DATE: Tuesday, November 18, 1997            TAG: 9711180239

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:   73 lines

STATE EDUCATION BOARD IS TOLD CHARTER SCHOOLS ARE ``VIBRANT FORCE'' FOR GOOD

A researcher told the state Board of Education Monday that charter schools, still prohibited in Virginia, are ``the most vibrant force'' in U.S. education.

In a talk that sounded at times evangelistic, Gregg Vanourek, a research fellow with the Hudson Institute, a think tank, said charter schools ``have the potential, if done right, to transform our school systems. . . . They free principals of burdensome red tape, empower teachers and transform parents to active consumers and shapers of their children's education.''

Vanourek was the lead author of one of the most detailed studies of charter schools, which found strong support from parents and teachers across the country. The schools are exempted from many regulations to encourage innovation. They can be run by teachers, parents, YMCAs, even for-profit firms, he said.

The board also heard supporters of government vouchers and tax credits to help cover private-school tuition. But charter schools took up most of the time and drew the most fervent comments from the board, another sign they may be the reform of choice in the next legislative session.

Last week, the State Commission on the Future of Public Education, a panel composed primarily of Democrats, who have blocked approval of charter schools, issued a report supporting their creation. Gov.-elect James S. Gilmore III has also promised his support.

Charter schools, Vanourek said, ``largely sidestep political battles involving vouchers and standards'' in schools. They are ``quintessentially American - entrepreneurial, democratic and a little bit risky.''

The study, which surveyed 1,000 people at 60 charter schools, found ``striking satisfaction levels'' among parents and teachers, he said.

Though critics have feared charter schools would cater to white, well-to-do students, Vanourek said he found the opposite: Fifty percent of the students in the charter schools he surveyed were minorities, compared with 34 percent in U.S. public schools. More than 40 percent of the students qualified for free or reduced-price lunches, compared with 38 percent nationally.

Vanourek said the biggest problem for charter schools was lack of money, especially for construction. And he warned: ``We don't have definitive nationwide academic-achievement data on charter schools. That's a big caveat.''

He found some receptive members on the board, which can endorse, but not approve, such reforms.

``It's time for Virginia to move forward on charter schools,'' said J. Brandon Bell of Roanoke, who said he introduced the first charter-schools bill when he served in the state Senate in 1994.

Board President Michelle Easton said: ``I'm for anything that helps children be better-educated and lets parents have a more meaningful role.''

But board member John W. Russell wondered: ``If normal public schools were to be run right and done right. . ., why would we need charter schools?''

Making the case for vouchers was Pete Hutchison, general counsel for the Landmark Legal Foundation, a law firm based in Kansas City that has defended voucher systems in the courts.

``It doesn't require setting up a new school,'' Hutchison said. ``It involves allowing children access to schools that are in place.''

Students participating in Milwaukee's voucher system ``are performing much better in all areas, particularly in math,'' he said. And the system is encouraging change in the public schools that are losing students to private schools.

The state attorney general's office said in 1994 that vouchers for religious schools would violate the state constitution's ban on government funding for ``sectarian'' groups. But Hutchison had a different take.

A voucher program ``neutrally providing benefits to a broad class of citizens'' - including, but not limited to, those who pay for religious school - would pass muster, he said. He also noted the federal and state constitutions' protection of the ``free exercise of religion.''

The voucher report elicited less reaction. Board member Cheri Yecke suggested a study on whether to issue vouchers to help cover tuition for the Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind. KEYWORDS: CHARTER SCHOOLS VOUCHER

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