Comptroller
    3. Post their charter, by-laws, financial reports and board meeting minutes online
    4. Have independent parent associations with the President of the PA on the board as a voting member
    AND, other reforms mentioned in our framework document.

    If these TRUE reforms are included in the Assembly’s bill then we will support that charter bill but not the senate’s bill.

    So, what exactly is wrong with what we’re asking to be included in the new charter legislation?

    Oh, I get it, how dare we ask for anything. YOU know what’s best for OUR children. Puhleez!

  • Mariama Sanoh, Vice President of New York Charter Parents Association

    Mr. Murphy,

    I am a true “CHARTER” parent that sees something wrong with the current bill that is trying to be passed that doesn’t offer “TRUE” charter reform. I am a charter parent because I believe in public school option, however it seems that charter school leaders, their board of trustees, nor the hedge fund million & billionaires do not have the publics interest at heart when it comes down to educating “OUR” children. The current bill does not offer the accountability and transparency that is needed for true reform. It is another mechanism that suits the needs of the school, not for the parents and their children. If charter schools are truly “PUBLIC” why was I billed $228.50 for a copy of my charter, and $10.75 for my by-laws? I found that quite interesting due to the fact that I never received these documents. As former district school parent I was never billed for any public documents by the DOE! I find that very unjustifiable especially if charters are “SERVICING” a population in socio-economic distressed neighborhoods. What average parent has this money alloacted Mr. Murphy? I also have a special needs child as well. I also find it very troublesome that I was called in for a meeting in October that the school may not be the best suit for him, however his related services did not begin until 2 days before the Christmas holiday. What do you call that Mr. Murphy? I call it “COUNSELING OUT!” Please point to where in the pending legislatation which address this issue. I have spent $2,300 for a private tutor via EBL Coaching who comes 2 a week to give him one one additional support in reading and math. I have also spent an additional $1,600 dollars for a comprehensive evaulation at the Yellin Center. I have provided a copy to school which offers learning strategies that are most effective for him. I did this so my child can have his rightful place in this “PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL” I can not imagine if I did not have the financial resources and the saVvy to fight for my child to stay at RGA , a “PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL” My daughter who is currently in 6th grade is on her 5TH teacher for this academic year alone! Almost 100 students have withdrawn from RGA by February, and now parents have been informed via email yesterday afternoon that Julie Johnson, the current principal will not be returning next year. If I wasn’t a parent that was living these events, I would find this to be unbelievable! This is just one account of many accounts that are happening throughout not only New York State but also nationwide! Do you along with any other of your members at NYCSA have children, nieces, nephew, or grand children in charter schools? I highly doubt that. So before you start question the intentions of a “charter” parent(s) advocating for the rights of their child(ren) I would take a step back Mr. Murphy. Never under estimate what a parent is willing to go through for their child. I do not only care about my children but I aslo care about the 97% that are not in charters schools as well. When you are ready to work on true reform Mr. Murphy for the greater good of all public and charter school children, please contact me. It would be a pleasure.

  • Tom Forbes

    Excellent article, keep up the fantastic work.

  • http://nyceducator.com NYC Educator

    The people demand more!

  • http://nyceducator.com NYC Educator

    .More articles from Leonie, that is

  • Akademos

    I just wish SOME of the charter schools would use out-of-the-box methods to take on specifically the more challenging students. THAT was the original idea of charters. Experiment, potentially serve as models, or at least relieve the TPS’s of some degree of burden. It’s no big trick to indirectly screen before and after admission for the better students, work teachers and other staff to death and then boast about your extraordinary gains. Even a caveman could do it. Many have. (No disrespect to KS.)

  • Akademos

    Correction: Make that MORE, not SOME. I know some do.

  • I noticed that…

    It’s good to see this article (thank you Leonie) raise the conscience of the parents in charter schools. These parents demand that there be true charter schools reforms. There should also demand disclosure of all financial reports. Transparency is a must if the charter schools have nothing to hide. I want to commend those parents who have the chutzpah to confront these hedge fund managers. Every cent should go to the education of the child and not into the hedge fund managers/organizations’ pocket.

  • http://www.sinksalive.blogspot.com KitchenSink

    Mr. Druckenmiller, I’ve got that per pupil check. I signed it over to you just like you asked and it’s in the mail. A clean $684k, just like we discussed. Oh, sorry, wrong email.

  • http://photomatt7.wordpress.com Mr. Foteah

    Akademos – Why would charters in NYC work outside the box to help those who struggle? Seems to me the goal is high test scores, and if you can’t contribute to that, then adios. In fact, rather than the outside the box thinking which you – and I as an educator – crave for our students’ benefit, what they get is test prep, test prep, and more test prep. In a business, the bottom line is king. Charters employ the same philosophy.

  • Akademos

    You do know you’re preaching to the choir, don’t you?

    I wanted to highlight the stark difference between the original concept of the charter school, as Diane Ravitch has spoken and written about, and what most are now. I don’t even know how successful in terms of effective methods and management the charters are that do serve densities of special needs students.

    Thanks for allowing me to say it again.

    And privatization, big business, etc? I’m afraid this situation is more dire than most realize. The survival of this species more than ever depends on our not giving in to our own stupidity, our baser modes of thinking, our lesser and more myopic perspectives. Bottom lines are so aptly named, and so often so far from the true underpinnings of anything at all.

  • A. Evans

    If charter school parents and public school parents are against this bill, why would our elected “representatives” vote against their wishes?

  • Akademos

    I’m not sure. Not even sure whether that’s rhetorical.

    A lot of people buy into the ‘reform’ movement not realizing that there’s an ideology embedded there that goes: since unions, communities and parents have been part of the problem, they must be temporarily, defacto taken out of the equation to whatever extent possible, whenever they could potentially ‘interfere’.

    There are also plenty of delusional ideologues who feel they are in the midst of a ‘fix’, they’ve staked they’re reputations on it, they’ve invested time, energy, money, belief, etc, etc, etc. They are in a musth. Chance of reversal of momentum, or momentary genuine reflection on what they’re really doing and accomplishing? Nil. They’d have to hit a steel-reinforced brick wall.

  • Akademos

    . . . they’ve staked their reputations on it . . .

    Got apostrophe happy. Too much emphasis on shortcuts (shortenings), not enough on responsibility (possessives).

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