CER Op-Eds
E-Mail CERCER Testimony
Hearing Testimony Before The House Subcommittee
on Early Childhood,
Youth and Families: Charter Schools
Charter School
Promises Becoming Reality
by Jeanne Allen, President
The Center for Education Reform
September 16, 1997
Mr. Chairman, Members of the Subcommittee:
The Charter School movement has grown out of the need and demand for better public schools. As Americans increasingly feel trapped in failing public schools and abandoned by the system, charter schools offer a way out and a way up. Concerned citizens from grass roots groups to state legislatures are turning to charter laws as a direct and effective means of creating schools that are more innovative and responsive to communities, and free from the demands of the bureaucratic process. And hundreds of parents and teachers are seizing the opportunity to roll up their sleeves, roll back regulations, and open and operate the type of schools where they most want to teach and send their children.
In the six years since the first law was enacted in Minnesota in 1991, charters have taken on a significant role in school reform. With over 700 schools in 29 states and the District of Columbia serving over 150,000 students this fall, it is clear that the charter school concept has made a compelling impression on educators, politicians and parents nationwide.
A combination of legislative action and public will has spurred this grassroots, revolution enabling and encouraging the creation of innovative and accountable schools. Successful charter schools combine fundamental aspects of public schooling with the flexibility and freedom of the private sector. Most importantly, charter schools are approved and evaluated on results, rather than process - their success is judged on how well students achieve rather than on compliance with administrative policies and mandated budget allocations. Their focus is on the education of children, rather than the preservation of the "education system."
With enthusiastic, bipartisan support, charter schools continue to promise a variety of improvements for families, educators and the community, and this widespread support has now turned into widespread success.
The promises of the charter school movement are becoming reality as charter advocates across the national are providing evidence of charter schools' positive influence on educational opportunity, innovation and improvement. The promises of the charter school movement are becoming reality.
In a nutshell, charter schools increase options for parents, simultaneously increasing their involvement and satisfaction; empower teachers, providing them a professional setting in which to innovate and excel; better meet the needs of students including at-risk students; provide a competitive impetus to traditional public schools to improve; provide an opportunity for true community collaboration to create real neighborhood schools; ensure accountability, resulting in more responsive, successful schools; offer freedom from regulation, spurring greater innovation; and offer increased autonomy, generating greater efficiency. All there benefits combine to bring about increased student achievement.
Parental Involvement and Satisfaction:
According to a study by the Goldwater Institute, the number one reason charter school parents in Arizona cited for leaving their previous school was "curriculum;" their number one reason for choosing a particular charter school was "curriculum/school theme." Arizona now has 166 schools, enrolling over 17,000 students - 4.1% percent of the state's student population. Because of the recent advent of charter schools, those students and their families have educational choices not available to them just two or three years ago. Only half of the parents Goldwater surveyed rated their child's previous school satisfactory; on the other hand, 92% said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their child's current school a charter school and 94% intended to sent their child to the,same school next year.
Parent involvement is a hallmark of California charter schools. Parents in one bilingual community built Oakland Charter Middle School from foundation to fixtures, on park land donated by a local Roman Catholic Diocese. The parents remain involved, donating one hour each week to clean bathrooms, to serve food, and to complete myriad other duties which are traditionally contracted out. Oakland Charter Middle was established to rectify a system that did not allow for the creation of a bilingual middle school. All teachers are bilingual and hired by the parents. At the Accelerated School in South Central Los Angeles, parent involvement at school meetings is 80%, and parents spend more than 150 hours a month volunteering at the school. Washington Park School logged more than 14,000 volunteer hours in its first year as a charter; parents at Bellevue-Santa Fe Charter School donate four hours a month; parents at Santiago Middle School donated 19,000 volunteer hours in the first year of the school's charter.
Almost universally, charters have unleashed pent-up demand from parents searching for alternatives. Waiting lists for almost all charter schools are more than their current enrollment. Sonoma Charter School (CA) enrolls 230 students; over 350 are on the school's waiting list. Voyager Charter School in La Crescenta, California, enrolls 40 students, and has 50 students on its waiting list; Chinook Charter School in Alaska enrolls 75, and has twice as many an its waiting list. C. K. Steele / Le Roy Collins Community Charter Middle School in Florida has as many students on its waiting list as in its classrooms, as does SABIS International Charter School (MA). Collin Powell Academy and Concord Academy, both in Michigan, have waiting lists nearly as large as their current enrollment.
