Education Reform Overview
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Goals 2000: Looking back at 1995, the legislature, with the support of Governor Fob James, passed a resolution to reject future Goals 2000 funds and return the $1.5 million that was received in 1995. However, in August 1996 the State Board of Education voted to receive Goals 2000 funding after repeated assurances from US Secretary of Education Richard Riley and Alabama State Superintendent Ed Richardson that no federal mandates would be linked to the funds. The decision was made without the full support of Governor James, who was out of town when the vote was taken, and made the state eligible for the unclaimed 1994 funds as well as $5.6 million in 1996 funds. To receive funds, local education agencies apply to the state for a share of the pooled $7.2 million that is to be used for improvements in technology in the schools.
Finance: Working under a 1993 court order to create an equitable funding system, the new finance plan that resulted from the 1995 legislative session was put in place for the fall of 1996. Although the new plan allocates shares of the state’s moneys to poor districts more generously than in the past, Alabama ranked 45th in per pupil spending in 1994-95, so it remains to be seen whether the re-allocation will cure the finance related problems of the state’s schools. As a result of hard lobbying by Alabama’s 70,000 member teachers’ union, 1996’s legislative session ended in a four percent pay raise for the state’s teachers.
General Reform: In the education reform package passed in July 1995, the state increased curriculum requirements and standardized assessment testing. Governor James, a Republican, has pledged to eliminate unfunded mandates and return to a back-to-basics approach. State Superintendent Ed Richardson is working to restructure the State Department of Education into a service agency and away from its regulatory role.
Charter Schools: Alaska passed a charter school law in 1995, but it contains few of the components for flexibility or autonomy that characterize the charter concept. Three charter schools opened in the fall of 1996, and eleven more are scheduled to open in 1997. Alaskans for Educational Choice and other charter proponents are hoping for changes next year that would lift the cap on charters, create a board for charter schools, and guarantee equal funding for charters.
Legislative Initiatives: In 1996, Governor Tony Knowles signed a bill that reformed tenure guidelines for the state’s teachers and administrators. This bill allows local boards to create their own performance standards and evaluations in accordance with certain state guidelines. If a teacher or administrator fails a regular review, he or she must follow an improvement plan for a set number of months. If poor performance does not improve in the allotted time, employment may be terminated. In addition, a tenured employee may be laid off in a time of financial crisis. Finally, the time served before tenure is granted was upped from 2 to 3 years.
School Choice: On April 3rd, Arizona lawmakers enacted a precedent-setting bill that permits tax-credits of up to $500 for anyone making a contribution to charitable groups that provide private scholarships. The bill also permits credits of up to $250 for individuals making contributions to public schools. Several education groups are considering a lawsuit, but leaders there are confident they have little grounds for suit. In fact, an effort by the Arizona Education Association, the union, to repeal the credit through a ballot initiative failed to garner enough signatures in July 1997. Arizona has had several attempts at school choice for parents in the past. A modest measure to provide full school choice to low-income children nearly passed in 1994, and elected officials continue to build support for launching a school choice effort.
An existing law already provides for 4,000 children who do not benefit from their existing school to use their allocated student funds to attend private education programs in the 1996-1997 school year. This number doubled from the 1995-1996 school year. Additionally, several thousand students are taking advantage of a new open-enrollment law that allows them to attend a public school outside their attendance zone.
Standards and Assessment: Reform-minded State Superintendent Lisa Graham Keegan halted the Arizona Student Assessment Program because it was deemed unreliable and invalid. In the summer of 1996, the State Board adopted new academic standards in reading, writing, and math. New assessment methods will be used throughout the school system including an exit exam in the twelfth grade. The Arizona standards are considered among the best in the nation.
Funding: To address inequities in school financing, Keegan has proposed a finance reform plan that is linked directly to academic reform. The key elements of the plan include per pupil funding that directly follow each student to his or her school of choice, elimination of costly general obligation bonds, placement of capital funding under local control, and a detailed information system that tracks and reports student achievement, school operations, and construction.
Charter Schools: The July 1994 enactment of the nation’s most far-reaching charter school law to date has spawned 164 charter school sites as of November 1996, accounting for a little over 10% of the public schools in the state. 17,000 students were served in 1996-1997 by Arizona’s charter schools. 1997-1998 promises 40 new schools. Arizona charters will be educating 30,000 students. Two state agencies, the Board of Education and the State Board for Charter Schools, which was established by the law as a separate charter-granting body, may approve up to 50 proposals annually, including multi-location charters. State-approved charters account for 142 of the charter sites in operation. There are no limits on district-approved charters, but currently local districts have sponsored only 22 charter schools. In 1994, the legislature appropriated $1 million to assist charter schools with start-up costs, providing about $20,000 to each. Arizona remains one of the few states to provide this type of help to its charter schools.
A 1996 study by the Goldwater Institute lays to rest some of the myths surrounding the state's charter program. Goldwater's study showed that contrary to the claim that charters would merely provide publicly funded elite schools for students already in private schools, more than 69% of charter school students attended public schools the previous year, 16% had been in private schools, 9% had either not begun school, dropped out, or been expelled, and 6% had been home schooled. Dispelling a corollary (if contradictory) myth that charters take the best students from the public school system, the study also found charter students entered at 5 percentage points lower on the Iowa’s Test of Basic Skills than statewide averages. Tenth graders were 10% lower when they entered, which is due in part to the fact that 35% of the charters surveyed target at-risk students.
Private Scholarships: In Phoenix, the Arizona School Choice Trust, Inc. provides 104 children with privately funded scholarships of half-tuition to attend the school of their choice.
Private Contracting: Earlier this year, Education Alternatives, Inc. was granted a charter to operate a multi-location charter school in Arizona. The school will start with 3 sites serving 1,350 K-5 students, and is planning to expand to 12 sites serving 6,650 K-12 students by its third year. Other private firms are exploring options.
Charter Schools: Arkansas' 1995 charter school law offers little departure from the current system and has yielded no charter schools. The bill was pushed by the Arkansas Education Association, a group opposing the releasing of charters from collective bargaining requirements. The current law requires approval of 2/3 of the teachers at an existing public school, as well as the approval of their union before the school can convert to charter status. In early ë97, reform-minded legislators such as Rep. John Brown, along with several parents and teachers, proposed a new law that would have established a similar open enrollment charter provision to the one Texas adopted in 1995 in which individuals starting schools may apply directly to the State Department of Education for approval. It failed, however, to make it out of the education committee in April.
School Choice: The state does offer several other public school choice options to parents. A rarely publicized statewide open-enrollment measure serves a little over 1,000 students and the state has about two dozen successful magnet and specialty programs that are oversubscribed and aggressively sought after by parents. Governor Mike Huckabee has voiced caution over full school choice, but has said it might be a possibility in urban areas like Little Rock.
Private Scholarships: Frustrated by the lack of high quality schools, a Little Rock businessman started the Free to Choice Trust that now provides 394 low-income children with scholarships to attend private schools.
Charter Schools: Despite a 100-school cap set in the state's 1992 charter school legislation, 109 charter schools are educating nearly 45,000 students throughout the state including two districts that have gone completely charter. At the discretion of the State Board of Education, new schools are being approved beyond the cap. The 1997-1998 school year hopes to introduce 13 new charter schools. Legislative efforts to raise or abolish the cap have consistently stalled under pressure of union opposition, but attempts to improve the law continue, and will be considered next year under a bill filed by Rep. John Lewis.
One of the first laws enacted, California's charter law still contains a number of gray areas that have created roadblocks for school organizers. In addition to raising or eliminating the school limit, friendly legislators continue to work to correct the law's deficiencies. Meanwhile, research is motivating support for the movement. A study by the Southwest Regional Laboratory (which is typically critical of far-reaching reforms) reveals the following: charter schools enjoy more operational autonomy than their non-charter counterparts; charters exercise increased innovation in teaching and governance issues; charters attract a high caliber of teaching professionals; and charters provide more funding to administrators than their bureaucratically entangled district peers with which they are able to do more while being less constrained by union contracts. The Little Hoover Commission's March 1996 report found considerable evidence that charters are working and have improved student achievement.
Charter operations are also being validated within the legal system. In April 1996, Horizon Instructional Systems won a long battle against the California Education Department which had tried to require that the school provide nothing that other districts do not offer. The school serves 1,100 students from six counties in independent study, cooperative and home learning environments. Bureaucrats initially balked at funding it despite the school's approval from the local district to operate as a charter. Later, they agreed that the school was operating legally under California's charter and independent study laws. In two separate cases in August 1996, superior court judges upheld charter schools' exemption from the state's collective bargaining laws, further strengthening legal precedence in favor of charter flexibility and autonomy in the state.
Under the charter concept, such increased autonomy is followed closely by greater accountability. Because charters are governed by performance contracts, they may be closed if there are egregious problems. One result of such stringent accountability measures was the closure of Edutrain, a charter in Los Angeles, following a financial audit. Unfortunately, many school boards still resist granting the full autonomy needed for charter schools to do their best. In November of 1996, the San Diego Board of Education revoked the charter of the successful Johnson/Urban League Charter because it had spurned the district’s attempts at control.
Open Enrollment: California's public school choice program, launched in September 1994, continues to be difficult for parents to use. Many parents are not even aware of the options that exist, keeping the number of participants in the state disappointingly low. However, public schools in the state already contract with private schools to educate between 10,000 and 15,000 students with difficult behavior problems.
School Choice: Governor Pete Wilson put forth a school choice proposal last spring to increase educational opportunities for children in the 5% lowest achieving school districts. The measure, carried by Speaker Curt Pringle, passed in the assembly, but died in the Senate. Still, Republican Pringle, now the minority leader, plans to introduce an opportunity scholarship plan aimed at low-income children.
Choice proponents support the inclusion of "The Campaign Reform Initiative" in the June 1998 state ballot. The initiative would prevent the use of union and employee salaries for political contribution unless approved by the employee. Considering that choice advocates were greatly outspent in the past, the measure could begin to level the political field.
Standards and Assessments: In 1995, legislators passed an "ABC bill" that mandates the use of textbooks that reinforce phonics and spelling in place of the whole language system adopted wholesale in the late 80’s which led to disastrously low reading scores for the state's fourth graders in the 90’s. In the next seven years, California plans to spend $600 million on new textbooks, and the Curriculum Commission has already rejected packages of two publishers because of a lack of phonics emphasis. In an effort to improve both governance and achievement, the Education Commission of the States released recommendations in March urging the state to set higher student achievement standards, but gave districts the responsibility of determining how to reach them. Most important to the development of California’s standards is the newly formed Commission for the Establishment of Academic Content and Performance Standards. The Commission commenced work in the fall of 1996 and will continue to work through 1997 formulating solid, state-wide academic standards for California’s schools.
