Washington should take another look at charter schools

In competing for federal Race to the Top education dollars this year, Washington made significant changes to its public school system but it left one thing unchanged. It held fast to its ban on charter schools.

Through state referendums and initiatives, Washington voters have repeatedly told lawmakers that they don't want charter schools. NPI has shared this view; we endorsed the Reject Referendum 55 campaign in 2004. but we certainly believe that they are not the panacea that their supporters say they are.

So what is a charter school? Charters are an unusual type of public school. They operate without many of the regulations that usually apply to public schools, giving them the freedom to innovate, yet they are held accountable to their state or school board for high results. If they don’t perform adequately they can have their charters revoked, and parents have the choice of whether or not to send their children there.

The Obama administration is emphasizing charter schools in its vision to improve America’s education system. Last summer, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told reporters that:

States that do not have public charter laws or put artificial caps on the growth of charter schools will jeopardize their applications under the Race to the Top Fund. To be clear, this administration is not looking to open unregulated and unaccountable schools. We want real autonomy for charters combined with a rigorous authorization process and high performance standards.

Delaware and Tennessee were the only two states to win the first round of RTTT. Both states allow charter schools. In fact, Tennessee reconvened its legislature this year to remove its cap on the number of charter schools it allows.

Looking at the short term picture, one reason to support charters is their financial benefit; Washington could bring in $250 million for K-12 education if it qualifies to win RTTT. To put that in perspective, Washington cut $120 million in state funding from K-12 education for the 2010 – 2011 school year. A grant of $250 million could fill our education budget hole for a couple of years, sparing a lot of pain in our school districts.

In addition, Race to the Top is the first, but is probably not the last time charters will be considered when the Obama administration doles out federal education funds. As a presidential candidate, Obama touted the strengths of charter schools, and as his administration continues to roll out its education plan and reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (currently known as No Child Left Behind), states without charters will be at a disadvantage.

If we look at what charters could do for Washington in the long term, the research is mixed. We see that in some places charter schools are doing fine work turning around the lives of America’s most troubled students. Charter schools like the Harlem Children’s Zone’s Promise Academy and California’s Making Waves are sending 90% or more of their disadvantaged students on to college. Getting higher education is a sure-fire way to break the cycle of poverty.

In a recent Harvard-MIT study of Boston-area students, charter school students outperformed their peers who lost the charter school entry lottery and remained in regular public schools:

At both the middle- and high-school levels, students who'd won the charter lottery subsequently scored impressive gains, both in math and English skills, compared with students who'd lost and remained in the regular public schools.

But other research draws more subdued conclusions. According to a recent RAND Corporation study, on average, charter school students perform about the same to slightly better than traditional school students. As Brookings Institute scholar Ben Wildavsky writes, “Charter schools have been highly uneven in quality." He also adds, “In a number of high-profile cases, they have done a lot of good.”

Charter schools probably won't be a central solution to raising America’ mediocre test scores, but it is fair to recognize their frequent success at helping the most disadvantaged children succeed. Washington should put aside its suspicion of charters and test the waters by supporting a limited number of highly accountable nonprofit charter schools to serve disadvantaged kids. Providing charters would both improve Washington’s standing with the Obama administration and offer families school choice. And if they don’t perform, both parents and the state could always opt out or pull the plug.