After receiving over 1,000 applications on the first day, the University Public School (MI) collected 5,223 applications for 330 placements. One family had submitted over 100 applications for their child. Over 2,000 students went into a lottery for only 600 spots at Boston Renaissance. The school has nearly doubled its size, but over 2,000 students remain on their waiting list. In addition, over 600 teachers applied for 40 teaching slots. Horizon Instructional Systems (CA) provided resources to 30 home schooling students when it opened in August 1993; the school now serves over 1,400 students from kindergarten through 12th grade. 250 students are on their waiting list.
Nearly half of Colorado's charter school students are enrolled in Core Knowledgecharter schools. The initial success of Academy Charter School, founded by parents, and Jefferson Academy Charter School, among others, are inspiring the creation of eight more Core Knowledge charter schools in the fall of 1997. And despite the attempts to meet demand with a supply of more schools, waiting lists are substantial: Cherry Creek Academy enrolls 350 students but their waiting list is over 600; Jefferson enrolls 282 students, and their waitlist is over 1,000 long.
In Colorado, nine of the state's first fourteen charter schools are governed by boards comprised of a majority of parents. Not surprisingly, parent involvement is also high: at Jefferson Academy, each parent volunteers an average of 26 hours a year; parents have logged 9,000 hours at Stargate Charter School, over 10,000 at Core Knowledge Charter School, and 11,400 at Academy Charter School.
Empowering a Profession:
City on a Hill Charter School in Boston, MA, was founded by two teachers frustrated with the low student and teacher expectations of their previous schools. The charter law allowed them to seek out the best-qualified teachers without regard to certification. They received 350 applications for three staff positions. In the wake of City on a Hill's success, founder Sarah Kass, a Rhodes Scholar, received a $10,000 award for community leadership from Mademoiselle magazine.
A survey of Arizona charter school teachers found 77% involved in faculty councils; 74% involved in establishing grading policies; 73% involved in selecting texts; and 62% choosing to teach at their charter school because of the school's mission, curriculum and/or students served. Ninety-five percent of the charter school teachers have a performance evaluation at least annually.
Pioneering new methods of merit pay, Vaughn Next Century Learning Center (CA) pays "lead teachers" an additional $1,500 for taking on extra duties. These eight elected teachers coach their peers on "new instructional techniques, arrange seminars and other training opportunities, compile teaching materials, coordinate curriculum changes, and perform teacher evaluations." Teachers report that it has increased the quality of instruction, as well as generated professional pride in the school and boosted morale. Also, Vaughn's teachers pledge to avoid any claims on the workers' compensation insurance they purchased. The payoff: a $26,000 bonus at the end of the year if no claims are filed, as well as increased staff stability. Through competitive bidding, the school has secured cheaper and more flexible health care insurance, as well as long-term disability insurance, a benefit the district does not offer. After the school's charter goes through the renewal process in 1998, teachers will be eligible to withdraw from the union, and are considering using erstwhile union dues to set up a Charter School Credit Union.
Minnesota charter legislation requires that charter schools establish majority-teacher governance boards, and in a majority of the state's charters teachers have expanded decision-making or instructional roles. Some teachers have control over purchasing decisions for classroom supplies, and participate in the evaluation and reporting of student achievement. In a survey of teaching staff, 81% reported satisfaction with their charter experience, particularly with respect to co-workers and curriculum and job tasks. In four of the schools surveyed, teachers reported greater satisfaction with job advancement opportunities than did teachers nationally.
For 399 teaching positions available, Massachusetts charter schools had received 9,588 applications since 1995. A national charter public school study confirms such teacher enthusiasm from state to state: "There is strong interest among educators in accepting the challenge charter legislation offers." Although some critics doubted teachers would agree to being held accountable in such a fashion, "the answer is clearly yes."