Decentralization: In another bid to strengthen local control, lawmakers passed a broad bipartisan measure to facilitate the break-up of the sprawling Los Angeles Unified School District by enabling voters to decide whether to break up the district.
Following a national trend, Long Beach Unified School District was the first to take advantage of a state option to implement uniform requirements for elementary students. The policy now applies to the district’s high school students as well. The option was created by 1994 legislation, and since Long Beach Unified adopted the policy in January 1996, officials report crime and student suspensions are down, and parental involvement and attendance are up. The Banning , Moreno Valley and Palm Springs districts now require uniforms at some schools, Corona-Norco district will have an elementary and middle school uniform policy in effect in July of 1997, and at least one other district is considering such a policy for the 1997-98 school year.
Goals 2000: Governor Pete Wilson agreed to accept $42 million in Goals 2000 funding after assurances from US Secretary of Education Richard Riley that the money would come with no federal strings attached. The Governor will use the funds to help finance his $167 million reading initiative.
Private Scholarships: In Oakland, California, the Children's Educational Opportunities (CEO) Foundation provides partial tuition scholarships to 250 low-income students to attend the school of their choice. There are 2,150 children on the waiting list. The CEO Foundation of Southern California helps 799 children in Los Angeles and Orange Counties to attend private schools. More than 5,000 students remain on that waiting list.
Charter Schools: Among the pioneer charter laws, Colorado's 1993 Charter Schools Act has spawned 32 schools to date. The cap of 50 schools was increased to 60 in 1996. At least eight of the 32 schools use a curriculum based on E.D. Hirsch's Core Knowledge Sequence. By law, sixteen charters are reserved for schools that have at-risk children and a 1993 law requiring districts to expel unruly students for up to a year, which effectively doubled some districts' expulsion rates, have created support for additional charters to serve such students. However, approval can be a long and contentious process. Parents in one county have been turned down twice, trying to open a charter school for deaf children, so a third proposal is currently under consideration. Only one public school for the deaf exists in the state. In 1995, a commission on charter schools made recommendations, many of which were adopted in 1996, to strengthen the state’s charter law. However, a recommendation to increase charter school funding from 80-90% of the average pupil expenditure was vetoed in July by Governor Ray Romer, causing much anguish among charter schools. Colorado has received a total of $1.7 million in federal start-up grants.
Standards and Assessments: The adoption of new state academic standards, or equally rigorous substitutes, are required of each of the state's 176 school districts as of January 1997. Fourth and eighth grade assessment tests are being developed to measure a student’s mastery of reading, writing, math, history, science, and geography according to the state standards.
School Choice: Colorado offers public school choice within school districts and also permits some choice of public schools outside a school's own district. A US District Judge has terminated Denver's 21-year desegregation and forced-busing program, which may open the door to more parental choice and competition among schools. To help parents evaluate their choices, the Golden-based Independence Institute issues an annual report card for every public school in the state.
Private Scholarships: Educational Options for Children, a private fund in Denver, provides partial-tuition scholarships up to $1,250 to more than 75 children.
Private Contracting: Currently, The Edison Projectoperates two charter schools in Colorado Springs.
School Choice: In response to the state supreme court's decision in the recent high-profile Sheff v. O'Neill desegregation case, Governor John Rowland assembled the Education Improvement Panel, a task force created to help remedy the problems of urban areas. In July 1996, the court ruled that the state must address the disparities in educational opportunities and racial imbalances that currently exist in the city's schools. (Less than 10% of the city's fourth graders are meeting the state's reading achievement goals.) Preliminary considerations included options like open-enrollment and strong charter schools over traditional remedies like redistricting and busing. Fifteen formal recommendations were made in January, including an inter-district choice program and the expanded use of charter and magnet schools. The choice program would be in effect in all of the state’s districts for the 1998-99 school year. The State Board of Education has also issued a reform plan for Hartford that includes expanded public school choice, as well as calls for a review of union contract rules that "interfere with efforts to best serve students and improve student achievement."
Since 1994, when a means-tested choice bill was defeated by a tie vote in the House of Representatives, several panels have advocated school choice. A May, 1995 poll showed 81% of voters polled would support a local option school choice bill. The Connecticut Association of School Boards then suggested to its members that local boards adopt a resolution opposing any proposed legislation for full school choice, although such a resolution would not apply to any specific legislation as none is currently under consideration.
In other on-going programs, school districts in Connecticut may offer transportation to non-public school students and be reimbursed by the state. New Haven has a widely publicized magnet school choice program, launched in 1974, that is credited with good results among low-income children.
Charter Schools: A charter school law was passed in the spring of 1996, but the law is considered relatively weak. It authorizes only 24 schools and appropriations in legislation will pay for only 1,000 children in the 1997-1998 school year. It further appropriates funds for 1,500 children for 1998-1999. Twenty-nine applications were submitted for review, and at the end of February 1997, 12 schools were approved to begin operation in the 1997-98 school year. There were efforts to upgrade the charter law in 1997, but the amendments passed were mainly technical. The state improvement panels’ recommendations include charter schools, and state officials are reportedly enthusiastic.
Governance: On April 16, the legislature abolished the Hartford school board after declaring it ìin a state of crisis.î By far the boldest action yet taken in a long series of attempts to turn around the low performing and mismanaged district. Earlier in the month, the joint education committee approved a series of measures to allow parents more say in choosing their children’s schools and increasing support for charter and magnet schools.
Private Scholarships: Launched in 1995, CEO Bridgeport provides private scholarships to help 124 children attend the school of their choice.
Private Contracting: In 1995, the Hartford school board won a contract arbitration award to establish merit-based principals' contracts in which administrators earn bonuses based on students' test scores. The local union was unsuccessful in blocking the deal, but did manage to kill similar negations to establish a merit pay system for teachers.
School Choice and Charter Schools: In 1995, legislators enacted both a public school choice and a charter school program. The number of charters is limited to five in each of the first three years beginning 1996, after which the cap is lifted, making it one of the nation’s strongest charter laws. Charters have considerable autonomy from state rules, and private entities can apply. Two schools opened in the fall of 1996 and are serving 310 students.
Governance: Governor Tom Carper, a Democrat, is a staunch proponent of academic standards and accountability through a new high-stakes test. In January, the legislature adopted his proposal to abolish the state superintendent and reduce the authority of the state board. Carper now appoints a cabinet level secretary directly, whom he has charged with implementing the standards.
Governance: In November, the District's financial control board, established by Congress to straighten out the failing district, voted to create a nine-member Emergency Transitional Education Board of Trustees to oversee school district operations. They relegated the school board to an advisory role, and hired Retired Army General Julius Becton as Superintendent. The Board of Trustees, appointed by the financial control board, will run the schools until 2000, implementing a school reform plan in order to turn around the management and academic achievements of the district. A new school board was elected with less powers, but reportedly more reform minded than before, their main task is one of charter school sponsorship.
School Choice: In 1995 Wisconsin Representative Steve Gunderson spearheaded a voucher proposal that would have provided $3,000 school choice scholarships for the districts lowest-income families passed by the House of Representatives, but was ultimately defeated by a Senate filibuster. On June 4, 1997, House Majority Leader Dick Armey introduced the Student Opportunity Scholarship act in the House. The legislation is an updated version of the bill introduced in 1995. The bill provides opportunity scholarships for grades K through 12 for District residents whose family incomes are below the 185 percent of the poverty level. The scholarships may be used for tuition costs at a public or private school in D.C. and adjacent counties in Maryland and Virginia. Students whose family incomes are below the poverty line may receive a scholarship of up to $3,200. Students whose family incomes are above the poverty line but below 185 percent of the poverty level may receive the lesser of 75 percent of tuition or $2,400. Students receiving tutoring assistance are eligible for up to $500. A bi-partisan group of lawmakers has introduced identical legislation in the Senate. Prominent DC community leaders are supportive of the choice plan and are organizing support for when the bill is voted on in the fall.
Charter Schools: A provision tucked into the government appropriations bill signed into law in the summer of 1996 created a very strong charter school program. Existing public schools that have the approval of two-thirds of parents and teachers may convert, as can independent schools. New schools may be started by parents, educators, government agencies, museums and other cultural institutions. The school board and the newly formed board for charter schools are designated chartering authorities. Despite the great expansiveness of the law, the District has been ëcreating’ obstacles to launching charters. Two charter schools opened their doors this fall, and three more are approved to open. The ill-fated Marcus Garvey school continues to operate despite continuing problems, but the school board is assessing its options. Although not academic in nature, the school’s struggles are sure to put the accountability of the District’s charter schools to the test. Applications are now being accepted for 1998 by the DC Board of Charters and the DC School Board.
Private Contracting: The DC Board of Education approved private contracting of instructional and management services to allow schools to be operated by private organizations, universities, and professional organizations, on a case by case basis. Beginning in the 1996-1997 school year, individual schools may petition the board to enter into such contracts. KIDS 1, Inc., a private company that serves over 1,500 special education students each year, was chosen to operate a charter school targeting special education and at-risk kids in the District, but recently withdrew its plans to open due to bureaucratic snafus. Sylvan Learning Center continues to provide remedial education to District students using federal Title I remedial education dollars.
Private Scholarships: The Washington Scholarship Fund currently provides 200 half-tuition scholarships, up to $1,500, to low-income children in the District so that they may choose to attend a private school.
Governance: Candidates elected in the House in 1996 made education, including charters, vouchers, merit pay and tenure reform, their top campaign issue. State Education Commissioner Frank Brogan supports extensive reform of the education system, including expanding educational alternatives through greater choice and charters, rolling back regulations, and linking program funding to accountability. Since beginning the job in 1994, he has reduced the bureaucracy and in an attempt to re-focus dollars on the classroom has redirected 5% of the state's administrative budget toward instructional uses.
Charter Schools: With strong bipartisan support headed by Commissioner Brogan in 1996, the state put a charter school law into place that falls somewhere in the middle, along the strong-weak law continuum. The law permits the establishment of up to 478 schools authorized by local school boards, either as public school conversions or private start-ups operating in contract with the local board. Six schools are already serving over 400 students in the state, including one school that targets students with Attention Deficit Disorder, and a school launched by businessman Jeb Bush in partnership with the Miami Urban League. The Department of Education has fielded over 100 additional inquiries. Forty two more schools are expected to open for the 1997-1998 school year. The spring 1996 legislative session also established provisions for districts to create or privately contract for "second chance" schools that specifically target at-risk students. Like charter schools, "second chance" schools are freed from various state regulations including state curriculum guidelines and teacher certification laws. Their academic accountability measures are tailored to account for the at-risk population they serve.
