Charter Schools in North Carolina

Law:   Passed in 1996

Rank:   12th strongest of the nation's 40 charter laws

CER Grade:   B

Schools:   93

Students:   21,030

POLITICS:

SHOW ME THE MONEY: Asheville City's foot dragging and legal dodges to avoid payment of the supplemental tax and fines and forfeiture monies owed to the Francine Delany Charter School has been finally stopped by the state Supreme Court. That means that the Asheville City school system has no more excuse not to pay the charter school monies owed. While this is great news for the school, it seems that Asheville may yet resort to some sort of legislative fix that may excuse their retroactive payment - sounds like more court time ahead. For more information, go to The League of Charter Schools, http://www.charterleague.org. From CER Newswire March 11, 2003.
TUNNEL VISION: The allegedly non-partisan North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research has called for a three-year moratorium on charter school expansion. The request for the moratorium is based on incomplete data: the Center looked at a small number of schools and ignored the long-term benefits that have come out of the charter movement in North Carolina, especially as it relates to the achievement gap and success among minority populations. From CER Newswire July 23, 2002.
CYBER CYNICISM: The North Carolina State Board of Education appears to have thumbed its nose at a money-back guarantee that was offered to the board by the founder of a proposed Cyber-charter school. The New Connections Academy made the offer after the school's impact on the system was apparently questioned. Because the school planned to open and eventually expand to 1,200 students, the state board raised concerns, not about the educational value of the school (it appears) but whether or not new people not currently getting a public education would be drawn to it. Wasn't that what schools were supposed to be about? See http://www.newsobserver.com/ (From CER Newswire February 12, 2002)
IT'S THE MONEY, HONEY: Illogic characterized a recent recommendation by a state advisory body in NORTH CAROLINA. While the entity recommended a 10 percent increase in charter schools, the measure would also allow schools that lose students to be held harmless at the rate of 60 percent of funding in the first year, and 40 percent in the second, costing about $ 6-7 million more in education funding.

The head of the state's charter league, Roger Gerber puts this into perspective in a way that most Americans not steeped in education politics can understand:

"Your community has a restaurant. One in twenty-five die from food poisoning at this restaurant. Restaurants throughout the state have a similar problem. The controlling powers decide to only allow another 10 restaurants to open in the state. If your area is fortunate enough to get another restaurant you can take heart in the fact that the original restaurant will be held harmless if some customers elect to try the new restaurant." (From CER Newswire, January 15, 2002.)
OBSTACLES: North Carolina's law generally has established an open climate for charters. However, various contractual agreements and onerous auditing procedures at the state level have been cause for much complaint and administrative burdens at a number of schools. For example, the state education department has required charters to sign contracts that allow state officials to impose additional requirements later, above and beyond what is outlined in the law. CER Charter Law Rankings, April 2000

DEVELOPMENTS:

LIFT YOUR CAP: North Carolina’s State Board of Education Chairman Phil Kirk paid a recent visit to The Franklin Academy, a charter school in Wake Forest, and is reportedly interested in seeing the charter cap raised to 200. The Tarheel State is the sight of some terrific charter innovations. Carter Community School in Walltown (near Durham) took over the old Walltown school building which was derelict but is now transformed, with the help of some private funding, from Duke University, among others. Charter entrepreneurs like the state’s Peter Morcombe, whose group Financial Reform for Excellence in Education has five charter schools, is recommending innovations like NEMOs— short for not-for-profit educational management organizations — to help meet Kirk’s target. CER Monthly Letter November 2000.
FAIR FUNDING: North Carolina's Attorney General has ruled that charter students are entitled to an equal share of revenues, and that districts are obligated to transfer a share of the tax money levied on residents by school districts. "It is clear from the funding provisions that the same state per pupil allocations would flow to the charter schools as to traditional public schools. In our opinion, it is consistent for the local school system to transfer all monies it has budgeted in the current expense fund pro rata to the charter school. This puts public charter school students on an equal footing with students attending traditional public schools...In conclusion, all funds contained in the local school boards current expense fund...must be transferred to the charter school on a per pupil basis." CER Monthly Letter, June 2000
MONEY MATTERS: In 1998, North Carolina expanded its Educational Facilities Finance Agency to include non-profit organizations providing K-12 public education. The authority can now sell bonds for charter schools and then transfer the proceeds to the school for its capital needs. In addition, a non-profit program titled Self Help administers the North Carolina Community Facilities Fund, which is used for community and charter school development. Loans of up to $1 million are available with favorable terms such as fixed-rate borrowing for large projects. Solving the Charter School Financing Conundrum

HIGH IMPACT: The Public School Forum surveyed North Carolina's superintendents on their perceptions of the impact of charter schools. Sixty-two percent of respondents said charter schools had a "very strong/strong" or "moderate" impact on their districts. Nearly 40 percent said they were interested in the idea of setting up a district-run charter school to gain charter school operational flexibility, and some expressed interest in setting up a charter district. Charter Schools Today: The Ripple Effect

ACHIEVEMENT:

HIGH TEST: Gaston College Preparatory School in Gaston, NC opened in August 2001. After only one year, the school is recognized as the highest performing public school in the four counties from which its student population is drawn. The school currently serves 130 students in grades 5-6, ninety-eight percent are black and 85 percent qualify for free or reduced lunch. CER Newswire January 21, 2003.
SALLY FORTH: The Sallie B. Howard Charter School in Wilson, North Carolina inaugurated its brand new building over the weekend. The new school will accommodate the 450-student, K-7 integrated arts charter. The building is fully equipped, featuring science labs, virtual labs, media and dance studios, and a 200-computer technology center. The school has come a long way since it opened five years ago with children attending classes in trailers. Pictures of the dedication festivities can be found at http://www.charterleague.org/. From CER Newswire, April 16, 2002.

ENTREPRENEURIAL EXCELLENCE: Entrepreneurial thinking has spawned three excellent examples of charter schools: Franklin Academy in Wake Forest, the Magellan School in North Raleigh and Exploris in downtown Raleigh. The Exploris Middle School and the Magellan Charter School received the best ABC test scores in the state of North Carolina (98th and 97th percentiles respectively). SMART BUSINESS MOVE: HELP CHARTER SCHOOLS, by Robert L. Luddy, Point of View, The News and Observer Raleigh, NC, May 17, 2000

RESOURCES:

Profile of North Carolina Charter School Law .

SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS:

North Carolina League of Charter Schools 200 Staggs Trail Chapel Hill, NC 27516-7310	Contact: Roger Gerber Tel: 919-967-1029 Fax: 919-967-1029 Email: R_Gerber@bellsouth.net
Website: www.charterleague.org
The League seeks to promote the charter school concept so that all students, families, and communities can access quality education.

North Carolina Charter School Resource Center 4711 Hope Valley Rd., Suite 321 Durham, NC 27702	Contact: Thelma Glynn Tel: 919-682-1500 Email: NCcharter@aol.com
Website: http://www.nccsrc.org/
The North Carolina Charter School Resource Center is committed to the values of public education and involved in strengthening the charter school movement in North Carolina. The Center provides technical assistance to charter school and serves as a state-level advocate for policies and regulations that facilitate the viability of charter schools.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION:

Charter School Office North Carolina Department of Public Instruction 301 North Wilmington Street Raleigh, NC 27601-2825	Contact: Dr. Grova Bridgers Tel: 919-715-1730
Website: http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/charter_schools/maincharter.html