Charter schools: The basics

What exactly IS a charter school?

Charter schools are public schools that are accountable to their authorizing agency for performance measures included in the charter contract. Charter schools must employ licensed teachers, involve parents, administer statewide tests, and comply with federal regulations that govern all public schools. Under state law, school districts can authorize an unlimited number of charter schools. In addition, the City of Milwaukee, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee Area Technical College, and University of Wisconsin-Parkside, have authority to charter schools, which are called independent non-instrumentalities of the school district.

 WEAC and Charter Schools

As charter schools spring up throughout the state each year, so do the number of questions and concerns surrounding them. There were 188 Wisconsin charter schools in 2006-07, and the number keeps growing. How charter schools are developed and operated is of utmost importance to WEAC members.

Schools for students at-risk

Originally, charter schools were designed to meet the needs of at-risk teens who were not finding success within the traditional school setting. Since that time, however, the variety of charter schools and the ages served has expanded, sharply increasing the number of these schools in Wisconsin.

More funding available for charter schools

The federal government has also increased the amount of funding it provides for charter school planning, implementation and dissemination grants, providing incentives for districts to create such schools. On August 6, 2007, the DPI announced that 10 new charter schools will each receive $150,000 in federal grants to support their operation. Other federal organizations and private donors have also been more active than ever before in promoting the creation of charter schools throughout the nation.

Advocates of locally controlled, accountable schools have worked to create a charter school law in Wisconsin that is superior to that of many other states. Wisconsin law goes farther than most to protect traditional public schools and WEAC members. However, some groups are continuing to press for expansion of the state’s current charter school law.

What is WEAC’s position on charter schools?

WEAC supports only instrumentality charter schools, those that are established and operated under the control of local boards of education. School boards have the experience and expertise to run school programs and are accountable through our democratic process for the money they spend and the success they achieve. WEAC’s position is:

• Charter school employees should be full partners in the design, implementation, and governance of charter schools.
• Charter school employees should be employees of the school district and, therefore, eligible to participate in the Wisconsin Retirement System.
• Only local school boards should have the power to create charter schools. Other municipalities, colleges or universities, and private or for-profit entities should not.
• Charter school funding should not disproportionately divert resources from traditional public schools.
• Charter school programs must be qualitatively different from what is available in mainstream public schools.
• Charter schools should not be used to select easy-to-educate students or to eliminate or reduce the number of special education students in the charter school.
• Wisconsin ’s charter school law should not be expanded.

WEAC does not support the use of independent charter schools, which are run by entities other than school districts. They are not operated by school boards elected by the residents of their communities. They are not accountable to taxpayers, and their instructors are not public employees and are not part of the state retirement system. Most importantly, they are not required to consider the common good; but only what is best for a small group of students.

These independently run charters are paid for by reducing state aid to Wisconsin’s school districts. This forces the cash-starved school districts to either cut existing programs or increase their local property taxes to fund schools that are not accountable to local citizens and taxpayers. During the 2005-06 school year, more than $35 million was transferred from existing public schools to independent charter schools.

Where are these independent charter schools?

In Milwaukee, in addition to the board of education, charter schools can be created by:

• The City of Milwaukee.
• University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
• Milwaukee Area Technical College (which has chosen not to participate in the creation of charter schools outside of the local control of school boards).
• In addition, UW-Parkside operates a charter school in Racine.

 Confusion

There is often confusion among the public between instrumentality and independent non-instrumentality charter schools, as well as with the Milwaukee private school voucher program.

WEAC stands firm in its stance that the only charter school concept that works for staff and students is that of the instrumentality charter school, involving staff in decision making as well as requiring any changes in the charter to be made through collective bargaining.

The problem of turnover

Recent studies have pointed to a higher percentage of staff turnover in charter schools in the Midwest. Although Wisconsin experiences that to a lesser degree because it limits independent charters, the dilemma is understandable.

In Wisconsin, most charter schools are created in cooperation with public school teachers from ground level planning to implementation. The result can be innovative schools that nurture creative education and provide professional support for the staff, along with the support of a union to protect their rights.

Staff members in independent charter schools sometimes find themselves without the support of a union, under scrutiny, overworked, and with unrealistic expectations.

There is still work to do

WEAC is working hard to oppose any expansion of independent charter schools. An expansion of these would result in:

• Reduction in school aids to regular public schools.
• Lower pay for teachers and other employees.
• More fraud and less accountability.
• Less local control.

As national attention to charter schools continues to increase, WEAC members are encouraged to help their communities become informed and involved. Charters can only be great schools if they are controlled by local school boards, with involved teachers and staff.

Resource Page on Charter Schools

 Posted October 15, 2007