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Update, April 21, 2003: Major elements of the anti-charter lawsuit filed by "Ohio's Coalition for Public Education" have been dismissed. See CER Newswire April 22, 2003 for details.
Following is a statement on the performance of Ohio charter schools by Jeanne Allen, president, Center for Education Reform; Chester E. Finn Jr., president, Thomas B. Fordham Foundation; and Lisa Graham Keegan, CEO, Education Leaders Council:
WHAT OHIO'S COALITION FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION ISN'T TELLING YOU ABOUT CHARTER SCHOOLS
Recently, an Ohio-based organization -- ironically calling itself the Coalition for Public Education -- announced its intention to saturate voters and lawmakers across the Buckeye State with the latest information on the performance of Ohio's 92 public charter schools. It was announced that the information in this mailing will outline -- in completely impartial terms, so says the coalition -- all the evils of the state's charter schools, and how they are draining funding away from Ohio's public schools. We trust that Ohioans are too smart to be taken in by this coalition's name and its claims.
In fact, this new coalition and its school-establishment members are infinitely more interested in preserving those features of the current public-education system that are most beneficial to teacher unions and other opponents of an open, accountable education system. They are scuttling those elements that benefit parents and students. While disappointed in the coalition's position, we're not surprised; Ohio's public education establishment has long opposed charter schools. And because the state's lawmakers, and now the Supreme Court of the United States, have not taken their side on matters pertaining to school choice, they have decided to take their case to the "general public."
On the basis of long experience, we have come to expect the organizations joined in this coalition to resort to hyperbole and misinformation in their attacks on public charter schools. However, it's important that Ohioans not only understand the truth behind what the coalition is saying, but also what it is not saying
The most egregious example of selective and willful misinformation lies in its account of funding for charter schools. These fledgling, cash-strapped schools are described as "draining" funds from public schools, as if a dollar spent by a charter school means less money is being spent on public education in Ohio. What the coalition has not told you, or hopes you will forget, is that charter schools are public schools too: open to all comers, paid for by taxpayers, accountable for their results to public authorities. A dollar spent on a charter school is a dollar spent on public education and on behalf of public school students. Charter schools no more "drain" funds from public education than does a vocational high school. The coalition knows this, but hopes that you do not. Please don't be misled. Funding for charter schools is funding for public schools.
The coalition is also rushing to inform the public about some charter schools that have not yet made adequate progress in ensuring that all students reach state academic standards -- an obligation now required of all public schools under the new federal education law. We agree that parents should learn as quickly as possible how well their child's school is doing in ensuring that its pupils meet state academic standards -- and we hope the coalition will be as diligent in notifying the public of the other 203 public schools in Ohio that have also been identified as failing.
What the coalition also has not told you is that, if a public charter school continues to fail in its mission of educating students, it can be closed down for good. That is simply how charter schools work. We are pleased the coalition is concerned about holding public charter schools accountable, and if a charter school is not educating students, it should be closed down. The coalition points out with horror that any charter school that fails does so at the public's expense. But, of course, that is exactly what happens when a traditional public school fails, the difference being that traditional public schools have not been held similarly accountable for their performance and are almost never closed down. A traditional public school that is not educating students continues to have its doors propped open at public expense. Sometimes it even gets extra money on the doubtful theory that what made it fail was lack of resources.
What the coalition does not want you to know is that, as loudly it proclaims its love of public education, it only really favors the kind of publicly funded education system that is not accountable to the public. If a public school is not performing, the coalition would rather have your child stuck in that school than have you choose one that you believe better suits your child's academic needs.
Families choose to send their children to charter schools. Children are not assigned to the school based on zip code. Nobody is forced to enroll a kid in a charter school. If the 92 charter schools in Ohio are as terrible as the coalition claims, it should be no problem for the traditional public schools to make the case to parents that their children would be better served by traditional public schools.
Something else that galls the coalition: charter teachers are free to choose whether to join the union. That is another form of choice that the establishment finds obnoxious. Please keep in mind, therefore, that when you see this group griping about the spread of charter schools and asserting the need to protect the public school system, think about what they are really protecting. It's certainly not public education.
Update, April 21, 2003: Major elements of the anti-charter lawsuit filed by "Ohio's Coalition for Public Education" have been dismissed. See CER Newswire April 22, 2003 for details.
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Jeanne Allen is president of the Center for Education Reform. Chester E. Finn Jr. is president of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, and Lisa Graham Keegan is CEO of the Education Leaders Council.
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