Stephen’s Thoughts On… Charter Schools
EDITOR’S NOTE: Over the campaign I write about topics important to Atlanta Public Schools. The second of this “Stephen’s Thoughts” series is a note about charter schools.
From the onset I want to make it clear: I have no issue with people who decide to send their kids to charter schools. Parents and guardians choose their schools for lots of different reasons, some more valid than others.
If you’re unfamiliar, charter schools are public schools in the sense that they are publicly funded and required to educate all students who apply (if there’s space) and cannot discriminate on race, income, disability, etc. They differ from traditional public schools, however, because they are operated by private organizations. In Georgia, all charter schools are non-profits. These schools operate via agreements with the state or local districts that must be renewed after a number of years.
Charter fans would say that being privately managed offers flexibility that gives those schools room to innovate. Opponents would argue that this flexibility can turn into fraud and weak protections for students. Both sides have strong arguments, and because there are more than 7,800 charters nationwide, each side can find an example to prove their point.
It might not surprise you to hear that as someone running for the school board, I’m firmly in support of democratic control over schools. It makes me uncomfortable to hand constitutional rights (like the right to an adequate education in Georgia) to a private organization. That isn’t to say that charters can’t do an excellent job of educating children, I just want strong public oversight of all schools—especially those that receive public funding.
As someone who works at the intersection of school funding and school integration, I have to hold onto a couple of true things that seem in conflict. First, charter schools in the United States are partly responsible for the fact that schools are more segregated today than they were in the 1970s. As much as charter advocates would (repeatedly) make the case that school choice is the “civil rights issue of our time” the reality is that even as neighborhoods have become less segregated, charters have a significant factor in the resegregation of our children’s education.
Second, neighborhood segregation is still present and existing school lines help cement that segregation. Anyone who has lived in Atlanta knows about the stark differences between the southwest and northeast parts of the city. When we first moved here I heard that Morningside Elementary, a public school in NE Atlanta, has a $1 million endowment. Contrast that with the fact that my kids’ school, M. Agnes Jones Elementary in SW Atlanta, had less than $300 in our PTA budget just five years ago. The enrollment zones that keep kids segregated in the city are a traditional public school issue. Charter and magnet schools have freedom to expand their borders in a way that can offer a path forward for a more diverse school. If we are serious about providing more kids in Atlanta an excellent, diverse education, then charters are a powerful tool in that toolbox that we would be silly to disregard.
There are more to schools than their ability to advance or hinder integration. I’ve criticized charters for the passive ways that they restrict enrollment to certain types of students. When I see the data that shows that charters serve significantly fewer students with disabilities than their public school counterparts, it makes it clear that these schools have a ways to go before we embrace them as some end-all solution to public education.
Add in the fact that the vast majority of charters don’t provide school bus transportation, and it would seem many of these schools are being reserved for parents who can afford to wait in the drop off and pick up lines.
If I’m elected as your school board member for seat 2, please know that I am going to treat charters the same way I treat any school under our purview: hold them to a standard of excellence and equity that recognizes the dignity of every child in Atlanta. All of our schools need improvement, not just the KIPPs and Ethos Academy’s of this world. I plan to be an agent of that improvement on your behalf.
Best,
Stephen