Reaching All Students, Including Those "At-Risk":
The Hudson Institute found that charter schools around the nation average 63% minority enrollment. In addition, 19% of the students in charter schools they surveyed had disabilities or impediments that affect their education. The study concluded, "Contrary to some forecasts, charter schools are serving proportionately more disabled youngsters than are conventional schools. Many disabled youngsters in charter schools are being educated in ways that do not conform to the formal procedures and classifications of US special education, yet such children appear to be well-served, and they and their parents are pleased." The study also found that 55% of charter school students are poor, and 19% have limited English proficiency.
The Goldwater Institute found that 35% of Arizona's charter schools serve at-risk students, and than the state's charter students overall don't necessarily represent the state's highest achievers; fourth and seventh grade students entering charter school scored an average of 5 percent lower on standardized tests than the state average, while tenth grade charter school students scored an average of 12 percent lower. Texas charter schools' enrollment is majority minority: 26% African-American state average is 14% ; 52% Hispanic (state average is 36% ; and 19% white state average is 47% . Charter teachers have similarly disproportionate minority backgrounds compared to state averages. Texas' 20 approved charters expressly serve at-risk students, and 72% of the state's charter school enrollment is designated "at-risk," compared to 39% for the entire state.
Students with histories of poor academics and behavioral problems, the "hard-to-reach" learners, are being reached at the nation's first charter school, City Academy (MN). The Academy demonstrates its successes in measurable outcomes: a sizable waiting list, improved attendance, and, in its first three years in operation as a charter, 156 graduates, 90% of whom qualified for two or four-year college programs.
Pam Girod used $9,000 of her own money to fund Cedar- Riverside Community School (MN), serving students from a community housing project. Cedar-Riverside provides a neighborhood school to students, from mostly low-income, minority, recent immigrant, or single parent families, who had previously been bused to over 40 different schools throughout Minneapolis. A recent evaluation of Minnesota's charter schools found that they enroll 45% minorities, compared to the 16% enrolled by their host districts; 25% have disabilities versus host districts' average of 15%1; 10% are limited English proficient (double the host districts' average of 5% ; and 471% qualify for the federal free or reduced-price lunch program versus host districts' average of 29% .
The San Diego Chamber of Commerce Business Roundtable for Education and Charter Schools Consortium found that California charter schools enroll 53% minority students, as well as large numbers of students from of low-income families. Options for Youth, a private, non-profit organization, runs three charter schools serving over 800 dropouts, adjudicated youth, and other at-risk teens. Superintendent Al Andrews, complimented his district's Options for Youth CA) charter school and its focus on dropouts, saying it "found literally 200 students in our valley that we didn't know existed," and provided them with the opportunity to continue schooling.
A study by the Pioneer Institute found that overall, 48% of Massachusetts' charter school students are minorities more than double the state average of 21%; 39% qualify for the free lunch program 7% of Massachusetts families live in poverty; and 18% speak a language other than English as their primary language the state average is 7% .
In Michigan, more than half of the students enrolled in charter schools sponsored by Central Michigan University are minorities; in public schools, minorities comprise 22%, of enrollment. CMU schools represent 51% of the state's current charter schools, enrolling 7,408. Officials have estimated that the 1997-98 enrollment will be approximately 11,870 students.
Louisiana's first charter school, in Jefferson Parish, takes up to 20% of the middle school students expelled from the district's traditional public schools. Jefferson Community School's goal is to successfully return 80% bark into mainstream schools within a year.
Improving All Schools:
Massachusetts' charter law, strong on autonomy and entrepreneurship, motivated the Boston Public Schools and their teacher unions to create their own charter-like schools. From among 17 applications, 6 pilot schools opened in September 1995; seven are now in operation, with more expected to open in fall 1997.
After its well-publicized successes, City Academy (MN) now exchanges information with its own district on enhancing programming for all its high risk students. Teachers and parents launched the Minnesota New Country School to take advantage of and expand the role of technology in learning; now district teachers go to the school to learn how to implement technology in their classrooms. In Forest Lake, Minnesota, parents who had repeatedly had been denied their request for a Montessori school found that after the state's charter law gave them the means of launching the school on their own, the school board was finally willing to create an in-district Montessori school.
