Vol. 5, No. 6
February 11, 2003 

* SCHOOL CHOICE: As predicted after the U.S. Supreme Court declared the school choice constitutional last summer, action is brewing on this issue:

Washington, DC: The race is on in the battle to bring to the Nation's Capital a program that would allow disadvantaged children the opportunity to choose among public or private schools. Today's Wall Street Journal offers one side of the story, arguing that without Congress' push, it will never happen in DC. The good news is today there are leaders in the Capitol who do support existing scholarship programs and would entertain a more extensive choice program that gives local leaders an opportunity to opt in. No doubt these are issues that will be played out in the coming weeks, as today Arizona Congressman Jeff Flake is introducing the same bill that passed both houses of Congress in 1997, only to be vetoed at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. For more information about this bill, contact Flake's office at 202-225-2635 or go to http://www.house.gov/flake/

Louisiana: Governor Mike Foster announced his intention to push for a modest program to give children in schools deemed failing an opportunity to attend a private school, in addition to recommending that the state take over failing schools and reconstitute them with new leadership in a charter-like fashion. The school choice idea mirrors the program that is in practice already in Florida, where this year some 600 children were allowed to use a school other than the one to which they were assigned in addition to allowing for children with special needs to have widespread choices.

* CHARTERS: Continuing the state updates from last week, following is the latest on serious charter action:

Maryland: Governor Bob Ehrlich launched his charter school initiative last week with fighting words for those who would prefer that Maryland stay behind in giving more children options. Said Ehrlich about the opposition by the Maryland school employees union: "We want to be fully accountable and work with the Maryland State Teachers Association, but they didn't win the election, did they? It's a new day in Maryland, and it's time for a charter school bill to pass." The Governor's comments are well placed, at the hearing in the state Senate last week, the prevailing argument against the Ehrlich bill was the lack of a requirement for charter teachers to join the existing bargaining unit. The bill supported by the Governor and introduced by Senator Janet Greenip allows teachers the flexibility to choose for themselves whether or not to bargain collectively. It also contains a critical provision that authorizes several different entities to approve charters, such as public universities. CER president Jeanne Allen testified about the impact of similar provisions on other states' laws and both issues were covered in Saturday's Washington Post editorial that was a near endorsement of the provisions of Ehrlich's bill. Link here for Jeanne Allen's testimony. Link here to the Washington Post editorial. 

        See also MARYLAND HAS NO CHARTER LAW -- YET
Letter to the Editor By Jeanne Allen.

Indiana: A state senate panel has made progress on correcting funding deficiencies that have arisen in large measure because school districts have refused to fairly accommodate the needs of charter school students. As in all states, charter school students are public school students, and when they choose to leave a traditional school the money the district collects for them is supposed to be passed on to the charter. In Indiana, school districts argued that because they did not get their own money until January each year they couldn't possibly pay for charters when they open in the fall, even though their previous year's funding included most of those same charter students. But despite that and other idiosyncrasies in Indiana's school finance law that require long term changes, the arguments in the land of Hoosiers is no different than we hear in most .… When charter students leave there is no doubt they force school districts to figure out the numbers without them. But then this isn't about districts: it's about children, and the last time we looked, that's what schools were supposed to be about. To read up on more details concerning the current funding measures being debated, go to Indiana's Project E at http://www.projecte.org/.

Illinois: Prairie State legislators are considering expanding their law to allow for more Chicago charters. A measure which passed the state senate would raise the cap from 15 to 30 schools but would also create more restrictions on chartering that many proponents there view as manageable given the current need for more schools. Prospects for charter expansion in the Windy City have been stagnant since the bill passed in 1996.

* TESTING: A Manhattan Institute report released today looks at high stakes testing. In "Testing High Stakes Tests: Can We Believe the Results of Accountability Tests?" authors Jay Greene, Marcus A. Winters and Greg Forster compare the results of high and low stakes tests in two states and seven school districts, comprising 9% of the nation's total public school enrollment. The researchers found that there is a very high correlation between scores on high and low stakes measures, indicating that the likelihood of pervasive "teaching to the test" on high stakes tests is low. What the researchers demonstrate is that contrary to what many anti-testing people argue, states where students are given high stakes tests do work to prepare students broadly for learning and do not just focus on narrow, specific test questions. For more information go to http://www.manhattaninstitute.org/.

* WELL-DESERVED HONOR: Last week the Education Leaders Council, an organization representing reform minded state chiefs and other state leaders, paid tribute to an outstanding individual whose leadership has changed for the better the way many California children learn. Marion Joseph, an activist, grandmother and member of the State Board of Education, won the coveted "Rebel with a Cause" black leather jacket at a ceremony in her honor in Sacramento. Joseph helped turn the debate over reading and math instruction in the Golden State so that standards and curriculum are now more closely aligned to what the research says works. Bravo Marion!

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