The talented investigative journalist Jennifer Berkshire reports on the changing politics behind charter schools. Democratic support for charters, once led by the Obama administration, is waning. Betsy DeVos made clear that school choice is a Republican goal.
She writes:
In 2019, when West Virginia passed legislation that allowed for the creation of charter schools, it represented yet another feather in the cap of the school-choice movement. Nearly three decades after the creation of the very first publicly funded, privately managed school, in Minnesota, charters now educate more than 3.3 million K-12 students in 7,500 schools across the country, and West Virginia—where lawmakers ignored the fierce opposition of the state’s teachers’ union—became the forty-fifth state to allow them.
Yet today the charter school movement itself is perhaps more vulnerable than it has ever been. Unlikely allies in the best of times, its coalition of supporters—which has included progressives, free-market Republicans, and civil rights advocates, and which has been handsomely funded by deep-pocketed donors and Silicon Valley moguls—is unraveling.
Much of the blame rests on the hyperpolarized politics of the Trump era. Under Betsy DeVos, the lightning-rod secretary of education, Republicans rediscovered their love for private school vouchers and religious education. And with the taste for all things neoliberal on the wane within today’s Democratic Party, charter schools, long the favored policy plaything of the liberal donor class, are simply a harder sell….
The GOP’s most stunning move was to enact, without a single Democratic vote, the Hope Scholarship Program, a sweeping voucher program aimed at moving students out of what the right refers to derisively as “government schools.” Starting in 2022, West Virginia parents who withdraw their children from public schools will receive their child’s state share of public education funding—approximately $4,600 in 2021—to spend on virtually any educational cost: private school tuition, online education programs, homeschooling, tutors, even out-of-state boarding schools. Newly school-age students whose parents never intended to go the public route are also eligible for the funds, which can be banked and spent on future expenses, similar to a health savings account.
While West Virginia’s moves were the most dramatic, legislators in 18 states, including Florida, Indiana, Arizona, and New Hampshire, were close behind, creating private school–choice initiatives or expanding existing ones. Although lawmakers pointed to the pandemic’s shuttering of public schools as part of the justification, schools—both public and private—in most of these states remained open. For all of the bluster from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and others about the importance of in-person schooling, the GOP’s favored school-choice programs increasingly bypass traditional classroom learning altogether. Instead, parents are encouraged to use publicly funded “education freedom accounts” to purchase an array of education “options,” much like television viewers who eschew cable packages for à la carte channels.
Charles Siler, a former lobbyist for the pro-privatization Goldwater Institute in Arizona, says that the GOP’s increasing hostility to public schools could ultimately harm charters as well. “The real target here is taxpayer-funded public education, and that’s a category that includes charters,” said Siler.
Interesting story from Calf. and S.D. about teacher education at a private, non-profit university.
According to media reports, S.D.’s richest man, T. Denny Sanford, may be honored after giving big money to National University (Calf.). The school may change its name to reflect Sanford’s largesse. The school of education which in 2019, issued more teaching credentials than any other private school in Calf. is already named after him.
Daily Beast posted an article yesterday about Sanford, “…scandal-plagued billionaire’s cash…”
“S.D. court may unseal child porn investigation of T.Denny Sanford”, is the headline from other media. No charges have been filed. S.D.’s attorney general turned the case over to federal prosecutors.
Sanford supported Trump and other Republicans.
Sanford claimed his philanthropy’s goal was for him to die broke (similar to Gates, Sanford has become richer).
The Daily Best article quotes a National University student who stated she thought the school’s aim was to get students credentialed quickly. Another student lamented about the school’s missing academic rigor. The article didn’t follow-up on the allegations.
In 2011, National identified itself as a leader in on-line education. The school’s description included a reference to working with Inigral, Inc., a firm that works with universities to “build community to improve enrollment and retention outcomes.” Inigral received the first ever program related investment from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to explore how social media can improve post-secondary outcomes.
“Nearly three decades after the creation of the very first publicly funded, privately managed school, in Minnesota,…” Whatever I think about the rest of the article it is important to clarify that charter schools in Minnesota are not privately managed. Charter schools in MN are Local Education Agencies (LEA) and are required to have an authorizer, but authorizers do not manage the school, authorizers assure accountability. Charter schools in MN are managed by a publicly elected school board, often with a teacher majority.