The Core Knowledge curriculum is rapidly spreading in Colorado. Over a third of Colorado's charter schools use the Core Knowledge curriculum? as will about a third of those scheduled to open in fall, 1997. Within 8 months of opening, the success of the Connect School CO had motivated its neighboring district in southeastern Colorado to charter its own experimental school, the Pueblo School for the Arts and Sciences (CO).
Paul Krapfel helped found the Chrysalis Charter School CA) to implement "a vision of a better way." The school offers a nature study curriculum in partnership with Carter House Natural Science Museum. Charter schools can serve as an antidote to the "tendencies of the public school system to be one-size-fits-all, to be so bound in regulations as to appear unresponsive, and, in some situations, to have groups in control more interested in protecting their access to power and money than in improving the education of the children," says Krapfel. "We all came to charter schools as individuals, each of whom has had very different experiences with very different school systems.... Some, like myself, are teachers who want at the very least the opportunity to teach according to their heart and spirit. Others are administrators and researchers who have struggled for years for the betterment of students and who are fascinated/repulsed by the inertia that retards reform." just one example of a concrete way in which Chrysalis will impact fellow public schools is in the school's development of nature field guides that can be bought be teachers in traditional schools to expand their own science and nature curriculum.
The Houston Independent School District has responded to the charter school opportunity by developing flexible and innovative schools within the district. 13 contract schools will open in fall 1997, and Thaddeus Lott manages a cluster of schools, making personnel and curriculum decisions independently of the district. Reports the superintendent, "Charter schools provide models of educational excellence and innovation. The administration believes that the expansion of such models will help to foster widespread educational reform throughout all Houston schools."
San Diego area charter schools have formed a consortium to pool knowledge and influence -- they pick and choose which services they will contract with the district to receive, keeping the district on its toes. "Charter schools are our best customers," said Ruth Reshkoff, director of employee services for the San Diego City Unified School District. "We know that if we can't do it better and cheaper, they'll go somewhere else." The Washington Elementary School in the Desert Sands Unified School District did just that, contracting out for grounds-keeping services that were delivered significantly cheaper and tailored to the charter client, including lawn-mowing on Saturday, when children weren't in the classrooms.
For several years now, charter schools have provided a solution to overcrowded alternative schools in the Jefferson County, CO, school district. In their first year, Community Involved Charter School, a college-preparatory school, and Jefferson Academy, an elementary school, served 650 of the 1,000 students who had been on waiting lists for those alternative schools. Parents had urged the district to expand their popular alternative schools program to no avail until the charter school law allowed schools to be started independent of the district. Within a year and a half, in addition to the new charter schools, the district had launched three new schools of its own.
A New Accountability:
Less than 1% of the charter schools in operation have been closed due to operational and fiscal mismanagement. This illustrates the strict and swift accountability to which charter schools are subject. By comparison, district schools that experience managerial or achievement failures may be subject to organizational changes, such as state receivership, but their doors remain open, with students' academic careers in the hands of schools that year after year have proven inadequate to the job.
Aiming high, The Connect School's CO charter specifies that 90% of its students will perform at or above grade level as measured by the district's standardized tests. According to the superintendent of the sponsoring district, "The Connect School has been a model for others. People feel secure enough to take risks." From the 1994-95 to the 199596 school years, the percentage of students meeting the district's standard of success in testing increased in math, reading and language arts.
In Georgia the entire Cartersville district, consisting of a primary, elementary, middle and high school, chose to convert to charter status in 1996. In return for flexibility on personnel, testing and class size, the district has promised to register improvement in every area measured by the Council for School Performance, increase the number of students passing the high school graduation tests, and raise its standardized test scores "to record rates in Georgia." Two districts in California, Kingsburg, and Pioneer, also elected to convert entirely to charter status.
Community-Based Commitment:
As a report by the Massachusetts Department of Education notes, charters schools spring up "where there are hundreds of parents, community leaders and other who wanted a different kind of public school for their community. If community can be correctly defined as an association of people united by a common interest, then charter schools are quintessential communities."
