INC NEWS - Charter Schools -- what I know...

[RW Pickle]

I don't think it is correct to say taxpayers do not have to pay for
buildings for charter schools. By virtue of paying taxes for education (of
which all of us do regardless of children or not), we're funding these
charter schools with the educational dollars that are sent to them
(instead of the regular public school system). I don't have a choice in
saying that my taxes should be used for charter or public, those are the
dollars that follow the kids; regardless if it's public or charter. And I
assume, the same goes for private schools. I assume the same dollars
travel with those kids as well (but gets augmented by additional funds by
the parents or scholarships). Education is a business. It has to have
funding. Tax dollars make primary and secondary education free (of sorts)
to all. If these charter schools continue to proliferate, what will our
current public school system do? It seems like one hurts the other instead
of complementing it (when it comes to funding; even resources such as
teachers must be a competition).  And lets say charter schools hit some
hard times (like the landlord goes out of business and the school is
foreclosed on). How can we expect the public school system to absorb all
these kids on such short notice? It just wouldn't be possible. Or why
would I expect local government to step in and buy a building that was
once a school because a charter school went under and the kids have no
school to go to now? That's why it seems to me like there needs to be some
stability in planning. As it is now, no one seems to know from
year-to-year if the kids will be in charter or public schools. Apparently
they can switch at will. This just adds instability to any long-range
planning it would seem.

Here's a similar example; the Parkwood Volunteer Fire Department. It now
operates within City boundaries, yet is not a City service. So when they
went to Council this year for funding and were denied (at first), this set
off an alarm in the community. Here was a fire service in jeopardy of
shutting down. And who was going to have to pick up the tab? The
taxpayers. I just don't want to see our educational system become a
privatized entity only to have it fall back in our laps one day and bite
us. It's hard to say one way or the other if that day will ever come. But
I do recall a number of charter schools closing in the past couple of
years. But public schools can't just up and close. Just like they can't
just up and double their size. All of this takes planning. Something that
I can't see how having charter schools as part of the equation figures in.
Like I said, it's a business. And without funding, it will cease to exist.
Then what do we do? It can't be an overnight fix like trailers that will
solve it. It may start off that way, but planning on the future of our
schools in the community (and for the community) needs to be a stable
thought process (or so it would seem to me).

RWP
27 Beverly



> Unlike Private Schools, because Charter schools
> receive money from the state, Kestrel Heights does not
> charge any tuition. Since they do not get Durham
> money, building the school did/does not cost Durham
> taxpayers.
>
> I'm not sure exactly how the financing for Kestrel's
> building is structured, but I do know they are
> associated with a group called Imagine Schools. I
> believe Imagine actually funded the building of the
> school and then  Kestrel "leases" the building back
> from Imagine, as a lease is an operating expense that
> is permitted from the per pupil allocation. There
> may be some other administrative services that Imagine
> provides too. This is not an uncommon financing
> structure for a charter school as facilities
> are one of the largest challenges charter schools
> face.  I'm sure I could find out more if that info is
> needed.
>
> Now I believe Imagine is a "for profit" company and
> some people are horrified by that.  However the school
> is not "for profit" and is dedicated to providing a
> great education to kids.  It's really no different
> than DPS outsourcing some of the services it needs to
> companies that are "for profit":  If you think of it,
> DPS pays interest on the bonds they use to finance
> schools and the holders of the bonds make a profit on
> the loan of their money.  Same thing really happens
> between Kestrel and Imagine -- its just on the school
> level instead of being lost in the government cloud.
>
> In any case, one of the key controls with charters is
> that parents vote with their feet -- if the charter
> school isn't providing a good education that meets a
> child's needs then parents will withdraw kids and the
> school will close.
>
> Because charter schools do need to pay facilities
> costs out of their operating allocation, they
> generally have to run pretty efficiently. For instance
> Kestrel doesn't have a cafeteria and the kids eat
> either in classrooms or outside when it is nice.
> They do cater in a hot lunch for those that want it
> but not having to dedicate space to a cafeteria
> reduces costs.  I actually find not having a cafeteria
> to be an advantage as the
> cafeterias in most schools are too small forcing kids
> to eat in shifts with some kids having either
> outrageously early or late lunchtimes (my KG daughter
> eats lunch at 10:40 AM).
>
> I could see how DPS might have a burr under their
> saddle over charter schools because it drains money
> from their coffers, but I think the competition is
> good for them and might serve to make the school
> system strive to be better. More importantly, our
> schools are currently overcrowded and charter schools
> are an option that help accommodate the increasing
> student demand without taxpayers having to pay for the
> buildings.
>
> Cheers,
> Melissa
>
>
>
> --- RW Pickle <randy at 27beverly.com> wrote:
>
>> Is there anyone on this list that tell us the
>> difference between these?
>> Such as State educational requirements, per pupil
>> funding provided by the
>> State (to charter school children), and how it is
>> possible for charter
>> schools to build buildings without charging more for
>> children (or that
>> they do; like private schools do). Maybe even the
>> difference between
>> charter, private, and public. I guess kids who
>> attend private schools also
>> get the State funding sent to that school.
>>
>> I have no kids, so I missed out on all this
>> new-fangled educational
>> process. It seems (to me) that these charter schools
>> are just a drain on
>> funding for our public schools and if things need to
>> change there, we as
>> taxpayers will be called on to meet that burden.
>> Charter schools will just
>> close as some have. I can understand that there may
>> be some overcrowding
>> from time-to-time in our current schools, but growth
>> (of children in
>> numbers) is a hard thing to plan. And unless someone
>> is keeping an eye on
>> it (like Melissa says, where will her kids go in 5th
>> grade if preschool is
>> already this crowded), it could get really out of
>> hand in a hurry. I know
>> developers never estimate how many children will
>> impact a school when they
>> do development. And I doubt anyone else can predict
>> that as well. My
>> street over here once had 52 school-age children on
>> it. Today that number
>> is 10. And of those 10, 2 attend a charter school, 1
>> attends a private
>> school, and the rest go to public schools. But
>> that's a big difference
>> from the 52 who were once here and that must really
>> mess up planning for
>> someone.
>>
>> Because we live in a different world today than when
>> I was growing up, it
>> seems our society has become so transient. Given
>> several large company
>> moves from our region, the entire population base
>> that we plan for could
>> move as well. I think about the declining cities in
>> the north; they could
>> use more students. Here, our economy is good, so we
>> get more residents
>> (and their kids). It must be a hard thing to plan
>> since building schools
>> are not something that is done overnight. I guess
>> that is why we've turned
>> to trailers as a temporary solution. The kid
>> population could change one
>> way or the other from year-to-year depending on
>> where the parents are in
>> their lives.
>>
>> RWP
>> 27 Beverly
>>