Peter, I think that all charters should be approved by the local elected school
board. I don’t understand why the Minneapolis board authorized so many purposely segregated charters.
Charter schools in MN are approved by the MN Department of Education and created as their own independent school district. They then have a publicly elected school board made up of parents, community members and licensed teachers who manage the school. The reality is that those schools that you are labeling as segregated are mandated to be open to all, but have a culturally relevant emphasis. Most people in historically under represented communities could rightfully claim that the vast majority of schools in MN are purposefully segregated by location and only culturally relevant to white students. I think many under represented groups are extremely happy to have schools where they feel their children are seen and their perspectives are represented. The question white educators should be asking is why are people of color leaving district schools and choosing culturally relevant schools (I don’t think we want to hear that answer). I recognize your slippery slope response that next thing you know we will have exclusively white schools, but the reality is that they already exist as traditional district public schools in most places in MN, and they are the ones who are screaming the loudest about “indoctrinating our kids with CRT”.
The great majority of black and brown students are in public schools, not charter schools.
Diane, the great majority of ALL students are in district schools and always will be. The question I asked was why are an ever growing number of families of color choosing culturally affirming schools when they are available? That is a legitimate question for educators, administrators and legislators to ponder. My original comment was simply pointing out the inaccuracy of the statement that MN charter schools are privately run, which is false. Based on this post and others it seems like you are unaware of many of the laws and regulations that govern MN charter schools. If you read the article from MPR that you linked in the article you would understand that charter schools are an integral part of the educational landscape in MN and the vast majority of teachers, administrators and union representatives don’t view them as a threat, but rather an option for families. Options do not have to be confrontational, there are many, many examples of cooperation and collaboration between district and charter schools.
Peter,
Do I recall correctly that you wrote in a prior post comment thread that the teachers in your charter school voted on your salary?
Do the administrators/principals of charter schools have the same level of credentials as public school administrators/principals?
Does local government conduct the elections for private charter school boards? Is it the same process that applies to public school boards?
Linda, you are correct that the school board, which is made up of a majority of teachers votes on the administrators salary. By state statute MN charter school administrators are not required to have either a principals or superintendents license (although most do), but they are required to do ongoing professional development in school administration. Just as a side note, some charter schools in MN are fully Teacher Powered and have no administrator at all.
I’m not sure what a private school charter school board does, but in MN public charter schools follow state statute – “Subd. 5.Eligible voters. Staff members employed at the school, including teachers providing instruction under a contract with a cooperative, members of the board of directors, and all parents or legal guardians of children enrolled in the school are the voters eligible to elect the members of the school’s board of directors. A charter school must notify eligible voters of the school board election dates at least 30 days before the election.” I hope this helps your understanding of MN charter schools. Please feel free to ask additional questions.
Thank you for the answer. As I interpret your citation, the people paying for the school (taxpayers) are not eligible voters.
The claim that charter schools are public was determined to be false by the Ohio Supreme Court. Has the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled on the matter?
Linda, the teachers, parents and community board members of charter schools are all paying taxes, just like the teachers, parents and community board members in a traditional district pay taxes. Additionally, charter schools are not able to access referendum funding even though the parents (tax payers) contribute to district referendum.
The following excerpts from the NPR report that Jennifer Berkshire referred to in her first paragraph illustrate the contention that I have often made on this forum: Public schools have often contributed to and even caused their own problems by denying their critics, ignoring teachers, and neglecting their responsibilities to students and society. How long should one “work within the system” before deciding that change is needed?
“City Academy in St. Paul, Minn. became the nation’s first publicly funded…charter… Its founders, all veteran public school teachers, had tried but failed to create new programs for struggling students in their own schools…
“Milo Cutter, one of City Academy’s founders, had grown frustrated at her old school, where kids dropped out in droves… saw an opportunity to open a school for kids who were lost or forgotten.
“… the nation’s second-largest teachers’ union had favored charters as early as 1988… Union opposition has faded, in part because teachers in traditional public schools aren’t happy with the status quo, either.
“Louise Sundin helped create the Minnesota Guild of Public Charter Schools, the nation’s first union-funded group with the power to authorize charters. She says that in Minnesota at least, most teachers have found that charter schools can empower them too.”
As Tom Peters, coauthor of “In Search of Excellence” (1982) said in a PBS lecture, “There is no secret! All you’ve got to do is serve the customer!” Alas, easier said than done.