School Choice: Both the House and Senate Education committees passed The Public Education Enhancement Program (known as PEEP) introduced by Representative Steve Wise, that would create a public-private pilot program for school choice and would require the DOE to establish a choice information center. However, the measures failed to win enough support in both chambers. PEEP will begin next years session in the House Education Fiscal Committee where it left off, but will have to begin again in the Senate. Wise, re-elected despite union opposition, had also introduced choice legislation last spring, that would have provided scholarships for up to 5% of the state's lower income public school students to attend the school of their choice. While that, too, did not survive the last legislative session in its entirety, a minor piece of the choice program made it through with May’s charter school legislation: all Florida districts must devise a controlled open enrollment plan for their schools by June 1997, within the restrictions of existing desegregation rulings. Every year more than 25,000 high school seniors take advantage of the state's post-secondary enrollment option. Public support for choice continues to grow. A 1996 informal survey by the Orlando Sentinel showed over 75% of the 6,000 respondents support full school choice.
Private Scholarships: CEO Central Florida, launched in 1994, provides scholarships to 225 low-income children in Orlando to attend private schools. Over 1,600 students remain on the waiting list.
Private Contracting: The New York-based Edison Project began operating one of its four new elementary schools in Miami in the fall of 1996, delivering its education program to over 2,000 children there. Ombudsman Educational Services currently operates three sites in Dade County.
Standards: As part of the new Sunshine State Standards, Commissioner Brogan is field testing the new Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT), designed to supplement the Florida Writes! and High School Competency tests. The FCAT will be pilot tested in March of this year and administered statewide in 1998, but schools will not be held accountable for test results until the spring of 1999. The standards create a framework for teachers and administrators who design curricula and develop classroom tests.
Tenure Reform: An effort to reform teacher tenure, set up a pay-for-performance system, and reform the teacher certification process was significantly opposed by the state’s unions, and failed to pass. A more modest measure was enacted, reducing the time it takes to evaluate teachers.
Charter Schools: In 1993 Georgia enacted a weak charter school law with little governing autonomy or flexibility in staffing. Charters are only available to existing public schools and subject to local board approval. Nevertheless, twelve charter schools are now operating in the state, including all four of the schools that make up the Cartersville School District. Another nine are scheduled to open in the fall. The Superintendent has pledged to use the charter opportunity to boost the basic skills achievement to record numbers in the state. A senate bill, sponsored by Senator Clay Land, to improve the charter law by altering its ëconversion only’ status has passed the Senate and awaits action in the House.
Governance: State Superintendent of Public Instruction Linda Schrenko, a former public school teacher who handily overcame her union-backed opponent in 1994, has instituted a strict departmental reorganization. This includes $3 million in budget cuts and a return of some employees to work hands-on with the schools. Schrenko was out front among states' officials in refusing to sign any assurance with the US Department of Education on use of Goals 2000 funds, and also leads the way as the first of a number of states' education department heads to withdraw from the Council of Chief State School Officers, a national association for superintendents, in protest of its failure to represent her education reform agenda.
School Choice: Lawyers who argued in November 1996 before the State Supreme Court on behalf of parents, dissatisfied with their poor public school options, hope to revive a 1961 private school voucher law for minorities and other disadvantaged students originally designed for white parents to get around desegregation laws. The suit was thrown out of Superior Court last year, and has come before the State Supreme Court on appeal. The Court has taken the case under advisement, with no ruling date set. Through various programs, the Peachtree state currently provides education grants for children and students in private pre-kindergarten programs, colleges and graduate schools, including those attending secular institutions.
Private Scholarships: More than 60,000 Georgia students have received HOPE scholarships to attend college. In K-12 activity, the Children's Education Foundation, a private scholarship program in Atlanta, provides partial tuition scholarships to help 128 children attend their school of choice.
Charter Schools: Hawaii has a weak charter school law that brings few new options to the state's single district. Two charter schools are in operation, serving 565 students.
Charter Schools: For the last two years, attempts at charter bills passed their respective chambers, but both put final approval in the hands of local boards and limited staffing to certified teachers. Representative Fred Tillman has plans to try to push legislation through next year.
School Choice: Idaho currently offers public school choice. In an effort to expand choice options, state Attorney General Al Lance gave a constitutional nod to a tuition tax credit initiative that the Idaho Citizens Alliance put forth last year. Although four initiatives were recently presented by the Idaho Citizens Alliance, none were placed on the ballot, and only one found a sponsor that was willing to introduce it this legislative session.
Governance: Under the reform bill signed into law in the summer of 1995, Mayor Richard Daley has taken over Chicago’s troubled school system, disbanding the school board and replacing it with his own School Reform Board of Trustees. The Board is charged with weeding out corruption and waste, estimated to cost the city's taxpayers $40 million annually. Daley and his board have cut $240 million from the school budget, reduced administrative staff by 13%, and turned to private contractors for custodial services. Achievement goals include boosting the city's student test scores in relation to the national average, reducing its truancy by two-thirds, and halving its 52 percent dropout rate. The Board has put 109 of the district's 557 schools on academic probation. In 115 of the city's schools, more than half of the students failed to meet state achievement goals for the last three years. As Chicago schools CEO, under the new governance structure, Paul Vallas made headlines when he announced that he was turning to the Catholic schools’ streamlined, college-prep curriculum as a model for reshaping his city's curriculum.
Vallas has been shaking up failing schools, rattling old work rules, and rolling a few heads in the process. Sixteen principals have been dismissed, disruptive students routed to other classes, and seven failing schools have been targeted for full reconstruction, which, if approved by Chicago Board of Trustees, requires the resignation of all staff and re-application.
A particular benefit of the law is that it forbids the Chicago teachers union to strike or bargain on matters unrelated to teacher benefits, including contracting out, school planning, and curriculum. The city's management employees are barred from having union membership. Under the new law, Chicago schools are subject to "academic accountability councils" that will evaluate performance and identify failing schools. Local school councils established by the state's 1988 school reform law and composed of 6 parents, 2 community leaders, and 2 teachers each, have not produced dramatic change and have, at times, become politicized.
School Choice: The last time school choice was considered was in 1995, when a bill helping low-income children in Chicago was narrowly defeated.
Private Contracting: Sylvan Learning Centers Inc., a private company that has demonstrated success in providing remedial education to disadvantaged students, signed a contract in the summer of 1995 to teach children in 11 of Chicago's schools. In November of 1995, Sylvan also signed a contract to train Chicago students to tutor fellow students. In January of this year, SABIS Educational Systems, Inc., had its charter school application approved. SABIS is working in conjunction with the Daniel Murphy Scholarship Foundation, and its new charter school will be open to over 1,000 students in the 1997-98 school year, and another 2,500 thereafter.
Charter Schools: Up to 45 charter schools were authorized by the legislature in 1995. Individuals and public and private organizations may start charters, but the law provides for local school board sponsorship only. Under authority of Chicago's new Reform Board, which can waive rules and union contracts, Chicago will have wider latitude than others in creating its 15 allocated charters. 34 applicants met the November deadline to submit charter school proposals to the Board, and early in 1997 10 of those proposals were approved. The schools are expected to open in the fall of 1997. Peoria is home of the state's first charter school, which serves 30 students with behavioral problems. Others, in communities like East St. Louis, have applied but have been rejected by non-reform oriented school boards. The Illinois law is very restrictive.
Charter Schools: The State Senate held hearings on charter schools early this year, and Senator Teresa Lubbers successfully had the legislation passed by the Senate 28-20, but it failed during further negotiations. The bill would have allowed local school boards to grant charters, provided for an appeal to the superintendent, granted waivers for most regulations, and not capped the number of schools permitted. Efforts will be made again in 1998.
Unions: In 1973 teacher strikes were banned in Indiana, paving the way for serious reform efforts. Under a 1995 mandate from the state legislature, Indianapolis’ principals and teachers are regularly evaluated by local councils on outcomes such as student and staff attendance rates, proficiency test scores and graduation rates. In July of 1995, the Fair Share Act of 1982 was repealed. Now, those who do not belong to the union are not required to pay the union dues to cover benefits received through collective bargaining.
Open Enrollment: Currently, parents choose their child's elementary or middle school in each of Indianapolis' three districts and their child's high school from among the city's seven high schools. Indianapolis Mayor Steve Goldsmith, a champion of full school choice, won legislative approval for an initiative that gives the school board greater leverage in bargaining with the unions, paves the way for a merit pay system, and makes provisions for closing down failing schools.
Private Scholarships: In 1991, Golden Rule Insurance Company, based in Illinois, sparked the national trend for private scholarship programs with the creation of the CHOICE Charitable Trust. The program helps over 1,000 low-income children in Indianapolis attend the private school of their choice with partial-tuition scholarships. An evaluation of the CHOICE Charitable Trust by the Hudson Institute compared current Indianapolis public school (IPS) students in the area with children who left to make a choice and found significant achievement differences in the two groups: reading and language scores for IPS students showed a steady decline between grades 3-8 and a steady decline in math from grades 2-8, while students in private schools under the CHOICE program experienced steady increases in scores in all three subjects grades 2-8. Most of the participants earn less than $20,000 a year, and single-parent homes are over-represented. The study also confirmed other programs' findings that school choice results in more parental involvement, higher satisfaction and higher attendance. The state provides financial assistance in the form of transportation to some children who attend private and parochial schools, as well as provides textbook funding for low-income children.
School Choice: As one of the first states to give children unrestricted choice among all public schools in the state, Iowa now has about 11,000 students using open enrollment, up from 1,700 in 1990. Currently, parents can also receive a tax credit of 10% of the first $1,000 spent on private school tuition. Although the amount was raised from 5% to 10% in 1996, Iowa lawmakers continue to work to increase the amount further and to change it to a refundable tax credit. This session's tuition tax credit bill, Senate file 538, will wait until the next legislative session. The bill became ineligible for action this session when an amendment allowing tax credits for fees at public and non-public schools was attached increasing the bill's cost to over $3 million.
Charter Schools: In recent years, charter school bills have not made it past the committee level. Districts and individual schools may petition the state for regulation waivers, but few have acted on this provision. A few districts contract with private institutions to educate at-risk students, but placements are generally at the discretion of the court or the school, rather than the parents.
Charter Schools: The legislature enacted a 'charter school' law in 1994, but it offers virtually no options for autonomy or innovation. Only local school boards can approve a charter and the law does not provide applicants or schools with an appeals process, automatic waivers from rules, authority over most funding, or legal autonomy. Two schools have been approved and are expected to open in September 1997. Supportive lawmakers are talking about rewriting the law to allow for an approval from the state board.
