Op-ed: California Charter Schools Making Headway, Despite Inequity

In a San Diego Union-Tribune op-ed, Cameron Curry, executive director of California’s 13-year-old Classical Academy public charter schools, celebrates the 20th anniversary of the California Charter Schools Act, which made her state the second, after Minnesota, to approve charter schools. “The traditional school districts have watched closely as these schools have successfully taken on some of the most resistant students, in some of the toughest neighborhoods,” Curry writes. “Although they serve public school students, charter schools from their very inception in 1992 have not received per-student funding at the same level as traditional schools…The funding gap created 20 years ago continues, and the inequity creates a greater burden on charter schools to produce sustainable positive outcomes with students over the long haul. Charter schools have less in state funds to budget with, and in most cases are required to provide for their own school facilities.”

Source: San Diego Union-Tribune

Public Charter School Enrollment Rises in New Mexico

According to the Las Cruces Sun-News, public charter school enrollment continues to grow in New Mexico. "I think that there will always be some demand for parents to have education options for their students," said Bruce Hegwer, executive director of the Albuquerque-based New Mexico Coalition for Charter Schools. "And I think charter schools are definitely a viable option." Although most of the state’s charters are concentrated in the north – Albuquerque alone has more than 50 – the percentage of students choosing charters in the southern part of the state is higher."Most of the charter schools have populations that aren't being served at traditional schools," said Irene Oliver-Lewis, founder of Alma d'arte Charter School in Las Cruces. "If there wasn't a need," she said, "we wouldn't be seeing these increases of enrollment." Las Cruces Public Schools Superintendent Stan Rounds said that one local charter schools serves as a “transition point,” helping students master English before they return to traditional public schools.

Source: Las Cruces Sun-News

Editorial: Charter Schooling Expands, But Not Yet in West Virginia

According to a Charleston Daily Mail editorial, “increasing numbers of people, tired of their children being virtual prisoners of failing public schools, are willing to entertain the idea” of public charter schools. According to the Mail, growing charter enrollments nationwide are “fraying longstanding political alliances,” such as the disconnect Jason L. Riley wrote about in the Wall Street Journal recently, between black parents seeking more educational options and black lawmakers supporting teachers unions that oppose charters and vouchers. “Clearly, many parents are not satisfied with the status quo. In November, Georgia voters amended the state constitution. It creates a commission that would approve new schools that had been rejected by local school boards…Voters in Washington State approved an initiative that sets up the Washington Charter School Commission…An indefensible status quo in public education is meeting increasing resistance. Washington became the 42nd state to authorize charter schools. West Virginia is not one of them.”

Source: Charleston Daily Mail