Civic, business and community groups actively endorse the charter idea nationwide: Skills for Tomorrow Charter School in Minneapolis, MN, a vocational/technical school, receives support from the Teamsters Union. Bayou Charter School in Houma, LA, is sponsored by the Dyslexia Society of South Louisiana. Woodward Academy in Detroit, MI, was created by the US Drug Enforcement Agency and several Detroit organizations to provide a residential school for High-risk students. The president of the Miami Urban League helped launch Liberty City Charter School in Miami, Fl. In Michigan, Livingston Technical Academy is governed in part by local manufacturers. The Henry Ford Academy of Manufacturing Arts & Sciences, to open in fall 1997, is the nation's first partnership effort involving a major company Ford Motor Company , a nationally recognized nonprofit cultural organization Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village , public schools and higher education.
Grants from RJR Nabisco contributed to Vaughn Next Century Learning Center's San Fernando, CA early success, and the local Northern States Power Co. offered a helping hand to the nation's first charter school, City Academy. The University Public School in Detroit, MI, received a technology grant from the Great Lakes- Ameritech Partnership and an arts grant from its utility provider, Detroit Edison. Both Ameritech and the University of Wisconsin-Madison helped James C. Wright Middle School WI plan for and purchase the right computer equipment and get it running. The aid included rewiring all classrooms to accommodate the added electrical demand.
First Interstate Bank of California donated $13,000 in funding to be split between O'Farrell Community School CA) and another San Diego charter school, Darnall E - Campus (CA). The Bank believes that as a member of the business community it has a responsibility to invest in preparing for tomorrow's work force. Oakland Charter Middle School CA blossomed in part from seed money from Citibank. And the community's Catholic church agreed to lease property to the school for $1 a year for two years.
Support from local churches, within the bounds of the constitutional separation of church and state, has played a significant role in the successful start-up and operation of a number of charter schools. Like Oakland Charter Middle School, Plymouth Educational Center Charter School (Detroit, W, Santa Rosa Charter School Santa Rosa, CA , and Ser-Ninos Houston, TX are housed in local church facilities.
In January, 1997, the same month the first New Jersey charter schools were approved, the Prudential Foundation established their $10 million Charter School Lending Program to "help New Jersey's charter schools clear a potential funding hurdle as they develop new opportunities of our children to excel." Prudential offers up to $1 million at below-market rates, as well as technical assistance, to any qualifying charter school for use "for any purpose relating to the school's mission of providing quality public education," allowing the state's charters to open with a solid financial foundation. By providing loam rather than grants, Prudential believes "charter schools will ultimately be in a better position to establish a strong financial plan and credit record. Repayment of these loans will also enable us to support more charter schools in the future."
Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School (Lowell, MA operates a 2+2 Program in cooperation with Middlesex Community College whereby Lowell students can choose to participate in college classes to receive both high school and college credit. In Michigan, local colleges and universities play a significant role in the development of the state's charter school academies - they sponsor 85% percent of the state's 79 academies. Universities actively support charter schools in nearly every charter state, from the Rural College of University of Alaska's partnership with Project Education Charter School to the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater's development of an assessment system for New Century School.
Flexibility In Operation and Delivery:
Charter schools serve at-risk students particularly well with a flexible, individualized approach. Options for Youth La Crescenta, CA charter school owes its success to innovative strategies such as an open entry system where students "can enroll and start virtually any weekday of the year" and an independent study program where students "can tailor the time and pace to meet personal needs or work schedules."
Cedar-Riverside Community School Minneapolis, MN , freed from district hiring guidelines, focused on teacher applicants with different racial and ethnic backgrounds in an attempt to mirror the area's diverse population, and showed preference to those willing to live in the neighborhood. In order to develop the team-teaching approach intended to reach the diverse population it serves, Bowling Green Elementary CA needed stability in its teaching staff. The charter's exemption from contractual rules allowed the school to avoid the disruption caused by the contract-sanctioned practice of allowing senior teachers to "bump" junior faculty in times of layoff or simply because they covet certain positions.
With a mission to "learn more about what might be done to strengthen urban schools in general," the University Public School Detroit, MI has an instructional day two hours longer than the minimum public school requirement, expectations that teachers work at least seven-hour days, and a school year a month longer than other public schools. Edison charter schools also operate on a longer school day and year, tailored instruction, a computer in every student's home, as well as a school organization that keeps students with the same teacher for several years.