Private Contracting: Under a 1995 contract with the Wichita Public School District, The Edison Project began operating the Dodge Elementary School, serving students mostly from low-income families. In the first year, 1,200 students applied for 610 spaces.
Standards and Assessment: A 1990 law that redesigned the state's education system gives parents limited authority to remove their children from a public school determined to be "in crisis." Its main focus, however, is school accountability. The law was enacted after the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that the state's entire system of public education was unconstitutional. One of the most watched aspects of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) is the testing program intended to be a high-stakes route to achievement improvement. Cash incentives are provided to schools that reach performance goals. However, the testing system upon which the awards are distributed continues to be criticized as technically flawed, costly, and low on rigorous standards. Grassroots organizations charge that the system funnels more money into schools with little results to show for it. The state plan originally called for the use of sanction against schools whose performance rating declined, but legislators have since postponed those measures until the end of this year.
Finance: The state currently provides $4 million for transportation assistance to non-public school students.
Charter Schools: In 1995 Louisiana joined the growing list of states that have relatively strong charter laws. The original law permitted eight districts to approve charter schools, either operated by the district or granted to private groups. Three schools opened in 1996, and three more are set to launch this fall. Legislators strengthened the charter law this spring, expanding the number of charters allowed statewide to 42, without geographic restrictions, and granting the state board authority to approve charters denied at the local level. In addition, the amendment allows charters to contract with for-profit organizations to operate their school, sets up a $3 million no-interest loan program for charter schools in need of capital, and guarantees charters receive full per-pupil funding.
Governance: Governor Foster has proposed several education reform initiatives in his 1997 legislative package. In addition to abolishing social promotion, creating an accountability system, and increasing teacher training, the Governor has also proposed expanding the pilot charter school program to 66 districts, adding an appeals process, and setting aside $5 million for no-interest loans available to charter organizers. A poll conducted for a commission appointed by the Governor found a majority of residents support proposals to punish poorly performing schools by withholding certain state funds and replacing principals. When asked to rate their schools from 1-10, only 13% gave their schools an 8 or higher. The commission has proposed setting levels of achievement and taking action against those who fail to meet minimum requirements, as well as reconstituting staffs and increasing site-based decision making. Their proposal to allow parents of children in failing schools to move their children to the public or private school of their choice received 60% support.
School Choice: On May 1, 1997, the Louisiana Senate Education Committee defeated Senator Tom Greene’s $300 million "Educational Voucher Program" (SB 343). The bill would have phased in a voucher based on the state per-pupil spending figure over a 12 year period starting with Kindergarten and first grade. Predictably, the Louisiana School Board Association, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the local teacher unions opposed the bill.
Charter Schools: Efforts to pass charter legislation in the 1997 session were foiled, although three charter bills were up for consideration. Instead, the legislature’s Joint Education Committee, with the approval of the governor, has directed the State Board of Education to study charter schools and provide the legislature with recommendations when it reconvenes in January, 1998.
School Choice: The Maine Educational Choice Coalition, in conjunction with other parent and taxpayer groups, is working to restore local control and bring parental choice to the state's education system. On the local level, a few hundred residents petitioned Dover-Foxcroft’s selectmen for the right to allow high school students to attend private schools, which is currently done in several other school districts in Maine. At one time, the state permitted parochial schools to be included among parents’ choices, but a decade-old court decision has since taken that option away. In light of recent court rulings Maine may see a different turn of events this year.
School Choice: Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke appointed a task force to study the role full school choice could play for the city's schools and students. He believes increasing competition and improving the choice of schools for the city's impoverished families will benefit both the families and the schools. The task force held six public forums in June 1996 to discuss choice options from vouchers to charter schools, and issued a report recommending charter schools, open enrollment and post-secondary enrollment options, and expansion of magnet schools over public-private school choice.
Charter Schools: Maryland has the possibility of state legislation in 1998 in the wake of the task force’s recommendation for charter schools in Baltimore city. In addition, the former chairman of the state board is a proponent, and a Department of Education task force studied the issue. In a local variation on the charter concept, the Baltimore School District accepted proposals in November of 1996 from individuals and organizations wanting to open schools under the New Schools Initiative, a school operations opportunity based on provisions of an obscure 12-year-old court order. Three to five proposals will be approved to open this September, and the number is expected to double in 1998. The schools will operate under contract to the district but be freed somewhat from regulations and district management. They may hire their own staff, but will be subject to the district schools' personnel and union rules, thus making it impossible to have real charters.
Standards and Assessment: In early 1996, the State Board of Education approved the development of high school exit exams. The exams are to be administered at the conclusion of each of ten specified high school coursesñ three English and three social studies courses, and two science and two math courses. Maryland’s student assessment is considered among the most rigorous in the nation. In 1994, the Board adopted a teacher evaluation plan linking teacher license renewal to performance evaluations, and tightening teacher rectification requirements. The Baltimore school district is working on a plan to rate teachers based on classroom evaluations and students' standardized test scores. Baltimore consistently has the lowest standardized test scores in the state. In a proposal made at the beginning of this year, teachers would be evaluated annually and could be dismissed if they continue to receive unsatisfactory classroom evaluations even after remedial training, or if their students' scores fail to improve during the first three years of their employment.
Private Contracting: Sylvan Learning Systems provides remedial instruction to students who are failing in their regular school environment and guarantees measurable success. The latest scores in Baltimore showed significant gains in both reading and math for the district's students enrolled with Sylvan. For those still lagging behind, about 15% of the original low-achieving group, Sylvan provides additional remedial tutoring, free of charge, to bring them up to par. In late 1995, the Baltimore City School District terminated its contract with the private Education Alternatives, Inc. (EAI) for the management of its nine schools, citing dire financial straits. The Mayor, facing a $32 million budgetary shortfall, attempted to cut EAI's $44 million operating budget by $7 million. EAI was willing to take the cut, but when the district could not promise reimbursement at a later time, the contract was ended. At the time, EAI could not point to any increased achievement gains. According to scores released subsequently, however, 88% of EAI schools showed gains in student achievement in the 1995 Maryland State Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP), compared to 63% of Baltimore's other public schools. EAI had been under intense scrutiny by the local union and others from the beginning, despite positive impacts like its introduction of new technology and improvements to the physical plant of its schools. Regardless of the achievement records, and reports of increased satisfaction and attendance rates, experts agree that given the students' high mobility rates and the short period EAI had to run the schools, it is too soon to evaluate the effect of such contracting on students and schools.
Charter Schools and Private Contracting: In addition to the 22 operating charter schools, which serve over 5,000 students, three more will open this fall. The legislation was recently amended this year to raise the cap to 37 state-approved schools and 13 district conversion schools. A few schools operate under contract with private for-profit firms, including The Renaissance School in Boston, which uses the design and curriculum of The Edison Project, the Chelmsford Public Charter School, run by Alternative Public Schools, and two schools operated by the international SABIS School Network. In September of 1995, under pressure to change, Boston launched its own pilot program of schools operating outside the control of the district's bureaucracy. With the cooperation of the local teachers unions, these pilot schools may hire staff without regard to seniority or district boundaries. Meanwhile, unions and administrators have attacked charters as siphoning off funding from other public schools, despite the fact that the Pioneer Institute found that under current charter reimbursement formulas, "every Massachusetts school district that contains a charter school received more state funding this fiscal year than it did last year, before charter schools opened."
Another study by The Pioneer Institute found that charters in the state are reaching a student population that has traditionally been under served, including a higher percentage of low-income, bilingual and minority children than are in the state's regular public school system. Additionally, more than half of the charter school students were average or below average academically in their prior school. The study also found that although charter schools did not attract more educationally involved families, parents of charter school students expressed greater satisfaction with their children's new school.
Open Enrollment: A 1991 Massachusetts law permits students to attend public schools in districts other than their own unless the receiving district declines to participate. The program began operation in September 1991, serving 1,000 in its first year. A survey conducted by the Massachusetts Department Education found that 92% of those surveyed were mostly or very satisfied with their school of choice. 89 of the state's 400 school districts now offer the program, serving 6,000 students, or one-third of the 18,000 students eligible to participate. All of Boston's 60,000 students participate in the city's controlled choice plan, which is currently undergoing a redesign to allow more students to attend their neighborhood school.
School Choice: An August 1996 Pioneer Institute poll found strong support in the state for full school choice. 74% of urban residents, 64% of minority parents, and 56% of all residents polled favored school choice. Support was even higher for providing private school choice for poor families, with 75% overall support, 79% support among urban parents and 80% support among minority parents.
Governance: In November of 1995, Governor William Weld proposed to consolidate all the education authorities in the state under a "super board" and hire ex-political rival and Boston University President John Silber to replace the current state board chairman and serve at the helm. The plan took effect in March 1996, and as the unpaid chairman of the Board of Education, Silber oversees education from preschool through high school, as well as adult education. Following Weld's unsuccessful Senatorial campaign, he has recommitted to pushing education reform in the state by proposing sweeping reforms such as expanding the state's successful charter law, compelling higher standards, instituting a statewide public school choice program, and providing private options for low-income students. Silber has not endorsed all of these measures.
In 1992, Boston's elected school board was replaced with one appointed by the mayor in an effort to make the city's schools more directly accountable to taxpayers. Last November, voters confirmed their support with a 70% vote in favor of retaining the appointed board. The issue was first voted on in 1989 but implementation was delayed pending legislative approval. It is scheduled to come before the voters every six years.
Standards and Assessment: Recent standardized test results show 75% of the state's students are under-performing, with as many as 1/3 to 1/2 of the students in some districts failing to show minimal competency, "a record of scandal" according to Silber. Based on current test results, at least a third of the state's students headed for the graduation tests (set to become mandatory in 2000) would be likely to fail. The infusion of funds from the Education Reform Act of 1993, though responsible for a $317 million boost in teacher payrolls, has not turned out a similar boost in student achievement.
Open Enrollment: Michigan's education budget, adopted in June of 1996, included a statewide open-enrollment program allowing districts to accept children from other districts. Detroit was one of the first to sign on, and 23 of 83 Detroit area districts now participate. Under the program, if a child exits a district, $5,380 in per-pupil costs will follow him to his new school of choice, providing a funding incentive for some districts, which, like Detroit, had to cut millions from their budgets. 170,000 Detroit public school students currently choose to attend a school outside their neighborhood, though recent budget cuts have eliminated transportation funding for 8,000 of them. Michigan was the seventeenth state to allow statewide public school choice.
