THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 24, 1995 TAG: 9501240301
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 100 lines
In a clear sign that Gov. George F. Allen's push for charter schools faces an uphill political battle, House Majority Leader C. Richard Cranwell, D-Roanoke County, blasted the plan at a Monday public hearing.
While Allen has pitched the idea as a way to increase parental choice and involvement in public schools, Cranwell accused proponents of catering to special interest groups that would divert public funds to create elite schools and further divide society by class and race.
Cranwell said charter schools would ``Balkanize'' the existing school system and ``commence the dismantling process'' of public education.
``They use nice, soft words like `choice.' Do they practice choice? No,'' Cranwell said. ``They're the same people that would stand in front of a health care facility and deny a young woman a choice in her life, and they would even resort to violence to deny that choice.''
Sen. J. Brandon Bell, R-Roanoke, who on Monday filed a charter school bill for the Allen administration, later called Cranwell's remarks ``totally reckless.''
``I was appalled, frankly, that he would use something so inflammatory toward people who are seeking to improve education and give parents potentially another choice,'' Bell said. ``It makes it more difficult, obviously, to get past that level of emotion and confusion to what this legislation is all about.''
The issue is expected to be divisive. Del. Mitchell Van Yahres, D-Charlottesville, who introduced a charter bill last session, said he will not do so this session ``because there was so much controversy over what a charter school meant.''
About 300 people attended Monday's hearing, called by the House Education Committee as it moves to take up the issue. Thirty-two people spoke, including Bell and Del. Jay Katzen, R-Warrenton, who filed a companion charter school bill in the House for Allen.
Bell and Katzen argued that charter schools would encourage creativity and innovation, as well as add a level of accountability for student performance that's lacking in traditional schools.
Under the Allen plan, groups or individuals could apply to a local school board for a charter that would spell out a school's mission and what it would achieve. Charter schools would be freed from most local and state regulations.
Speakers opposed charter school legislation by more than a 2-to-1 margin. The idea drew criticism from leaders of the state's educational establishment, including the Virginia Education Association and the Virginia Association of School Superintendents.
Representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People also attacked Allen's plan.
The emphasis, educators said, should be on more choice and options within the existing system. In addition to their concern that charter schools would divert money from existing schools, they worried about ``hidden'' costs, such as the expense of reviewing charter applications or fighting court battles if an applicant were rejected. ILLUSTRATION: HEARING HIGHLIGHTS
Highlights of charter school legislation introduced Monday for
the Allen administration by Del. Jay Katzen, R-Warrenton, and Sen.
J. Brandon Bell, R-Roanoke.
Purpose of charter schools is to:
Increase and improve learning opportunities ``for all pupils.''
Encourage diverse approaches to learning.
Create new professional opportunities for teachers.
Provide parents and children more choices within the public
school system.
Charter schools would be:
Public, nonsectarian and nonreligious. Existing public schools
could be converted into charter schools.
Subject to all federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination
and to any court-ordered desegregation plan.
Free from most state regulations, including standards of
accreditation.
Responsible for its own budget, contracts for services and
personnel.
Funded 100 percent of the local and state per-pupil share of
public education dollars as required by the state Standards of
Quality.
Provisions for establishing charter schools:
Parents, teachers or other individuals and groups could apply for
a charter from a local school board, which would approve or reject
the application.
Applicants could appeal rejections in the circuit courts.
No existing private or nonpublic home-based school could be
converted into a charter school.
Applicants would have to describe why the school is needed and
state goals, objectives and pupil performance standards.
A description of how students would be selected is required.
The charter could be revoked at the end of any school year if the
school violated conditions agreed to by the applicant and the school
board.
Teachers, unlike those in existing public schools, would not have
to be certified by the state.
KEYWORDS: CHARTER SCHOOLS by CNB