There's ongoing debate at both First State Politics and Down With Absolutes regarding charter schools in Delaware.
Disappointingly, it is pretty much following the usual ideological lines, although it is a little strange to see Hube, Dana, and me together all raising facts and issues that some advocates don't want to deal with.
What's the data on Delaware charter schools?
Fortunately, we have it. Western Michigan University wrapped up an extensive study on our charters in April 2007, and you can find the summary here, and the full report here.
From the summary press release:
From the financial perspective:
From the equal access perspective:
From the teacher perspective:
From the academic perspective:
And what's ironic is that all this means that Delaware has one of the best charter school systems in the nation:
According to Miron, a unique aspect of this evaluation was comparisons that had to be drawn with other states.
As politically incorrect as it would seem, I'd argue that our charter school program has been as successful as it has been--within these criticism, which have to be deal with--precisely because Education Secretary Valerie Woodruff has been trying to keep such a tight rein on them.
Do yourself a favor on either side of the argument: READ the damn report before you start talking about what charter schools do and don't do in Delaware.
Disappointingly, it is pretty much following the usual ideological lines, although it is a little strange to see Hube, Dana, and me together all raising facts and issues that some advocates don't want to deal with.
What's the data on Delaware charter schools?
Fortunately, we have it. Western Michigan University wrapped up an extensive study on our charters in April 2007, and you can find the summary here, and the full report here.
From the summary press release:
In essence, the report concludes, Delaware is creating separate, but unequal charter schools.
From the financial perspective:
Unfortunately, Miron says, the schools serving low-income and/or minority students are struggling in terms of gains on standardized tests, retention of qualified teachers and securing adequate facilities. In part, this is because they are not able to solicit or leverage private funds that could help make up shortfalls in revenues that are critical during the start-up period for new schools.
From the equal access perspective:
According to Cullen, who served as project manager, the team found "substantial differences in student demographics," both among charter schools and also between charter schools and surrounding traditional public schools. On the whole, the study finds that traditional public schools have higher percentages of low-income students, students with special education needs and students who have limited English proficiency.
From the teacher perspective:
The study also uncovered "extensive differences" in teachers working at charter schools and working conditions at the schools. Some charters had a high proportion of teachers with master's or doctoral degrees, while others had few teachers completing any graduate degree. Working conditions differed dramatically depending on the school. On-site visits revealed some schools with extremely modern facilities and well-equipped school buildings and others that had crowded and run-down facilities.
Teachers' salaries also varied extensively, with some "having mean salaries noticeably higher than the state average and several schools with salaries far below the state average." The average salaries also lagged behind traditional public schools, $42,281 to $52,486, respectively. But this could be explained by "the large difference in educational background and years of experience" between the two teacher groups.
Though the schools have seen gradually decreasing rates of attrition among teachers over the past four years, attrition remains a "serious problem in some schools," the report finds.
From the academic perspective:
As far as academics, the evaluation reveals that charter school students in upper secondary grades were gaining more on the state assessment than their matched peers in traditional public schools. At the elementary school level, most charter school students were losing ground and showing smaller gains on the state assessment than their demographically matched peers in surrounding district schools.
And what's ironic is that all this means that Delaware has one of the best charter school systems in the nation:
According to Miron, a unique aspect of this evaluation was comparisons that had to be drawn with other states.
"Delaware's charter school law compared very favorably according to a number of critical reviews of state charter school laws," Miron says. "In terms of student achievement, although the results varied by schools, the aggregate results across all Delaware charter schools indicate that this reform has been noticeably more successful than charter school reform in most other states."
As politically incorrect as it would seem, I'd argue that our charter school program has been as successful as it has been--within these criticism, which have to be deal with--precisely because Education Secretary Valerie Woodruff has been trying to keep such a tight rein on them.
Do yourself a favor on either side of the argument: READ the damn report before you start talking about what charter schools do and don't do in Delaware.
Comments
You would take that choice away?
Also, charters have a higher percentage of African-Americans, Asian-Americans and Native-Americans than their public school counterparts. I somehow missed that in the summary.
I never suggested taking that choice away.
I suggested, however, that charter schools have (a) a high incidence of financial problems (for the third time, to which no one has responded; (b) that charter schools tend to have far fewer learning disabled, ESL, or poor kids, all of which skews comparisons; and (c) that charter schools are not necessarily making better advances in all areas than public schools.
I gave you both the summary and the link to the full report.
Check for yourself.
There are both positive and negative aspects to charter schools, especially in Delaware.
I'm just tired of the ideologues on both sides who are somehow convinced that if they admit any weakness to their position the world will come tumbling down.
If we are going to have charter schools at all, I think the percentage should be a little higher, say possibly 70 or at most 75%. Call it 80% of the state share for pupils.
However, that doesn't answer the argument.
Charter schools are essentially education non-profits. The rules of the game are established, whether the organizers like them or not--you get 55% of the student share. You have to build your business plan starting from that assumption, and if you can't cost it out so you can run the school, then you have no business opening one.
The non-public schools (Catholic, etc.) have to make their plans based on almost no public support, and they seem to get along--oh yeah: parents expect to pay tuition to get services not generally available in the public schools.
Why shouldn't the charter schools get 100% of both the state and local share per student?
1. Because there is a "corporate" responsibility to maintain general public education for everyone by everyone. Just as either seniors or people without children do not get to completely opt out of education taxes for children they don't have, parents who choose to put their children in charter schools retain some level of responsibility toward the greater public education system. After all, charter schools DO draw certain benefits from that system, even though they are excused from many requirements.
2. Because many of the advocates of charter schools and extending public school choice to the non-publics (but I am NOT including you here, Dave, so don't get offended) really do have as an agenda starving the existing system to death. As a libertarian I suppose I shouldn't object, and in theory I would like a completely different system than the one we've got now. But until somebody (a) designs that system and (b) draws the roadmap for how to get there from here in such a way as to win consensus support, we have a responsibility to be circumspect.
Please don't tell me that vouchers could currently replace the public school system, because the blunt reality is that right now they could wreck it, but not replace it. In order for vouchers to work in the inner cities, or among ESL students, or among special education students there has to be a guarantee that entrepreneurs will be willing to build and operate schools for those students.
I actually believe that Delaware has one of the most open education systems in the entire country. Our public school choice and charter school initiatives, combined with magnet schools in the districts and a thriving private school industry provide more options for parents than almost any other State you could name.