School Choice: If it was up to Michigan parents, their kids would be able to use the tax dollars allotted for their education as a portable scholarship at any public, private or parochial school of their choice. Among voters with children at home, 72% told a new statewide EPIC/MRA survey they would vote "yes " on such a provision. The majority of voters agree. Less than two years after the same question was asked by the same survey firm for the Detroit Free Press, Michigan support for choice inched up to 62%, and opposition declined nine points to 27%. Another 11% still hadn't made up their minds. Michigan requires a constitutional amendment to allow for full school choice (including private and religious schools), but support appears to be growing in diverse communities. In November 1996, TEACH Michigan took a group of 20 of Detroit's African-American leaders to Milwaukee to learn more about their efforts to provide school choice for youngsters. A 1995 University of Chicago report found that in cities like Detroit, a black child from a poor, single-parent home with low educational attainment increases his chances of graduating by 26% if he attends a Catholic school instead of a district school. As the arguments for educational choice gather, the influential Council of Baptist Pastors of Detroit and Vicinity lean toward supporting comprehensive school choice.
Private Scholarship: To give more low-income children a choice of schools, two separate private organizations awarded over 500 partial-tuition scholarships to families in Grand Rapids and in Battle Creek.
School Finance: Governor John Engler's 1993 school finance reform, still the nation's most bold to date, abolished state property taxes, which had provided two-thirds of the states' school funding, forcing reorganization of the schools' finance system. The public voted in 1994 to increase state sales taxes and the state, not districts, now provides the bulk of school funds and distributes it among the state's districts.
Governance and Legislative Action: In 1994, Governor Engler put in place significant curbs on unions and employee bargaining rights, including making strikes illegal and strikers punishable by fines. The Michigan Education Association continues to fight the no-strike law, which took effect in April of 1995, that substantially fines unions and districts, and docks pay for teachers and school board members. At the end of the 1995 fall session, the legislature enacted a rewrite of the state's education code which remands authority for curriculum standards to the local level and relieves districts of some of the regulatory burden imposed by the state. The Governor has proposed a law allowing the state to take over districts where 80% of the students fail proficiency exams and where the dropout rate is over 25%. Although 20 states already allow their governors this power, the plan is already facing opposition.
Charter Schools: Michigan's original charter school law, passed in December, 1993, allowed an unlimited number of public school academies, as they are called, to be established. At the end of the 1995 fall session, changes were made that limited the number of charters permitted to 100 by fall of 1997, 125 by the fall of 1998, and 150 by the fall of 1999, until 2000 when the cap will be lifted altogether. Universities are not permitted to charter more than 50% of the existing cap. With 76 academies serving nearly 12,000 students, the state is behind only Arizona and California in the number of charter schools in operation. The state's first charter school actually opened in the heart of Detroit before legislation was passed. The school had 5,000 applications for 350 spots, perhaps not surprising in a city where the public school graduation rate is less than 30%. Recent elections have shifted the make-up of the State Board of Education, possibly slowing down new charter school developments and funding.
From the outset, Michigan charter schools have faced obstacles and detractors. In 1994, legislators were forced to rewrite the law after a Circuit Court judge ruled that charter schools didn't qualify as public schools for funding. However, on July 30, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that Michigan’s Public School Academies are public schools, and therefore can legally receive public funding, sending a defeat to the union. The Michigan Teachers Union, as well as a district superintendent, have threatened several charter-sponsoring universities by demanding they discontinue their charter involvement or face having their education schools blackballed by the district and the union. Despite such threats, however, universities continue to be the most active sponsors of charters. Central Michigan University alone has sponsored over 60% of the 76 schools now in operation. District sponsorship is less common, although the recently departed superintendent of the five-school Montabella Community School District in central Michigan expressed interest in converting his entire district to charter schools, effectively putting himself out of a job. However, the union is working to take control of the local board in efforts to squelch support for the proposal.
Private Contracting: In a move challenged by the Detroit School District, the nearby Romulus School District has opened up a contract school in Detroit to serve dropouts of the Detroit system, which number more that 50%. The school opened with 1,000 students in September, for which the state pays Romulus $5,300, of which Romulus pays $4,240 to education contractor Baron Schools, Inc., to operate the school. Students are given $50 every two weeks to cover transportation and lunch costs, but must maintain at least an 80% attendance rate. An additional 1,000 prospective students have sought to enroll in the school since it opened. A Wayne County Circuit Court judge recently refused to place an injunction against the school, claiming that its existence and operation does not violate the state’s recently enacted open enrollment policy. Edison has been operating the Martin Luther King Jr. Academy, a K-5 school in Mt. Clemens since August of 1995, and in the fall of 1996, Edison expanded its efforts into a middle school there.
Minnesota laws and programs have set a number of precedents in school reform in the United States. Minnesota had the first charter school in 1992, the first statewide open enrollment program in 1990, the first post-secondary enrollment option in 1985, and the first contract between a school district and private firm for district management in 1993.
School Choice: On June 4 Governor Arne Carlson vetoed the $6.7 billion school funding bill because it did not contain his tax credit proposal. He then took on the teachers unions and won. Late hour negotiations on June 25, 1997, resolved Governor Carlson's veto of the $6.7 billion in K-12 financing bill. The legislators struck an agreement that expands the state’s current tax deduction, expands Working Family Credit, and establishes an education tax credit for low income families. The combination of the expanded Working Family Credit and the new education tax credit will significantly reduce income taxes for many hard working low-and-middle class families. With the agreements the governor passed the provisions of the vetoed k-12 education funding bill, including a $268 million increase in general education revenue.
The legislation increases the existing education tax deduction by two and one-half times and expands the list of deductible items to include computer software and hardware, tutoring and education summer camps. Non-itemizers will also be eligible for the deduction. The deductions currently include the cost of instructional materials, tuition (in private and public institutions), and transportation.
The Working Family Credit increases by twenty-five percent with no restrictions of how the money is spent -- except that it is directed toward families with children. The credit is available to working parents earning up to about $29,000 a year. The expansion is worth about $300-$500 a family depending upon income and family size. Families with an income of $33,500 and below are eligible for a refundable tax credit. The new tax credit provides families a credit for educational expenses of $1,000 per child with a $2,000 limit per family. Excluding tuition for private schools, all the items included in the increased education tax deduction apply to the tax credit that helps off set private school tuition. The cost of the proposal will be about $150 million for the biennium. The implementation of these programs will be tied to the November revenue forecast and implemented in tax year 1998 to reduce the impact on the state budget.
Meanwhile, about 19% of all students, more than 150,000, now take advantage of any one of the state's many public school choice opportunities. The number of alternative schools in the state has nearly tripled in the last decade from 108 in 1986 to more than 300. Six percent of the state's juniors and seniors take some college courses, with the percentage double that in the Twin Cities. A legislative study found that with the exception of those attending technical colleges, such high school students had a higher collective grade point average than college freshmen. As a result of the competition from universities, high schools have doubled the number of advanced placement courses they offer. Nearly 40 percent also hire colleges to teach courses on their high school campuses.
Charter Schools: Minnesota passed the country’s first charter school law in 1991 and now has 19 charter schools in operation, with 10 more approved to open this fall. 1997 changes to the law now allow for the establishment of an unlimited number of charter schools, and expands charter sponsorship authority to private colleges in addition to public universities. The amendment also provides for $50,000 start-up grants, as well as makes additional grants available for facilities improvement.
Private Contracting: On the entrepreneurial side, public-private partnerships are both popular and successful in the state. Through the High School Graduation Incentives Program, school districts contract with private, non-profit alternative education programs to enroll eligible at-risk students. In December 1993, the Minneapolis school board contracted with the company Public Strategies Group to operate the district. PSG's compensation is performance-based, and the firm gets paid only when specific objectives are met. In its first two years, the company earned 63% of possible compensation. For the 1995-1996 school year they earned $323,000. Increased compensation was due to increased success in meeting delineated district goals, including improved test scores, increased student attendance and reduced student suspensions, but the degree of achievement is what observers believe to be low, and not likely to cause dramatic success due to traditional bureaucratic constraints.
The Duluth School board contracted with The Edison Project to run the for-profit Kenwood school beginning this September. Since then, the teachers’ unions are attempting to get lawmakers to forbid any future contracting for instructional services in charters.
Charter Schools: Governor Kirk Fordice approved a charter bill this legislative session that is by definition one of the weakest proposals written to date. The bill passed the House by a large margin early this year, and in March the Senate made amendments and gave its approval. The bill follows Georgia’s model and consequently will not be among the strong laws.
Private Scholarships: To bring school choice to 156 of the most disadvantaged children of this state, CEO Metro Jackson awards scholarships to low-income families in the area. Over 100 students are on the program's waiting list.
Charter Schools: A charter school bill introduced by Senator Peter Kinder, Education Committee Chair, and others with strong support from an influential new charter group has failed to muster enough votes this year. It was embroiled in a funding bill for the troubled Kansas City and St. Louis districts. Kinder and allies plan to work on the issue and bring it back in early 1998 with the support of St. Louis mayor. In the summer of 1996, a citizens task force in St. Louis recommended that the district consider establishing a few pilot charter schools, but the district has yet to act on the proposal.
Controlled Choice: Magnet schools, busing and controlled choice have all been implemented with little success as a means to providing quality, desegregated education in the Kansas City schools. The court-ordered desegregation plan funneled an additional $36,000 per pupil into the system, but subsequent test scores in the district actually dropped, one factor leading the courts in 1995 to end inter-district busing in Kansas City. In St. Louis, 14,000 students are voluntarily bused throughout the county to attend magnet schools. Officials are asking the courts to disband the program, which costs $3 million a week and has cost $1.4 billion to date. A 1994 report by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education recommended that both cities expand choices for district parents, as well as cut overhead to route more money to the classroom. The report found that 44% of education spending in the St. Louis district goes to non-classroom services, and the ratio of administrators to schools is nearly 3 to 1. Not surprisingly, barely 25% of the city's high school students graduate in four years. St. Louis and Kansas City serve just under 10% of the state's students, but absorb nearly 45% of the state's education budget.
The support for choice is growing, but legislative defeats continue. In early May, the state Senate approved an amendment to a larger tax bill that would have provided tax deductions for parents with children in the state's private and parochial schools. The deductions would have allowed up to $2,500 for tuition, school supplies, or transportation costs. The tax plan then went to the House-Senate Conference where it was dropped from the plan. Senators John Schneider and Peter Kinder backed the amendment.
Accountability: All districts in the state are currently required to provide individual school report cards to their residents, on everything from test scores to dropout rates and attendance levels, to per-pupil costs, and teacher and administrator salaries.
Goals 2000: There is no significant education reform activity in Montana. However, lawmakers stirred up controversy when the state withdrew from the Goals 2000 program. Local districts may apply directly to the US Department of Education for the state's $1.5 million allocation of funding.
Open Enrollment: This is one of the 18 states to offer open enrollment. Over 7,000 students attend schools outside their districts.
