Point of View - Charter Schools

Letters to the Editor
Palm Beach Post April 16, 2014
Opinion Editorial by Margaret Menge, Lake Worth

Get the Facts before Assessing Charters

The letter in Sunday’s Palm Beach Post (“Public schools at real disadvantage”) was wrong on many counts.

First, contrary to the letter-writer’s statement that “charter schools do not require teachers to be certified,” the Florida Department of Education’s website clearly states: “Teachers employed by or under contract to a charter school are required to be certified (Ch. 1012, F.S.).” A few states allow people who aren’t certified to teach in charter schools — those with at least two years of experience teaching in the Teach for America program, for example, or college-level teaching experience, or men and women with exceptional military, business or artistic experience. In Florida, however, you must have a teaching certificate to teach in a charter school.

Second, the letter-writer says that charter schools can refuse to accept handicapped students. No, they can’t. Charter schools, like all public schools, must make a “free and appropriate public education” available to all students with disabilities per the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Charter schools cannot, by law, refuse to serve students with disabilities. Many charter schools find that they are not equipped to serve severely handicapped students, and yes, the district schools must then educate them. But this is a very small fraction of the student population.

Third, the letter-writer says that “not all charter schools have to administer state-required tests.” False. If you look up FCAT scores for the past few years you’ll see them listed for all charter schools in Palm Beach County. The only charter school students who don’t take state assessments are those who have very limited English and so take the CELLA test instead — as is the case in regular district schools — and those students with very serious disabilities, who would not be taking the state assessment whether they attend a charter school or a regular public school.

Charter schools face enormous challenges. New charter schools must raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to lease buildings and renovate them. And founders usually contribute hundreds of hours of volunteer labor to plan and open schools. Also, charter schools have to pay an administrative fee to the school district every year. For a small charter school opening with just 100 students, this fee amounts to about $40,000. One advantage charter schools do have is the ability to replace bad teachers, something that is almost impossible to do in regular district schools when teachers have tenure.

MARGARET MENGE
LAKE WORTH