How I Answer Questions About Charters at Holiday Parties (and Everywhere Else)
Every year around the holidays, as I sit down to dinner with family or friends, I inevitably get asked the question, "So what are charter schools anyways?" I usually am happy to entertain the question, as there is a lot of information out there, some true and some not true.
Even my most well-read of friends will get some basic facts wrong. Having worked in both charters and district-run schools -- as a teacher, principal, district authorizer and now charter leader over the last 20 years (am I getting old?) -- I do my best to give a balanced perspective. I am an advocate for great public schools, run by district or charters. I’ll take any mixture of district and charter schools if it ensures all students have access to great public schools as fast as possible.
Also, conversations about charter schools have shifted over the past year or two. What was once an unknown or even exciting sector has become a sector that is maturing, proving that it, like everything else, isn’t perfect. And, for the first time, charters have been under attack and scrutiny for a whole host of reasons, some with merit and some of which are connected to our collective success and broad support.
Nevertheless, I think it is important to share our experiences with anyone who is curious about charter schools, public education in America, and how everyone can have equal access to high-quality schools.
So here are the typical questions I get and how I talk about them:
Common Question #1: What is a charter school?
Charter schools are tuition-free public schools, and enrollment is open to all students. They are actually called charter schools because a group comes together to write a “charter” document to the authorizing body in the district in which their school will be located. Once approved, the school must follow the plan put forth in this “charter.” They are operated independently from the district, with more flexibility than district-run schools, in exchange for increased accountability. In LA, charters undergo a formal oversight visit every year from the district. Further, every 5 years charters are formally reviewed by their authorizer for quality and approval of their operating agreement. District-run schools don’t face that level of scrutiny.
Common Question #2: No wait, really? What do you mean they are open to all students?
I mean ALL students who live in California. As a former principal of a charter school, we would write all 1,400+ names on an index card, put them into a bin and pull them out blindly to create our enrollment and waitlist. Everybody means everybody - no preferences or anything other than random selection when there are more applications than enrollment slots. That’s the law.
Common Question #3: What if a student is really behind or has special needs?
We are excited about serving every student who comes through our door. We have had and continue to have students with a wide variety of abilities: we’ve had students with learning disabilities, and we have gifted students. We’ve had a student who was wheelchair-bound and needed intensive learning supports. We were transparent about our college prep academic program, expectations for how we treat ourselves and others, and the family thought we were the best school for him. He graduated from us in 4 years, and now he is a junior at USC!
Common Question #4: Are charter schools private schools or for-profit?
I get this question a lot and can use your help in spreading the word. Charter schools are public schools. Charter schools are not private schools and they are all tuition-free. We are a non-profit and ALL charters in California are required to be non-profit. Given that charters are using public dollars, I think this is the right thing for our state to do.
Common Question #5: How are you funded? Is it mainly through philanthropy?
Most people are surprised to know that we are mainly funded through state dollars. We have to raise money to start new schools and open up new school buildings, but our model is to be 100% financially sustainable on the public dollars we receive.
Common Question #6: Ok, fine, so do charters take money away from district-run schools?
Thanks for asking as I am getting this question more often these days. I’ll let you decide. This is how it works:
Tax dollars follow students. When a student chooses to go to a district or a charter school, (and remember that both are public schools) that chosen school receives the dollars that come with serving that student and family.
In this situation, and in my opinion, the power goes to the parent and student to choose where they want to go to school, which means that both charters and districts have to ensure their services and programming are meeting their student’s needs. This isn’t perfect; however, I am happy that the decision making power is in the hands of the community.
Common Question #7: Do charters have the same accountability as district-run schools?
This to me is one of the most common misconceptions of charter schools. Charters have clearly defined oversight, oversight so effective that I think it would be great if all district and charter schools had the same accountability system.
As a charter network, all of our schools have annual oversights and 5-year contracts with our authorizers. They evaluate us on many factors like academic performance, governance, finances, issues of equity and more. There is room for improvement in this process, but overall it is pretty thorough.
Before my current position, I was on the district side as an authorizer, so I also know how comprehensive of a process that can be. I often think, having been both the authorizer and “authorizee” in the past, that all public schools, districts or charter, should have the same annual oversight with 5-year contracts.
Common Question #8: Where should I send my son/daughter? Are district schools or charter schools better?
You should send your child to the school that best serves their needs and the goals you have for raising them. I believe there are great district schools and there are great charter schools. There are also not-so-great district and charter schools. The dividing line between a quality school and a low-performing school isn’t drawn at school type. Great schools usually have a few things in common like great teamwork between the teachers and administrators, academic excellence, and a safe and positive environment.
Common Question #9: What is the strongest argument against charter schools today?
My perspective is that charters have proven to work and be difference-makers for low-income families who historically don’t have great choices of excellent schools. Overall, charters have excelled in this area.
There does seem to be a growing body of evidence that in some states charter schools have been abusing public funds, using charters to segregate students, or treating students inhumanely. I do think that state governments need to look at their regulation laws for charters to see how patterns of these behaviors can be reduced without stifling innovation and expanding high-quality options that are sorely needed in our public school system.
I’ve worked in districts that have abused public funds, segregated students, and treated students inhumanely, too. No one system type will stop that from happening. The question is how can both district and charter systems work to minimize the negative impact they have on families and maximize the positive impact.
Overall, I think there are great district schools and great charter schools. There are also bad actors in both school types.
Common Question #10: Where do you hope district and charter schools go in the future?
My hope for district schools is twofold:
That they get the same levels of flexibility that charters have to adapt dynamically to student needs
That they have the same annual oversight and 5-year contracts that charters do
My hope for charters is that regulators find the right balance of preserving the autonomies to allow them to drive innovation in public schools, while also establishing common tools of assessment and performance with their districts, so parents can compare schools apples to apples. At the same time, I hope charters have access to facilities that district schools have.
Overall, my hope is that districts become agnostic about the type of school they have within the district. My hope is that they would hold all schools, district and charters alike, to the same goals and evaluations. They both should have the same resources of funding and facilities, so educators in both sectors can focus on their students. This, in turn, creates a system of schools that is constantly evolving to the needs of our parents and students.
Common Question #11: What can I do?
Thanks for asking and thanks for deepening your perspective. Please continue to hear all sides of this topic. I’m happy to continue to provide my perspective. For now, let’s eat and be merry, and let me hear a little more about your industry and where you’d like to see it head in the future.
Oliver Sicat, CEO