LOGIN NOT A MEMBER? REGISTER

FOR PRESS CONTACT US  SUPPORT

The Maryland Public Policy Institute

• RESEARCH
• Criminal Justice
• Economic & Fiscal Policy
• Education
• Environment
• Gas Tax
• Government Transparency
• Health Care
• Transportation
• Welfare
• EXPERTS
• EVENTS
• MPPI PRESS
• ABOUT US
• POLICY BLOG

Give charter a 2nd chance

Originally Published in the Frederick News-Post

Education

by Marta Hummel Mossburg

OP-EDS

Launching a charter school in Maryland takes the patience of Job, as the board of trustees of the Frederick Classical Charter School found out last month.

After being told their curriculum, which includes foreign language training in elementary school and an internationally esteemed math program, was too distinct from local standards, they were then told it was too similar.

Frederick County Public Schools Superintendent Linda Burgee also slammed the application for not offering enough space for students and having an inappropriate building. She added that a strained budget made launching a new school a bad idea. The board of education rejected the charter application Nov. 22.

FCPS did not provide the school a set classroom size, so it's as if it is making up the rules as it goes along -- and arbitrarily applying them, as the existing Montessori charter school has classrooms smaller than the 800 square feet the board wanted. Second, the charter template does not require applicants to have a building at the time of approval, so the board should not hold the school accountable to a rule that does not exist.

Besides, to force a charter to build classrooms the size of the newest public school classrooms when it receives no capital funding would basically prohibit any schools from opening. As for funding, the school would shift resources rather than demand extra spending.

The rejection is not surprising given Maryland's weak charter school law. The Center for Education Reform just ranked Maryland's law 35th of 40 states and the District of Columbia in a new study. The main reasons for receiving a "D" include that the state does not allow groups other than school boards to approve charters and funds charters at a lower level than other public schools.

As Tom Neumark, president of the Frederick Classical Charter School Board of Trustees said of the process: "It's a bit like making McDonald's the sole authorizer of fast food restaurants in a county. Obviously, they are not going to be inclined to approve others who they regard as competition."

The Center for Education Reform points out charters flourish when independent authorizers can approve them. "States that grant universities the ability to charter schools tend to enjoy a robust charter school movement where the resources of higher education are brought to bear on K-12 problems through high standards of accountability, technical assistance and additional oversight." They also have a lot more -- 85 percent of charter schools in the country are in states with independent authorizers.

Another problem with the state charter law is that it gives teachers at those schools no autonomy to decide on work conditions. Baltimore City's KIPP Ujima Village Academy, one of the city's top-two-performing public middle schools, has struggled continuously with the local union over teacher pay, as its school day and year are longer than those of traditional public schools. Teachers there are paid more than other public school teachers but the union wants KIPP to pay teachers "pro rata" for the extra time even though they do not demand it.

Frederick Classical deserves a second chance from new school board members. Legislators must also revisit the state charter law this year to make it easier for more high-performing public schools to flourish.