THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 30, 1996 TAG: 9601300278
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long : 135 lines
Despite a yearlong effort by Virginia legislators to find common ground, it became clear at a public hearing Monday that parents, educators and other community groups remain sharply divided over whether charter schools are right for the common-wealth.
The experimental schools, approved in 19 states since 1991, are supported by Gov. George F. Allen's administration and by a bipartisan coalition of state lawmakers interested in testing new ways to improve public schools.
Under legislation before the General Assembly, parents, teachers, business leaders and others could apply to local school boards for a ``charter'' to open the semi-independent schools, which would have to achieve specific goals. The schools would be able to experiment free of many state regulations.
Last year, after the issue was bogged down in controversy, legislators swept aside three separate charter school proposals in favor of a legislative study. Members of the study panel said Monday they had completed an ``extensive review'' and devised a bill that addressed most concerns.
The bill lets local school boards decide whether to approve such schools and the board could shut them down if they fail to perform to agreed-upon standards. Proponents said the schools would not siphon money from existing public schools.
``One thing I think it proved is that charter schools are not the evil demon they are sometimes referred to,'' said Del. Phillip Hamilton, R-Newport News, who is sponsoring the bill along with Del. Paul Councill, D-Southampton, chairman of the House Education Committee.
But Monday's hearing, before Councill's committee, made clear that the beauty of the bill lies with the beholder. Speakers variously lauded the idea as promoting innovation and choice or attacked it as undermining the existing school system.
Part of the controversy arises from its association with Allen, a conservative Republican, and a national push among many conservative parents for government vouchers and tuition tax credits to send their children to private schools. One supporter noted Monday, though, that even President Clinton, viewed by many as a liberal Democrat, voiced support of charter schools in his State of the Union address last week.
Some educators welcomed the idea. The Virginia Congress of Parents and Teachers also endorsed the house bill, known as HB 776.
``If (the bill) had a `1' in front, it could be a very historic moment,'' said Warren A. Stewart, superintendent of Goochland County Schools.
``We seek improvement and are not opposed to change,'' said Dianne Pettitt, chairwoman of the Chesterfield County School Board. ``This gives people with similar interests a way to initiate a grass-roots effort without requiring the system to initiate the effort.''
Most of the speakers who opposed the idea said charter schools would do nothing to improve public schools and were suspicious of the motives of proponents.
Kris Amundson, a spokeswoman for the Virginia School Boards Association, said the ``biggest danger'' with charter schools is they promote what she called the ``sky boxing of America,'' described as a growing phenomenon in which people ``withdraw from society and associate with people just like them.''
Instead of ``Balkanizing'' public schools, Amundson said, the state should help existing public schools with programs that are known to produce results: smaller class sizes in the elementary grades, for example, and expanded technology.
Julie McConnell, associate director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Virginia, said that the ``creativity and money that would be spent on a charter system should be devoted instead to innovations designed to make the public education system work for everyone.''
Paul C. Gillis, president of the Virginia State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said he feared that black children would be left out and relegated to a second-class education.
``We will fight this at every turn,'' Gillis said. ``You must reckon with this organization.''
Other educators said all schools, not just charter schools, should be freed from any rules that are considered burdensome or stifle creativity and student achievement.
``We should all be playing on the same playing field,'' said Robert V. Hall, chairman of the Henrico County School Board. ``This would be a step backward for public education in Virginia.''
William C. Bosher Jr., Allen's superintendent of public instruction, said that charter schools are ``not the salvation of public schools, nor will they destroy public schools.''
Bosher said he viewed charter schools as one more alternative that could be available to local school districts.
``This issue should not have been as debilitating to us as it has been,'' Bosher said.
Councill assigned the bill to an education subcommittee that will consider the comments later this week and make a recommendation to the full panel. MEMO: THE CHARTER SCHOOL BILL
A bill introduced into the General Assembly by Del. Phillip Hamilton,
R-Newport News, and Del. Paul Councill, D-Southampton, would allow local
school boards to consider applications from parents, teachers and others
who want to open charter schools. Here are answers to questions raised
about the bill, HB 776.
Q. How does the bill define a charter school?
A. A public, nonsectarian, nonreligious, or non-home-based school
located within a public school district. A charter school could be
created as a new public school or by converting an existing public
school. No charter school could be established through conversion of a
private school or a nonpublic home-based school.
Q. Who can operate a charter school?
A. Any person, group or organization can submit an application. Local
school boards decide whether to accept or deny the application. The bill
limits each school district to two charter schools between July 1996 and
July 1998. The bill requires that at-risk students, those who are not
succeeding in a conventional public school, be given priority. At least
half of the students accepted into the schools would have to be
considered at-risk.
Q. How would the schools operate?
A. School boards would award a charter ``contract'' to the
applicants, which would spell out the school's mission and goals that
would be achieved. The schools would be required to meet academic
standards required by the state and also other state and federal laws
prohibiting discrimination. The school would be responsible for its own
operations, including budget preparation, contracts for services and
personnel matters. Only licensed professional teachers could work in the
charter schools, and they would have to be employed by the school
district granting the charter. The schools would be required to submit
annual evaluations to the local board; the board could revoke the
charter if the school fails to meet the agreed-upon performance
standards.
Q. How would the schools be funded?
A. A local school board and the charter applicants would be free to
negotiate an agreement for funding, but it could contain no financial
incentives or disincentives. Services provided by local districts could
include food services, custodial and maintenance services and
curriculum, library and media services. The charter school could accept
private gifts and donations. State and federal funds would follow
children with disabilities.
KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY CHARTER SCHOOLS EDUCATION by CNB