Charter schools have certainly been in the news lately with stories about tax increases, closures and funding. As an educator and taxpayer, I am compelled to share a few facts.
In 1998, the Utah Legislature passed HB145 calling for the creation of up to eight charter schools for a three-year pilot program with an assessment of those schools at the end of the pilot. Certain purposes were defined for these schools, including improved student learning, the use of innovative teaching methods, the creation of new professional opportunities for educators to allow them to participate in the design and implementation of the learning programs, creating new forms of accountability measuring learning outcomes and providing opportunities for greater parental involvement in decisions at the school level.
It is through the lens of this original law that I find gaping holes. While there was no assessment of charter school performance at the end of the initial three-year “pilot” period as originally requested, scrutiny of Utah’s charter schools has increased of late and is yielding interesting results.
For example, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (a pro-charter organization) concluded that Utah charter school students exhibited lower academic growth when compared with neighborhood public schools (seven fewer days in reading and 43 fewer days in math). The percentage of economically disadvantaged and high-need students was 18 percentage points less than their neighborhood counterparts. Only 21 percent of the state’s public charter schools reported using one of the six innovative practices tracked by NAPCS. This organization also cited the need to strengthen the accountability policies for charters.
Utah’s own data is equally troubling. Fall charter enrollment for 2014 fell by more than 2 percent (1,141 students) despite the opening of 10 new charter schools.
As a taxpayer, I am equally concerned about the proliferation of new charter schools when there is already more than enough capacity. Currently authorized Utah charter schools have the capacity to enroll 80,340 students, but the most recent data show just 68,459 students are actually enrolled in the schools. Those figures indicate charter schools are under capacity by nearly 12,000 students, or about the size of an average Utah school district. Yet, this year the Utah Charter School Board authorized the opening of 10 additional schools.
In addition, the Utah State Charter School Board recently closed two charters one week before the start of the school year. I have to wonder about those children and educators who are now forced to look elsewhere for school and employment. Is that putting students first? Local school boards have also been forced to raise taxes in reaction to the legislative mandates for funding charter schools.
Having devoted more than 30 years to public education, I believe all children deserve access to a quality public school, whether that is a charter or neighborhood school. However, Utah spends less per student than any other state. In light of all of the previously mentioned issues and concerns, we simply cannot afford the uncontrolled expansion of charter schools. They are not fulfilling the promise to taxpayers of improved learning and innovation.
Sharon Gallagher-Fishbaugh is president of the Utah Education Association, a 36-year public school teaching veteran and Utah’s 2009 Teacher of the Year.