Dissatisfaction over educational progress has some Mississippi legislators looking in new directions.
With talk of Gov. Haley Barbour”s recommendation to merge underperforming school districts fading and 60 percent of public schools ranking less than successful on the Mississippi Curriculum Test, members of the legislative task force to study underperforming schools last week took a look at charter schools.
Charter schools are publicly funded, privately run schools which operate without the same restrictions as traditional public schools but are held to higher accountability standards. Students attending charter schools apply for enrollment rather than being assigned a school based on their place of residence.
Dr. Del Phillips, superintendent of Columbus Municipal School District, says the selection process charter schools employ is similar to the magnet school system utilized by the district.
“A lot of things we do at the magnet schools are very similar to charter schools. They”re kind of like cousins, but we still have to comply with all the rules and regulations (set forth by the state),” said Phillips.
The task force heard from Dr. Ron Zimmer, associate professor of educational administration for Michigan State University, who objectively summarized a number of studies on the efficacy of charter schools.
“He said a lot of what we had already read. There are some successful charters and there are some that are total failures. It generally depends on the leadership and support from parents and the community,” said Rep. Cecil Brown, D-Jackson, chair of the House Education Committee.
Mississippi currently has no legislation regarding charter schools, but task force members may recommend that change after they meet again in January.
“We”re just information gathering right now. We”ll probably issue a report in the second week of January from the task force. Then there”ll be a hearing with the Legislature and we”ll decide what, if anything, we”re going to do,” said Brown.
The question with charter schools is not one of finances, as is the case with Barbour”s calls for district consolidation. A Southern Regional Education Board report to the task force showed district consolidation in other states saved money only at a local level and made little impact on state budgeting. And the thinking is similar at the state Department of Education.
“I don”t think anyone can show the governor where there”s any great savings by consolidating. I don”t really see consolidating schools being a huge topic in the legislature this session,” said Dr. John Jordan, interim state superintendent of Mississippi schools.
But the same applies to charter schools.
“Charter schools cost money. They may not cost any additional funding to the state, but they don”t save money,” said Brown.
Instead, proponents point to data suggesting greater academic performance by students attending charter schools, although studies exist to contradict those findings.
“We”re looking at it as a way of dealing with those school districts operating so poorly because of academic deficiencies or financial deficiencies we might have to go in and take those districts over,” said Sen. Alan Nunnelee, R-Tupelo, who sits on the task force. “If a district is not giving students a basic foundation or can”t make payroll, it makes a whole lot more sense to try something different than turning it back over to the same management team that caused the problem to start with.”
Brown and Nunnelee are both advocates for charter schools, but Jordan remains neutral on the issue.
“I”m not for or against it. I”m for any measure that improves instruction,” he said.
Brown says charter schools are valuable simply by offering students a choice.
“Some kids are not being served by public schools. Some communities only have one school and kids are trapped in a situation where they don”t have an alternative unless they want to go to private school,” he said.
If charter school legislation is introduced, the state will set guidelines for who”s eligible for the enrollment lottery.
“A lot of times states will set up that, if you”re going to start a charter school, we”re going to make you get students that are below grade level in certain demographic fields like high poverty and that”s the only students you can accept. It”s not as if they can say, ”We”re going to start a charter school and I want these kids,”” said Phillips.
Brown says multiple possibilities exist for filling charter schools that allow for a wide range of achievement levels. The point, he says again, is offering a choice.
“I don”t know if we”d have a school dedicated to low performers. You can have high achievers trapped in a low performing school (who apply). You can have kids struggling in a school that”s moving too fast (who apply),” he said.
Charter schools can be established by school districts, parent groups, churches, non-profit or for-profit organizations.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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