Teacher evaluation at the Connect School CO has left traditional methodology behind; instead, it resembles evaluations used by a number of high-tech industries in the area. Evaluators use a team approach, combining input from students, parents, and community. Unlike the most effective charter school laws, Colorado's legislation does not provide for blanket waivers from state education regulations, but the state's charter schools have been active and effective in seeking individual waivers on issues ranging from personnel including teacher certification, hiring, compensation and evaluation to governance. A recent study of the state's charter schools found that "in the areas of governance, parent and community involvement and employment policies, the charter schools, as a group, are operating in ways that are dramatically different from, and apparently more inclusive than, most conventional public schools."
Curriculum innovation is at the core of many founders' goals for their charter school. Across the country, charters are successfully developing and implementing a wide array of rigorous, meaningful curriculums. For example, 9 of 32 charter schools 1996-1997 in Colorado use E.D. Hirsch's Core Knowledge Sequence; Montessori charters are in operation in Minnesota, Arizona (about 10% of the state's 166 charter schools , Georgia, Texas and Michigan.
In high immigrant and minority districts, charter schools are tailoring their instructional delivery to a wide range of bilingual students. The Acorn Dual Language Charter School St. Paul, MN , whose mission includes bilingual graduates, is the first in the country to teach Hmong; about half of the students study Spanish and half Hmong. The Lawrence Family Development Charter School MA , Bowling Green Elementary CA , GLOBE Charter School CO , and Ser-Ninos TXI are just a few that provide bilingual instruction tailored to their local community.
A study of the nation's first 101 charter schools found that they are generally small with a mean size of 299 students. For the 1996-97 school year, Colorado's 32 charter schools' enrollments averaged about 200. In keeping with each charter's individual approach, enrollment can range from as high as 1,200 (Fenton Avenue Charter School and Horizon instructional Systems, both in California) or even 2,000 (Highland High School, Albuquerque, NM) to under 10 (Kenquest Academy, Grayling, MI, Union Hill School District Charter School, Grass Valley, CA).
The Benefits of Autonomy:
Small rural schools are often subject to the whims of a distant, impersonal district; many find themselves in danger of closure by districts who are seeking economies of scale, with their students threatened with the prospect of long bus rides to take them to the nearest school miles away. To resolve the dilemma, a number of schools have used their charter law to break away from a district that rules from afar, Toivola-Meadowlands Charter School Meadowlands, MN has served 186 rural students as a charter since 1993; Battle Rock Charter School in Montezuma County, CO, declared its independence in September 1995; two schools joined forces to form the Lake George-Guffey Charter School CO to continue to provide a local education in their respective rural communities.
Vaughn Next Century Learning Center CA and Fenton Avenue Charter School CA took fiscal control and legal liability of their cafeterias. En an effort to reduce waste, increase eating time, and boost enthusiasm for meals, both schools scrapped their inefficient ticket system in exchange for a bar code system. In addition, The Fenton Avenue Charter School buys only about 40 percent of its supplies from the district. It also produces big savings by shopping for its own hazard, liability, and workers' compensation policies rather than purchasing from the largely self-insured LAUSD. With its fiscal freedom, Fenton Avenue School (CA) has been able to reduce class sizes, create extended day programs and restore teacher salaries to what they were before a recent pay cut; all this while bringing in a $200,000 surplus at the end of their first year.
Vaughn Next Century Learning Center CA had an actualized surplus of $1.2 million (from a $4.6 million budget after it's first year in operation -- an unheard-of feat in the cash- strapped L.A. Unified School District, where the district has cut more than a billion dollars over the last several years and slashed employee salaries up to 10%. The school's operating surplus has been used, in the 4 years since it converted to charter status, to build a new 14 classroom complex, cultural center and library, further correcting overcrowding and reducing class sizes.
City Academy's (St. Paul, MN) successes, including a 5:1 student/teacher ratio, were all accomplished with less than 4% of its total budget going towards administrative costs. All City Academy teachers have experienced an increase in salary, benefit, and professional development compensation.
Freedom from certification and teacher contract requirements has allowed charter schools to bring in the best teachers for their students. Instead of hiring teachers by district mandates or by seniority, Options for Youth CA , a charter school for dropouts, focuses on Wring teachers "according to their ability to work with individual students." The San Carlos Learning Center employs a parent with a Stanford math Ph.D., but with no teaching credential, to teach math, and native Spanish speaking parents to teach Spanish.
