Why not implement charter school model district-wide?

While I was on hiatus last month, a letter appeared in the Journal Star from Mayor Jim Ardis promoting the Peoria Charter School Initiative (PCSI). It lays out his argument for supporting a new charter school in Peoria, and concludes with a call to the public to write or call their school board members, asking them to approve PCSI’s application. According to another Journal Star article, that approval would come with a price: “$1.7 million, or 70 percent, of the initial costs.”

In this post, I’ll respond to each of his three arguments:

1. Proven model argument

First, this charter school will follow a proven model that produces outstanding results in urban districts. A similar school in Chicago, the Chicago Math & Science Academy, is rated one of the top three charter schools and non-selective high schools in that city. CMSA graduated its first senior class in 2009. Every graduate was accepted into college (some into multiple schools), and 100 percent entered college this fall. These are exactly the results we want for students in Peoria, and we shouldn’t accept any less.

Yes, they follow a proven model, but it’s not a secret recipe like Kentucky Fried Chicken or Coca-Cola. The model includes all of the usual ingredients for improved student performance: longer school day, smaller class sizes, individualized instruction, parental involvement, highly-qualified teachers, challenging curriculum, community support, etc. Why is it that these things can only be provided by third-party companies like Edison Schools or Concept Schools, Inc. (at considerable cost), but can’t be provided by Peoria Public Schools district-wide? If this model produces “exactly the results we want for students in Peoria,” then why should it be implemented at only one school? Why should only some students benefit?

Keep in mind that the board of the PCSI has made it quite clear that they expect the demographics of the charter school to mirror the demographics of the district at large. So one cannot argue that this method doesn’t work for poor, minority, ELL, or special needs children. According to PCSI, it does. It works for everyone and lifts everyone’s scores. Since the model is no secret, and is universally effective, why the need to bring in Concept Schools, Inc.? Why doesn’t the district just implement the model across the district themselves? Is it lack of money? Political will? Teacher/union cooperation?

The charter school, just like Edison schools, is an attempt to alleviate the symptoms of a deeper problem instead of getting to the root issue. If District 150 education is terrible — and based on test scores, it is for many — shouldn’t our focus be on fixing that problem at the root level and not just trying to provide an escape hatch for some lucky children who (literally) win the lottery to get out of their failing school?

2. School choice argument

Second, District 150 parents want and deserve choice: a high-quality education, a longer school day and year, and more opportunities for their children to be successful. Parents know it is critical for their children to have solid skills in math, science and technology to be prepared for college and career. They’re asking for options, and our School Board must be responsive to those requests.

I expected this argument to be advocating choice between a school with a math and science emphasis and a school with another emphasis, such as fine arts or vocational training. But instead, it appears the choice he’s talking about is between things like a poor education and a high-quality education, or a shorter and a longer school day. What kind of choice is that? Who opts for fewer opportunities for their children to be successful?

District 150 parents want and deserve and have been asking for a high-quality education at every District 150 school. The Board must be responsive to that request first and foremost.

3. Federal funding argument

Third, President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan are calling for education reform and emphasizing charter schools as a key component. They’ve seen firsthand the success of charter school students. Establishing a charter school in Peoria increases the possibility of additional federal funding for District 150. Without a charter school, we’ll have a much harder time accessing Race to the Top funding.

It’s funny that politicians see “the success of charter school students” when a recent Stanford University National Charter School Study found that 17 percent of 2403 charter schools showed more growth than their traditional public school peers, 46 percent had performance that was “indistinguishable” from traditional public schools, and 37 percent of charter schools were actually worse. But never mind that.

Here’s the carrot for District 150 to say “yes” to spending $1.7 million on PCSI: more federal funding. If you want to get access to “Race to the Top” funding, you first have to race to establish a charter school. Of course, there’s no guarantee you’ll actually get much, if any, “Race to the Top” funding. It just “increases the possibility.” It’s a gamble. Spend $1.7 million on a charter school, spin the wheel, and hope Arne Duncan remembers what a grand time he had with the mayor when he starts writing checks.

The conclusion

I don’t often agree with school board president Debbie Wolfmeyer, but I do in this case: How can the district seriously consider opening a new school for $1.7 million after they just closed Woodruff to save $1.5 million? How can a group like the Chamber of Commerce, who just got through advocating that we close numerous schools — including a high school — because we have excess capacity and need to save money, turn around and say we need to fund a new charter school that includes middle and high school grades?

I share everyone’s desire for District 150 to offer a better education, but I don’t believe the charter school is the answer. I believe it will only exacerbate District 150’s problems the same way Edison has. Because of the money we’re paying to maintain Edison’s contract, cuts have been made in the traditional schools, including a shortened school day for primary school students.

There needs to be a comprehensive solution that improves public school education for all students district-wide. A charter school with limited enrollment in a failing school district is not much of a draw.

Heritage Bank complying with FDIC agreement

Heritage Bank of Central Illinois entered into a consent agreement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation on November 2, 2009.

Regulators charged the bank with “unsafe or unsound banking practices,” including “[o]perating with an inadequate level of capital protection for the kind and quality of assets held,” “[o]perating in a manner which has resulted in inadequate earnings and losses to the institution,” “[e]ngaging in hazardous lending and lax collection practices,” and “[o]perating with an inadequate loan policy.” Heritage Bank neither admitted nor denied the charges, but did agree to modify its practices as outlined in the consent agreement.

I asked Heritage Bank for their comment and received an e-mail from president M. Scott Hedden (reprinted at the end of this post). It basically says that regulations have been tightened on all lending institutions in the aftermath of the sub-prime mortgage crisis, even though most of the sub-prime loans came from non-bank lenders. These “onerous” regulations are making it harder for the bank to help their loan customers resolve “financial challenges and hardships” brought on by the “current economic climate.”

In other words, what the bank calls “helping customers resolve financial challenges,” regulators call “hazardous lending and lax collection practices.” To use the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” as a metaphor, Heritage Bank is George Bailey and the regulators are Mr. Potter. Remember this exchange?

MR. POTTER: Have you put any real pressure on these people of yours to pay those mortgages?
PETER BAILEY: Times are bad, Mr. Potter. A lot of these people are out of work.
POTTER: Then foreclose!
BAILEY: I can’t do that. These families have children.
POTTER: They’re not my children.
BAILEY: But they’re somebody’s children, Mr. Potter.
POTTER: Are you running a business or a charity ward?

No doubt the truth is somewhere in between. There are probably some banking practices that really do need to be improved at Heritage Bank, while at the same time it’s true that regulators often get carried away, especially in times of crisis (witness the security excesses at airports these days).

The bottom line is that improvements are being made. Mr. Hedden says “the bank has already implemented and achieved many of the requirements contained in the Agreement. Most significantly, the bank has already met and exceeded the capital requirements set forth in the Agreement by raising capital through private, local investors.”

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