Charter Schools: Interest is building for charter schools in the corn-husker state. Earlier this year, the legislature passed a bill requiring all school districts to create alternative schools for disruptive children. Many see fulfillment of this issue as only possible through a charter school effort that would provide for a wide array of educational options for both troubled and regular youth.
Charter Schools: Having urged his colleagues to consider charter legislation since 1996, Representative John Ensign was finally successful with a bill passed in June 1997. The law is among the weakest, however, and stipulates a twenty-one school cap with severe restrictions. There have not been any schools approved to this date.
Charter Schools: Under the leadership of Senate Education Committee member Jim Rubens, elected to a second term last November despite union opposition, a charter school and open enrollment law was enacted in 1995. The law allows for charters to be opened by parents, teachers, or non-profit organizations, and up to 35 charters may be established through the year 2000, after which the cap will be lifted. One weakness in the charter law is the laborious approval process. First, local communities must approve the charter concept before groups can even submit a proposal to the school board. Once allowed to the starting gate, proposals must then gain approval of the local board and the state board, after which they again go before the local electorate for final approval. Districts may decide locally to limit the number of children who may participate in either charter schools or the choice program. The first charter school to make it through the preliminary local process was approved on appeal by the State Board of Education. The Londonderry Charter School Corporation went back to the local voters for final confirmation this spring and was voted down after the town was lobbied heavily by the union. A Senate bill was introduced to alleviate some of the grueling approval process but was not adopted. While these amendments will be helpful to charter organizers, New Hampshire’s approval process still remains the most laborious.
School Choice: At the local level, parents have approached their local boards asking for full choice. Currently, the Bedford School District sends its high school students and their $5,121 per-student funding, to neighboring districts.
Accountability: The State Board of Education has approved a Code of Ethics for the Teaching Profession, in which administrators and educators pledge to administer and report responsible assessments of student achievement, provide accurate and comprehensive educational reports regardless of personal interest, and recognize parents' primary role in raising their children.
Goals 2000: A history of non-participation since 1995 in Goals 2000 gave way this year to pressure. New Hampshire now participation in Goals 2000.
Charter Schools: At the beginning of 1996, the nation's twentieth charter law was enacted, providing for 135 independent public schools to be established, both as new and converted public schools. The law is strong, but suffered union concessions that (1) require collective bargaining in any existing school that converts, and (2) prohibits private firms from making any profit if they operate a charter school, although they can contract to manage schools. Thirteen schools will open this fall. The first 17 charters were granted in January of 1997, and the eighteenth school was approved in late February. NJ charters will receive 90% of per-pupil funding, as well as be eligible to apply for nearly $1 million in federal charter school funds allocated for New Jersey charter schools.
Yet, in a show of disregard for the law’s intention, two charters approved by Klagholz were rescinded by the State board on the appeal of the school boards in which those charters were to be based. This set off enormous controversy, as the state board is seen overstepping the bounds laid down by law. The two charters have appealed further, and lawmakers have vowed to amend the law in the fall to limit any capricious denials of charters by the State Board of Education.
School Choice: On December 20, 1996, Governor Christine Todd Whitman signed into law a new school funding bill that includes authorization of a state-wide inter-district school choice provision, making New Jersey the eighteenth state to implement such a policy. The choice plan will go into effect for the 1997-98 school year as prescribed by the Education Commissioner.
In mid-February 1997, the Lincoln Park School District approved a plan to permit high school students access to other public or private schools. The move was spurred by Lincoln Park parents who must send their children to Boonton, a neighboring district's high school, and are dissatisfied with that district's test scores. Lincoln Park residents were not represented on the Boonton School Board until last year when they were granted one representative. The proposed voucher plan would have gone into effect in the upcoming 1997-1998 school year. However, Commissioner Klagholz ruled that the board’s action was not permissible. The Lincoln Park Board voted to raise private funds to support the 24 children who applied when the program was passed. Yet soon after doing so, the school board election knocked-off three of those in favor of the program. Thus, the board overturned what it had done previously.
There are currently a few intra-district public school choice programs in place. Montclair has a nationally recognized district-wide magnet school program that has boosted student achievement and fostered voluntary racial integration. A 1990 report by the Education Testing Service found between 1984 and 1988, median reading and mathematics scores rose in all grades. The gap between minority and non-minority achievement was reduced by almost 30% over 4 years.
Accountability: The Governor has come out in support of developing an early-warning test to establish learning benchmarks and measures for the achievement of the state's fourth graders. The district of Newark joined Paterson and Jersey City in state receivership, due to a failure to provide its students with even minimum education. Less than 10% of Newark's eighth graders and 25% of its eleventh graders score proficiently in the basics.
Charter Schools: New Mexico passed restrictive legislation in 1993 to provide for five charter schools. Four were launched in 1994 and the fifth opened in 1996; total enrollment is over 4,000. The original charter law sponsor, Representative Robert Perls, hopes to expand the present program to allow more autonomy and remove obstacles in the application process.
School Choice: Senator Joseph Carraro introduced a bill (SB 595) that would have allowed full public school choice that operates with coupons and provides the parent of accredited private schools with refundable tax credits. The bill, however, was tabled and not reconsidered before the session's end.
School Choice: When New York City's schools opened in the fall of 1996, 91,000 students were without seats, and Mayor Rudolph Guiliani suggested the Catholic schools help handle the overflow. The parochial schools agreed, to great outcry from the establishment. Guiliani was forced to reformulate and downsize the plan. Businesses and other private sources stepped forward to fund tuition for about 1,000 city students. (A challenge made five years ago by Al Shanker to the diocese to take in 1,000 of the city's poorest performing students was readily accepted, but then never pursued by the district until Guiliani raised the issues again this year.) In 1993, New York's Education Department studied city Catholic and public schools with more than 80 percent minority enrollment and found that parochial students consistently outperformed their public school counterparts in reading and math scores by 10% to 17%. For the poorest students, the dropout rate from public schools was four times higher than from Catholic schools.
In November 1996, the State Board of Regents voted 12-3 against a school choice proposal to let children from low-income families trapped in poor-performing public schools use up to $2,500 to attend the school of their choice, including private and parochial schools. State Education Commissioner Richard Mills also came out against the measure. The measure was proposed by Regent R. Carlos Carballada of Rochester (the former Chancellor), long a supporter of providing choice to low-income children.
Nearly 100 alternative public schools of choice, including some magnet schools that have selective admissions policies, provide a broader array of educational options for 34,000 students not adequately served by the districts' traditional public schools.
The measurable effects of school choice perhaps can best be seen in the more than two decades of progress in one of the city's poorest districts-- East Harlem’s District 4. Beginning in 1974, maverick District 4 officials allowed teachers in the junior high schools to redesign and even create schools, and empowered parents to choose the schools their children would attend-- in essence, creating the first charter schools. The East Harlem choice program is credited with raising reading scores and lifting the district from last of 32 New York City school districts to the mid-range among the city's public schools. The choice plan also has attracted white students to the largely minority school district, creating voluntary desegregation.
Governance: Mayor Rudolph Guiliani brought in former Tacoma, Washington Superintendent Rudy Crew in 1995 on a pledge to reduce the central bureaucracy. The state legislature removed control from 32 separate districts marked by patronage and corruption and vested more power in Crew, who now has the authority to hire superintendents and remove board members, entire school boards, or superintendents for poor educational performance.
Standards and Assessments: New York City has implemented tougher graduation requirements, including advanced Regents courses, which are raising the achievement levels of many students. The standards are also creating a measurable challenge to students who formerly faced little. However, the benchmarks are still said to be short of ideal.
Charter Schools: Governor George Pataki introduced a strong charter proposal in his budget bill for this year that would have provided for a large number of very strong charters. A broad bi-partisan coalition, including several former New York City officials, was formed to push for charters. However, charters were not included in the final package in July. Attempts will be made in the 1997-1998 session. New York City has been using a $50 million Annenberg Foundation partnership grant to develop charter schools although it is unlikely that truly autonomous, accountable schools will develop without authorizing legislation. Overall, despite some promising programs, wholesale improvements to the system have yet to emerge.
Tenure: The battle is on to eliminate tenure in New York. Two Long Island school districts began hiring teachers under renewable contracts instead of traditional tenure rules -- Middle County School Board and East Islip. The local teachers’ union has filed suit in East Islip. Meanwhile, a poll by the New York State School Boards Association found 75% of New Yorkers in favor of replacing tenure with renewable contracts, and a number of school boards are taking the issue under consideration. However, proponents are having difficulty even securing a Senate sponsor for a reform bill to replace guaranteed tenure with renewable teacher contracts.
Private Scholarships: The School Choice Scholarships Foundation was formed by 13 prominent New Yorkers earlier this year and will provide $1,400 scholarships for three years to 1,000 low-income public school students. For ten years now, The Student Sponsor Partnership, also a private scholarship foundation, provides full tuition assistance to over 900 students from low-income families to attend parochial high schools in New York City. Operation Exodus granted scholarships this past year to over 100 children to attend 40 different schools. Two separate programs provide tuition assistance to over 100 low-income students in Albany, Troy, and Schenectady. The BISON Fund provides over 300 scholarships for low-income children in Buffalo. A Better Choice (ABC) has offered 650 students in one failing Albany school a chance to go to a private school this fall.
Charter Schools: The October deadline for the state's first round of proposals for charter schools saw 65 applications come in for consideration to the State Board of Education, and 37 received final approval to open this fall. Twenty-four of those proposed schools are focused on serving at-risk, low-achieving and delinquent youth. Others target urban, special education, and dyslexic students. The first school opened in July 1997. Approved charters will be eligible for a share of $1 million in state funds. The law, passed in 1996, allows 100 charters (up to five per district) to be started by individuals and non-profit organizations, and provides for flexibility on issues including curriculum, salaries and teacher certification. Some state officials are not enthusiastic. One impediment charters fear is a provision in the law that attorneys have interpreted as meaning that charter teachers are not allowed to participate in the state’s pension system. Lawmakers are attempting to address this and other issues in the current session, and bills passed by the House and Senate have gone to conference committee to resolve the differences.
School Choice: In 1996, Representative Steve Woods, the author of the charter law and former Chairman of the House Education Committee, proposed a tuition tax credit of $200 against parents' costs to send a child to a private school. Both sitting and former Governors launched a public campaign against the bill. This and another choice bill introduced in the House never made it out of committee.
School Choice: The state has some intra- and inter- district open enrollment programs, limited to 20 percent of a district's enrollment. About 900 students currently participate. Interest is also growing for charter schools.
School Choice: In June 1995 Ohio Governor George Voinovich became the first to sign into law a pilot school choice program that includes religious and parochial schools. After passing constitutional muster in a district court last year, an appellate court ruled the program unconstitutional. However, as an appeal was filed, the Ohio Superior Court granted a stay to allow the program to continue while the court deliberates. It has since been expanded for two more years and doubled in number of children.