The charter school movement is bringing new educational hope and opportunity to some of the communities and families who need and want it most. Because of the increased freedom and flexibility of charter schools, teachers, parents and communities can establish schools that more directly address the special needs of their children, and provide new outlets to children who might truly benefit from a school that operates outside the traditional factory model.
Still, obstacles and opposition abound. Those with a vested interest in the status quo seek to stop charters before they even get started, by killing legislation or watering it down to ineffectiveness, or by controlling, and in many cases denying, approval to charter applicants. In addition, financial and technical difficulties beleaguer charter school operators who struggle to launch a viable institution, both operationally and academically, with few financial, physical or managerial resources, often in a very short time, and under greater public scrutiny and against higher standards than most traditional public schools ever encounter.
Nevertheless, the sheer growth in number and scope of charter schools in the last half decade gives testimony to their success. The Vaughn Next Century Learning Center serves perhaps an archetype of the trials and triumphs that characterize the charter school movement. The conversion charter school, located in the Los Angeles Unified School District, serves 1,140 students, nearly 95% are Hispanic; 83% are limited English proficient. In the last five years, student achievement has gone up 330%, bringing student performance close to the national median in math and language; attendance is 99.4%; and the number of students who are now proficient enough in language to be taught in English has tripled. The school realized a $1.2 million surplus in it's first year of operation as a charter, and with the budget control gained through its charter has made a wide range of improvements: its first year, the school reduced class sizes, hired new teachers, and added a computer lab and a teacher resource center; the school bought and plowed under a neighborhood crack house to make way for building expansion; the school broke ground in March 1997, to build the computer lab and teacher resource center. Vaughn's successes, however, have not been won without occasional battles with the district's various power brokers, including a number of conflicts with the school board over funding, and the teachers' union over health care coverage.
But the success of Vaughn Next Century Learning Center, and more especially the success of its students - and of all the charter schools that have improved the educational experience for children, families and educators in their community - has been an inspiration to and an aspiration for charter advocates from state to state. With the chance to design and run schools that are accountable for educating students, but not bound to follow endless government dictates, parents, educators and citizens across the country are taking advantage of the opportunity to create new, truly neighborhood schools.
The charter school concept enjoys a large and growing circle of supporters, both within and outside education. Although still very young, most charter schools are demonstrating remarkable success, and enthusiasm is high among educators, parents and state and national leaders. Charter schools have "passed the test," and student achievement and their individual successes throughout the country prove that less restrictions and more autonomy is needed for charter schools to continue their accomplishments to date, a small sampling of these students' prosperity in education includes:
Arizona:
California:
Colorado:
Massachusetts:
Michigan:
Minnesota:
New Mexico:
Texas:
Support for charter schools spans the political, social and economic spectrums. Laws have been passed almost equally by Democrat- and Republican-controlled state legislatures, and signed into law by Republican and Democrat Governors. At the national level, President Bill Clinton has called for 3,000 charter schools by the turn of the century, and Congress has appropriated $51 million in FY 1997 to support charter school development and research. In the wake of such nationwide bipartisan advocacy and action, educators, parents, social workers, business leaders and other civil servants are lining up to launch charter schools in inner-city public housing projects, rural church basements, and suburban strip-malls.
Given the wide array of evidence I've provided as to the success of charter schools in, providing new, quality learning environments for children, Congress should consider the following steps to ensure this movement continues to grow and flourish, unfettered by any unintential bureaucratic obstacles;
Thank you for the attention you are giving to this ever-growing demand to improve the quality of education we offer our children, and thank you for the opportunity to address the Subcommittee.
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Jeanne Allen is publisher of THE CHARTER SCHOOL WORKBOOK: Your Roadmap to the Charter School Movement and president of The Center for Education Reform in Washington, DC. CER is a national non-profit advocacy group providing support and guidance to thousands of individuals and communities nationwide who are working to bring fundamental reforms to their schools. For more information, please call (202) 822-9000 or (800) 521-2118, or send e-mail to cer@edreform.com.