DATE: Tuesday, November 18, 1997            TAG: 9711180010

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B8   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Editorial 

                                            LENGTH:   56 lines

CHARTER SCHOOLS TIME FOR A TEST JUST AS IT WAS FOLLY FOR VIRGINIA TO FOREGO GOALS 2000 MONEY FOR SO LONG, IT WOULD BE A MISTAKE TO PASS UP MONEY FOR CHARTERS.

The Virginia General Assembly has rejected the creation of charter schools within the public education system for four years running. Now, with millions of federal dollars in the balance and a growing body of information nationally about the pitfalls and rewards of charters, it's time to shift course.

A proposal from the state Commission on the Future of Public Education should speed the change. The commission, composed of lawmakers and citizens, will urge the Assembly approve the schools when it convenes in January. Lawmakers should respond by adopting a pilot project.

The recommendation is among several dozen that will be advanced by the commission as the result of almost two years of study. Other meritorious ideas advanced by the group are strengthening teacher training, expanding pre-school education to all at-risk children, and using financial incentives to reward school improvements.

Politically, those items may be easier to sell than charter schools. Opponents of charters, many of whom have strong records of commitment to public schools, fear that charters will draw resources and talent from existing classrooms.

But such schools could have an opposite effect, by adding to the pool of talented students going the public-school route and by deepening community excitement about public schools.

Choice and diversity have become turn-of-the-century watchwords, and public schools need the courage to experiment with changes that expand alternatives.

That said, the Assembly should use caution while moving in new directions. Lawmakers can draw on experiences in 20-some states already experimenting with charter schools to make sure they don't become a tactic for educating an elite few at the expense of the many.

There are ways to do this. Design charter schools that have a particular focus for at-risk populations. Select students by lottery. Locate schools in neighborhoods where they will attract a diverse population.

Creative minds can come up with ways to minimize the dangers of charter schools while maximizing their potential. Charter schools-within-schools are a particularly attractive hybrid. Millions of federal dollars are available to help finance the venture. Just as it was folly for Virginia to forego Goals 2000 money for so long, so it would be a mistake to pass up money for charters.

Public schools are the foundation upon which much of America's success is built. But they are not so perfect that carefully designed experiments should be rejected out-of-hand. Providing public vouchers to pay for private school education goes too far, but charter schools have the potential to foment new ideas and enthusiasm within the public school system.

Charter schools should be given an opportunity on a test basis to rise or fall on their own merit, not on unproven fears about what may or may not happen if they become reality.

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