The pilot was launched in Cleveland in September 1994, and over 6,000 students applied for the 1,818 scholarships distributed in the program's first year. Applicants accounted for 15 % of the district's total public school student enrollment, and all who received a scholarship were from low-income families, who have priority under the provisions of the program. But on May 1, 1997, things took a turn for the worse when choice opponents won the day in a Columbus appeals court. The three-judge panel ruled unanimously that the state-established program primarily benefits religious schools in Cleveland. But on June 24, 1997, the HOPE Academies in Cleveland unveiled impressive test gains on CAT scores. "After one year, students in Kindergarten through third grade scored, on average, 5.4 percentile points higher on reading tests, and 15.0 percentile points higher on the math concepts test. Children at all grades at both schools made improvements," said David Brennan, founder of the HOPE Academies.
State Representative Mike Fox, an original author of the choice program in the legislature, successfully overcame a stiff challenge by a union-backed opponent in his re-election bid, and will continue to champion school choice efforts.
Ohio already provides transportation and textbooks, as well as a $128 cash payment to cover administrative costs, for all children attending non-public schools.
Charter Schools and Governance: After 18 months of political maneuvering by opponents, a provision to provide for charter schools in Lucas County, home to Toledo, was initially the only charter proposal to survive, and was approved under consideration as part of the Governor’s budget bill. However, in late July, the legislature adopted a statewide bill that permits chartering in the counties of the eight largest school districts. The bill allows an unlimited number of schools, and provides much freedom for new start-up schools.
Mayor Michael White has been given control of the failing Cleveland school system, which is currently in state receivership.
Teacher Licensure: In July 1996, Ohio legislators replaced the old teacher certificate with an educator license, comparable to what doctors and lawyers get. To qualify, elementary teachers must complete 12 hours in reading instruction, including three of phonics. In addition, teachers must renew their license every five years and show proof of continuing education.
Charter Schools: A charter school bill narrowly passed the House Education Committee in February 1997, which had the support of Governor Frank Keating and State Superintendent Sandy Garrett. Representative Odilia Danks and Representative John Bryant, the prime sponsors, then lost on the floor, yet plans are underway to rekindle the effort in 1998.
Charter Schools: Last year, Portland Superintendent Jack Bierwith expressed interest in creating the state's first charter district to gain greater fiscal control of a district budget that is increasingly controlled by the legislature. Yet despite Bierwith's desire to include teachers in the planning process, the local union head balked. Charter school legislation failed by three votes in the House, aided by opposition from the state superintendent and the state school board association. Reformers were concerned, when despite no charter law, a half-million dollars in federal funds were granted for the development of charter schools in the state. Charter proponents introduced a stronger bill in the Senate in 1997, but it went nowhere. Expect it to be revisited in 1998.
School Choice: Governor Tom Ridge remains committed to bringing educational choice to the Keystone State. Two previous efforts failed by only slim margins in the House. The first was a 1995 education reform package that would have provided for charter schools and given school boards authority for contracting. The second established a school choice program allowing parents whose income fell below $70,000 to choose public or private schools. A 1996 poll by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette found that a majority of those questioned support vouchers. And this year, several of the legislature’s black caucus members are reportedly interested in pursuing a Philadelphia-based pilot project.
Charter Schools: Pennsylvania was the 28th state to enact charter school legislation. Last November, a weak charter bill went to the Senate Education Committee, and Committee members in turn passed out a much stronger charter bill by a 6-5 vote. The PSBA and the state teachers union denounced the new bill as creating semi-private schools, removing accountability, and diminishing local control, and the bill eventually died. Earlier this year, the House Education Committee passed a very weak bill, which the Administration would not support. In the final chapter, on May 5, a new version of charter legislation was released, permitting freedom from regulations and a strong appeals process. Sponsored by state Senator Harold Mowery, the bill was signed by Governor Tom Ridge in June. Last year, the Pennsylvania Department of Education distributed $25,000 planning grants to 67 groups to help facilitate the program if it should pass. Many of those groups have been working to show how much their own charter ideas would help children in the Keystone state. Already as many as 10 schools may start- up in the fall.
Standards: Education Secretary Eugene Hickok has undertaken the implementation of new academic standards and the Governor has formed a statewide standards commission. Input is being sought from parents, taxpayers, educators, and members of the business community. Recommendations for implementation of both standards and assessment for the coming school year are imminent.
Private Contracting: Wilkinsburg became the state's first district to contract formally with a private organization to help bring improvements to schools. Alternative Public Schools, Inc. of Nashville, Tennessee, was selected competitively to run the very disadvantaged Turner Elementary School (average SAT scores of 690, compared with the national average of 950). The program included hiring new personnel, delivering personalized instruction focused on the basics, spending more time with the students, and adhering to higher standards. Opponents, led by unions, have attempted to shut down the contract school through the courts, but were unable to keep the school from opening its doors in September 1995 to 400 eager students and their parents. Subsequent efforts to oust the reform-minded school board were also unsuccessful. In the spring of 1996, the Commonwealth Court ruled that the teacher's union was not "aggrieved" by the Secretary of Education's decision to approve an alternative education plan, as they had charged. Thus opening the way for teachers to be furloughed and Alternative Public Schools, Inc. to continue to run Turner Elementary. A court date to hear arguments on the broader issue of whether privatization is permissible under Pennsylvania law is pending.
The state, working with local districts, currently contracts with 30 private schools to educate approximately 860 deaf and blind students.
Private Scholarships: In the fall of 1996, the Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association (PMA) and the Urban League of Philadelphia launched a private scholarship program that currently assists 100 low-income children to attend a school of choice. The Pittsburgh Urban Scholarship Help (PUSH) was also created to provide tuition assistance to 36 students.
Public School Choice: The Pawtucket School Committee rejected the state's desegregation plan in favor of giving parents a choice to send their child to a school other than the one assigned. And in Providence, the superintendent implemented school report cards to inspire "friendly competition" in the district. Parents will have access to test scores, attendance rates, and other information indicative of a school's performance. Rhode Island was the site of two teacher strikes in the fall of 1995, despite the fact that strikes are illegal, and despite the fact that, in a state where most wages and salaries are below the national average, its teachers' salaries rank in the top fifth of teachers nationwide.
Charter Schools: In spring 1995 the legislature enacted a charter school law that provides little of the autonomy or flexibility intended by the charter concept. The American Federation of Teachers objects to charter laws that allow flexibility in staffing, including hiring qualified but uncertified teachers and freedom from collective bargaining issues. Yet, the AFT endorses Rhode Island's law, which restricts charter schools on both counts, as a model for the country. The law has generated no charter schools to date. Only 3 applications were received by the December 1, 1996 deadline.
Charter Schools: The legislature passed a moderately strong charter school law in June of 1996, which restricts sponsorship privileges to local school boards and requires that the racial composition of a charter school equal that of the local school district within a 10% margin. There is no cap on the number of schools permitted. The Lighthouse Charter School, in the Hilton Head Island community in Beaufort County, was to become the first charter school in the state. Lighthouse was initially turned down by the Beaufort School Board and on appeal was approved by the State Board. However, the county is suing, claiming the state has no right to order the school to be appointed. Originally, a middle school was planned that would have enrolled 250 students. However, the interest in the community was so great that one grade will be added per year, starting with a ninth grade in the 1998-1999 school year. Lighthouse Charter School will be a year-round school. Two more charter schools have been approved and will also open in Sept. 1997.
General Reform: In 1995 the South Dakota legislature passed numerous laws eliminating nearly half of the state's encumbering school regulations. Earlier this year a bill allowing inter-district choice passed the legislation. It applies to only 5% of the state’s small population.
Charter Schools: Despite some interest, a charter bill never made it out of committee. However, these issues are beginning to percolate.
School Choice: 22,000 students participate in an inter-district choice program in Mufreesboro, Tennessee, a district that has been largely successful with a rigorous district standards effort. The Memphis school board recently approved a local open-enrollment policy to take effect next school year. The program will supplement the district's current transfer program that provides for 15,000 students to enroll in optional schools or to transfer to another district school for "hardship" reasons.
Private Scholarships: Since fall 1995, CEO Knoxville is providing 22 scholarships to low-income families to help send their children to the school of their choice this year.
Charter Schools: The 1997 legislative session made significant improvement to the Texas charter bill. Originally, the 1995 revamped education code provided for the creation of two types of charter schools, "open-enrollment" charters sponsored by the State Board of Education, district sponsored "campus" charters. The original bill capped open-enrollment charters at 20, and by fall 1996, all 20 had been granted, and 17 opened in the 1996-97 school year. One has already celebrated its first graduates, a teen mother and former dropout. During the same time only one campus charter was approved, to open in the Dallas area. However, in response to the competition from a handful of nearby open-enrollment charters, the Houston school board recently approved over a dozen "contract charter schools" to open this fall under the jurisdiction of the district. Prior to the first charters, Houston principal Thaddeus Lott took on management of a cluster of autonomous schools under the new education code, although his expanded authority is limited to personnel and curriculum.
Legislation passed this summer raises the cap on open-enrollment charters to a total of 120, as well as allows for additional charters to serve at-risk students. The Department of Education has already received over 500 requests for charter applications. A recent report to the State Board found that Texas' existing charter schools serve minority and low-income students: charter school enrollment is : 26% African-American (state average is 14%), 52% Hispanic (state average is 36%), and 19% white (state average is 47%).
School Choice: On May 6, 1997 the Texas House of Representatives heard nearly two hours of debate before voting on a voucher bill that would allow low income children attending poorly performing public schools to attend private schools. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat, introduced HB 318 to expand and improve the current Public Education Grant Program (public school choice). The bill was considered on the House Floor on May 6, 1997 when an amendment by Representative Ron Wilson to allow private school choice was offered and debated for two hours. A move to kill the bill by tabling the amendment failed in a 68-68 tie vote. Representative Wilson, a black Democrat from Houston, saw that there was not enough support for passage so he withdrew the amendment from debate. In defeat the tie vote shows a shifting opinion toward the parents that favor choice. Texas support is overwhelmingly bi-partisan, and the Governor has added his support.
Decentralization: The 1995 legislative rewrite of the education code focused in large part on strengthening local control, but such provisions have resulted in little substantive action. Development of district-sponsored, "campus" charter schools has made a dim showing thus far compared to the progress of state-sponsored, "open enrollment" charters. Home Rule, which would allow districts with referendum approval to operate more autonomously from the state, has not been pursued by any districts. "Public education grants," (PEG) designed to give a hand up to the state's most at-risk student population, have served a mere handful of students. PEGs would allow students in low-performing or low-testing schools to attend a school in their district or a neighboring district, and based on recent test scores, students in up to 1,000 schools qualify. However, many districts, not bound by law to accept out-of-district grant students, have closed their doors to students seeking to transfer from such poor-performing schools, claiming over-crowding.
