Fevin says charters will mainly be in urban areasCharter schools
A deputy superintendent from New Orleans testified before a state education committee Monday on the benefits of charter schools — a legislative priority for Republicans in the 2017 legislative session.
Last week, Gov. Matt Bevin said school-choice legislation would get passed in the 2017 legislative session because, with Republicans controlling both state legislative chambers, Democrats won’t have the numbers to stop it as they have in the past.
Dana Peterson, deputy superintendent of external affairs for the Recovery School District in New Orleans, testified before the Interim Joint Committee on Education at the Capitol Annex.
In Louisiana there are six types of charters schools, Peterson said. Underperforming schools or “recovery” schools are those specific to the Recovery School District, which is a statewide district administered by the state’s Department of Education.
The district has the authority to shut down underperforming schools and authorize nonprofit organizations to run them under contractual agreements that meet state academic standards.
“They are given a contract to operate schools in our district; in our city, in most cases, that starts with a five-year contract,” Peterson said. “They have autonomy over decision-making, staff, curriculum and their budgets … to meet needs of their students. At the end of that contract term, the state has the policy that the schools must not be a failing school. If they are a failing school, we make no exceptions and decide to close them.”
The operator of that school no longer runs the school, Peterson said, and the Recovery School District could decide to recruit new school operators, or in some instances, shut it down, finding available seats for the affected students in a higher-performing school.
The district’s charter schools have about 43,000 students, he said. By receiving public education funding, the charter schools must meet state requirements and adhere to open-meetings and open-records laws, including supplying annual public budgets to the state. Charter schools, Peterson said, are evaluated annually in the same manner as other state schools.
“The key difference is when charter schools are unsuccessful in our space, we take action on them. And in many cases, in traditional schools, that’s not always the case,” Peterson said. “In our space, that school is held accountable: They don’t meet those standards and we close them out.”
According to Peterson, about two-thirds of the students were in failing schools before entering a more successful school in the Recovery School District. The charter schools are more flexible to change curriculum to meet students’ needs without needing authorization from a governing board.
Senate Majority Whip Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, candidly asked whether charter schools are a political issue.
“The General Assembly is basically divided into two camps, and I happen to be in the camp that believes charter schools will work to turn around our priority schools, and there’s those that think it won’t work,” Higdon said. “My question to you is: Is this part of a political agenda or is there evidence that charter schools help turn around priority or failing schools?”
In New Orleans, Peterson said, there is evidence of progress for troubled schools, but it comes with strong oversight and accountability.
Rep. Derrick Graham, D-Frankfort, who co-chairs the committee and whose bill providing instructional assistance to low-performing schools in the bottom 5 percent of the state didn’t pass in the last session, asked for more specific data showing where schools began and how much progress they’ve made.
Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, has said education accountability will be a priority for the 2017 legislative session.
Sen. Mike Wilson, R-Bowling Green, who also co-chairs the committee, told The State Journal the discussion will continue.
“We have yet to hold our annual Senate majority caucus retreat, where our caucus comes together to determine what legislation will be at the top of the Senate’s priority list for the upcoming session,” Wilson said. “School choice has been an issue we have prioritized in the past, and we have had several good discussions on charter schools in recent years. I would not be surprised if the discussion continued in 2017.”
By Brad Bowman
Frankfort State Journal
