[Durham INC] Charter School Bill

[Melissa Rooney]

Thanks John. Then I think we should require charter schools to provide free 
lunches and transportation AND provide them with the funding (equivalent to what 
DPS gets) to do so.


The important thing is leveling the playing field so that DPS and charters can 
start working together rather than against each other.

Regardless of lunches and transportation, I would hope that Charters and DPS 
would agree that both should:

• Require    all teachers to be licensed in the area they teach. (NCAE    has 
been informed that teachers whose licenses have been revoked by the    state are 
now employed in charter schools.) 



• Report student    test data as part of the charter school’s test data in cases 
when a    student transfers from a charter school to a traditional public school    
within 45 school days prior to administration of EOG or EOC testing. And vice 
versa.


• Identify and    disseminate best practices from charter schools, correlated 
with student    achievement, for possible replication in other traditional and 
charter    schools. 



If Charter supporters refuse these requirements, and feel they have good reasons 
to do so, then why are we requiring them of our other public schools??

Melissa



________________________________
From: John Haws <John.Haws at sas.com>
To: "INC-list at rtpnet.org" <INC-list at rtpnet.org>
Sent: Thu, February 17, 2011 11:00:39 PM
Subject: Re: [Durham INC] Charter School Bill

Regarding Melissa Rooney's recent posts and call to action.... 

The issue with charter schools is very complicated and I don't think Melissa 
presents a clear, fair, or objective picture. Charter schools certainly are not 
receiving preferential treatment, and they receive far less funding than 
district schools, and currently receive no support for lunches or 
transportation.

I myself am undecided on this issue, but I do know that there are numerous 
charter schools throughout the state accomplishing amazing things with all 
populations. Visit Maureen Joy or KIPP Gaston College Prep for example. I also 
agree that we absolutely cannot forsake our district schools, and I worry about 
too heavy a reliance on charters.

I certainly don't want to rehash the BCR debate/flame war many of us probably 
read and participated in, but there is a legitimate debate to be had about 
charter schools (with the exception of a few commentators with personal  
agendas, a very sound debate occurred on BCR). Melissa's commentary and call to 
action does not tell the whole story. 


At the heart of her posting, though, is something we all agree on: if public 
education is important to us, we should read the bill, talk to educators and 
parents, and in general educate ourselves on this topic.

- John

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