Private Contracting: Houston's Superintendent Rod Paige has taken an entrepreneurial tack toward solving his district's severe overcrowding problem. For the fall 1996 school year, Paige contracted with the private Varnett School to enroll over 100 district students, at a cost-savings to taxpayers. The district pays Varnett $3,575 per student (verses its own $4,677 per-pupil costs), and at the same time avoids capital contraction costs it can ill afford. Another 15 private schools have submitted bids to become education providers to HISD, all agreeing to accept $3,575 as full per-pupil payment. In Sherman, the school board contracted with The Edison Project to run one of its elementary schools. The school opened in August of 1995 for K-4 graders, and expanded to fifth and sixth grades in 1996.
1995's education code rewrite also included a provision allowing for private company contracts to educate the state's adjudicated youth. Community Education Partners launched a school under this statute, serving students in the Houston area. They will have four schools this fall, including the one in Dallas. Paradigm Alternative Center has been operating under contract with the Dublin Independent School District since 1993, providing an education program for the districts most troubled students. It is estimated that at least a dozen private groups provide schooling to thousands of children expelled from district schools because of criminal or other adverse behavior.
Private Scholarships: Several Children's Educational Opportunities (CEO) Foundations, provide half tuition, about $1,000, to nearly 1,700 children attending private schools in five cities throughout Texas. An additional 3,200 children from low-income families are on waiting lists. Children’s Education Fund (CEF) allowed 335 low-income Dallas County students to attend the schools of their choice in January of this year. Although this is a jump from the 235 students being served in June of 1996, 263 students still remain on the waiting list. CEF provides an average of $860 in tuition assistance per child.
School Choice: This legislative session saw a proposal for a refundable tax credit to parents whose children attend private schools or are schooled at home defeated. It was sponsored by Representative Evan Olsen. A bill sponsored by Representative Bill Wright allowing a $1,790 tax credit to parents who choose private schools passed the House in March 1997 but failed in the Senate.
Open Enrollment: Utah is one of the eighteen states that provides for public school choice across the state, and is among the top performing states in the nation. A legislative task force commissioned with investigating ways to increase parental involvement included a voucher provision.
School Choice: On June 27, 1997, Rutland County Superior Court Judge Alden Byron ruled that it is unconstitutional for the town of Chittenden to spend public tax money to cover the tuition costs of children attending religious schools in the area. For over 125 years, families in parts of this highly rural state have used their public education funds, allowing them to send their children to the school of their choice, in other districts and even across state lines (as resolved in one 1994 court case). Prior to 1961, sectarian schools were also an option. Parents from three districts, with the backing of one of those district's school boards (Chittenden, where 15 of the district's 95 high school students currently attend a local, academically acclaimed Catholic school), are suing to have eligibility expanded to include sectarian schools. The Institute for Justice, which is also involved in the Cleveland and Milwaukee suits, is currently arguing the case for Chittenden parents and plans to appeal the case to the Vermont Supreme Court.
Charter Schools: During the spring 1995 session, Senators approved a charter school bill for the state, but the bill ultimately died due to partisan bickering. The interest in establishing charter schools continues.
Standards and Assessment: Virginia Standards of Learning are considered the most rigorous academic standards in the country. The standards delineate student achievement expected from kindergarten through twelfth grade for math, science, social studies, and English, while curriculum decisions are left to local schools. Virginia is developing assessments to measure how well the state's students are meeting those standards. The first statewide results are due in the spring 1998. The Governor's Commission on Champion Schools has also recommended issuing school report cards to inform citizens about individual school performance, part of which could include state standards test results. In late February 1997, the State Board of Education proposed new standards of accreditation for the state’s public schools. The proposal links student achievement to school accreditation, tightens graduation requirements, and requires high school juniors to be tested in four basic subjects. Public hearings will be held throughout the spring, and the proposal will be finalized in May.
Charter Schools: For the past four years, the Governor and his allies have pushed charter school bills, but have been road-blocked by partisan bickering and never seen a bill make it out of committee. Proponents continue to gather support for a charter bill, and a legislative study committee headed by Senator Warren Barry has been formed to gather data for further consideration.
Goals 2000: In efforts to minimize federal intervention in the state's school system, the Governor declined two years in a row to participate in the federal Goals 2000 program, making Virginia the only state not to receive the federal funds, either at the state or local level. However, in January of 1997 Governor Allen accepted the federal funds after repeated assurances from the Department of Education that no regulations would be attached to the money.
Charter Schools: Initiative 177, intended to open the door to charter schools in the state, lost at the ballot box last November under intense opposition from a coalition headed up by the Washington Education Association, the state teachers union. Despite a sound defeat, the pressure on Washington lawmakers to enact charter legislation reemerged this spring. Under the leadership of Jim and Fawn Spady, the Education Excellence Coalition's initiative proposed to turn over every public school in the state to teachers, allows for the creation of new charter schools, provides families with limited school choice, and grassroots coalitions. The grassroots group collected the requisite signatures to put the issue before the legislature, which ultimately did not vote on the initiative, effectively turning it over to voters to decide. Members of the "NO on 173 and 177 Committee" Coalition, which in addition to the WEA included the state PTA, the League of Women Voters and other labor groups, worked to link I-177 in voters' minds with I-173, an unrelated initiative for vouchers, and spent over $1 million to jointly defeat the two measures. WEA has since come under legal scrutiny by the Public Disclosure Commission (PDC), the State's campaign watchdog, for possible PAC violations discovered by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation. In February of this year, the Attorney General filed a lawsuit against the WEA in the Thurston County Superior Court. The WEA is charged with multiple campaign finance violations.
A charter bill that passed the House but failed in the Senate, put the power for authorizing charters in the hands of the school boards. The legislation started out as a very strong bill with multiple chartering authorities, very much in line with the Educational Excellence Initiative last year, but was heavily watered down in negotiations. Expect reconsideration in 1998.
Public School Choice: Public school choice has existed since September 1991, although details governing the transfers vary from district to district and is heavily regulated. Nearly 12,000 students enroll in schools outside their own district. Some Seattle school board members would like to move away from the city's controlled choice plan, which is driven by desegregation issues, in favor of one that would allow for the reemergence of neighborhood schools. The board has already waived racial-balance guidelines for some schools. The new Seattle Superintendent John Stanford has received rave reviews, but solid reform progress remains to be seen.
General Reform: Seattle has been lauded for its success with the English immersion language program it has implemented to serve the community's vast diversity of non-English speaking students. Measurable achievements of the program include: lower dropout rates for students in the program compared to the district; increased graduation rates; and increased test scores in reading, language, and math compared to district levels.
Private Scholarship Programs: In the fall of 1996, CEO Seattle began providing tuition assistance to 14 children from low-income families to attend private schools.
School Choice: The nation’s most famous school choice program remains tied up in court, with the Wisconsin Supreme Court having heard oral arguments in July. The program had been expanded in 1995 to cover 15,000 children and allow choice of religious schools, the number of eligible private schools increased from about a dozen to over 100. Recent research has shown, contrary to the state-sponsored finding, that children in the Milwaukee Parental Choice program "for three or more years substantially outperformed, on average, a comparable group of students attending Milwaukee public schools." The authors, Harvard University's Paul Peterson and the University of Houston's Jay Greene, also concluded that if the success of the Milwaukee program could be achieved for all minority students nationwide, "it could close the gap separating white and minority test scores by 1/3 to 1/2." Parental and student satisfaction in the program continue to be strong, and a 1995 poll of 1,000 of the city's African-American residents found that 95% support parental choice of school, and 70% favor including parochial schools.
Despite critics' claims that full school choice will siphon off students and funds to the detriment of the school districts, recent reports in Milwaukee give evidence to the contrary. For the 1995-1996 school year, even with 2,000 additional students participating in choice through private donations last year, district student enrollment was up 1,600 over the previous year. In addition, three separate reports by city, state and legislative agencies show that full implementation of the new school choice law would actually save the district money, and could increase available funds by as much as $900 per student.
Private Contracting: Recent laws allow school districts wider latitude in deciding how they deliver education services. School boards can opt to contract with professional educators outside the scope of district contracts, as well as directly with private educational service providers. To help alleviate a public school enrollment overflow, Milwaukee began sending 700 public school students, and the $2.9 million earmarked for their education, to private schools for the 1996-1997 school year. The district continues to contract with nearly two-dozen private schools, paying them at least 80% of the district's average per pupil spending, to educate about 1,500 "at-risk" children with behavioral or learning problems. Although the local union voiced no objection to the city-financed removal of at-risk children to private schools, it is now protesting the use of private contracting to educate regular students as a solution to the district's overcrowding problems.
Charter Schools: In 1993 Wisconsin passed a law to establish ten charter school districts, with up to two schools in each district. However, the schools must be approved by local school boards and are still bound somewhat by union contracts thus cannot operate completely free from mandates and regulations except in Milwaukee. In 1995, legislators lifted the two charters per district cap. 13 charters are currently operating in the state.
A provision to expand charter autonomy and activity in Milwaukee was passed as part of the Governor's budget bill in 1995, but was challenged by the Milwaukee teachers union. They argued that because the amendment pertained only to Milwaukee, it couldn't be passed as part of a state budget bill, and a local court declared the amendment unconstitutional earlier this year. A similar amendment, which would increase the number of eligible charter sponsors and applicants, and lift the cap on the number of charters in Milwaukee, is backed by a grassroots coalition of business and parent advocates. The bill is attached to the governor's 1997 budget bill, and, if passed, will probably be challenged on a similar technicality.
Charter Schools: State lawmakers passed a so-called charter school bill in 1995, but the law gives charter schools little freedom from state laws or district oversight. To date, Wyoming has no charter schools in operation.
For More Information ...
The Center for Education Reform has detailed information about each of these state reform efforts, and can put you in touch with local-level experts and activists. A full list of state and local organizations generating this activity is also available as an appendix in The School Reform Handbook: How to Improve Your Schools ($9.95), published by the Center. Some of those resources are also available in Education Resources and Organizations. If you would like additional information on any of the topics in this summary, please send us e-mail, call us at (800) 521-2118 or write to us at 1001 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 204, Washington, DC, 20036.
This summary is published for the benefit of the general public. We thank all of those who provide us with ongoing information which allows us to update this publication during the year. Many other groups also publish comparisons of state education efforts. This guide was compiled, written and edited entirely by the staff of the Center for Education Reform.
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