THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 19, 1997 TAG: 9702190001
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 49 lines
A Senate committee has killed charter-school legislation for another year. Too bad. The demise comes with a price tag. Estimates of what the state will lose over five years range from $14 million to $30 million. That money could have been well spent - not to enhance religious or other private schools, not to serve the wealthy at the expense of the downtrodden, but to promote innovation in public education that could benefit all children.
``Charter schools'' are a code word in some quarters for elitist education, a backdoor way of funneling extra money to those who need it least. The worry is that such schools will drain talent and resources from institutions serving the masses.
But that need not be the case. Charter-school funding can and should be limited to public schools. And nothing prevents poor neighborhoods from launching charter schools to experiment aggressively with educational techniques. In fact, there's nothing to prevent lawmakers from requiring that at least a portion of funds be directed expressly at poor neighborhoods.
Opponents say local school boards are already creating alternative learning environments. Regional Governor's Schools and local magnet schools are examples. Ironically, charter schools - granted greater administrative freedom and funding in exchange for innovation and tough performance standards - may actually be less elitist than such alternatives.
The demonstrated demand for alternatives argues in favor of the state embracing charter schools and claiming every available federal dollar to give them a boost. But to qualify, it is not enough for local boards to approve charter schools. The state must back the concept.
Gov. George F. Allen argues that Democrats who block charter schools are hypocritical. They lambasted him for refusing to accept federal Goals 2000 money, but they won't accept charter-school funds.
The matters are not precisely analogous. Goals 2000 money was open-ended, available to be spent in any way a community chose, so long as it followed a broad and inclusive process. The charter-school money can be spent only on charter schools.
But Goals 2000 and charter schools have this in common: Their basic concepts are sound; they seek through innovation and community involvement to improve public education.
It was wrong for conservatives to equate Goals 2000 with government mind control. It is equally misguided for liberals to fear the enthusiasm and creativity that charter schools could spawn. In both cases, it is folly for Virginians to pass up a pot of money that their taxes helped create.