Proposed Freedom charter school spurs new round of debate

Beaver County Times

By: Larissa Theodore - Times Staff

11/20/2006

Tim Daniels is pro-choice - that is, pro-school choice - and thinks every parent and student across the nation is worthy of nothing less.

Daniels, executive director of the Pennsylvania Coalition of Charter Schools, compares school choice to choosing which car to drive or which airline to fly. If people have choice, he said, the focus becomes providing better customer service, because now there is competition.

"Monopolies don't like choice," Daniels said.

But some say the impact of choice is hard-hitting, particularly on traditional public schools, which have to pay out-of-budget for charters and at the same time, compete so they appeal to their own pool of students.

That's why public charter schools can sometimes leave a bad taste in the mouths of traditional educators, who have blamed charters for chipping away at the foundations of conventional schools to keep their newer institutions afloat.

But these sentiments aren't those of Beaver Area Assistant Superintendent Brian White, who has a dual role as chief academic officer of the Beaver Area Academic Charter School.

"I think school choice is good," White said.

He said the Beaver charter, in its early operating stage, should be thought of as an added option rather than a replacement to the district's education services. The school currently has 50 slots, all filled, up from 35 last year. It operates out of modular classrooms behind Beaver Area on leased school property. Students who haven't been successful in the regular building attend, as well as Midland students, who don't have a high school of their own. The charter has the backing of superintendents in both districts, White said.

HOW IT WORKS

"Bricks and mortar" charter schools such as these are self-managed, independently operated public schools that must be approved by local school districts, while cyber schools have to be approved by the state Department of Education. Charters operate free from many educational mandates, discrimination being one of the exceptions, and can vary widely in the curricula, offerings that could include live online classes and field trips, differences that influence how parents and students choose.

Proponents say it's having the choice, even if it isn't exercised, that's important.

It's a point that Stephen Biancaniello, head of the design team for a proposed Freedom-based charter, can't stress enough: Charter is a matter of choice, not an effort to take away from traditional schools.

For one, he said, the proposed Freedom Secondary Institute for Science, Math and Technology isn't designed for every student, and he doesn't anticipate that it will appeal to all students, particularly those who participate in sports and extracurriculars, or who excel in school. Biancaniello does think that the proposed school will appeal to those students who have gone astray in the traditional setting and are falling through the cracks.

Biancaniello expects that students who decide to attend will mostly come across district lines from Beaver, Butler and Allegheny counties, and from bigger districts such as North Allegheny and Seneca Valley. He also imagines the new charter working "synergistically" with the home district to contract cafeteria, custodial, payroll and other services.

"Part of the process is respecting the community and the district that this institute sits in," Biancaniello told a crowd recently during a forum about the school.

School district officials who have complained over the years say this is exactly why charter laws are flawed, because districts - not parents - foot the bill, although not all districts reap benefits, even if they are sending students.

FUNDING COMPLAINTS

Funding is one of the biggest criticisms. Even White, who supports choice, said he also understands the need for statewide funding changes.

"The entire funding system of all education is broken in Pennsylvania. The entire system is inequitable," White said.

Tim Allwein, assistant executive director for Governmental and Member Relations, said the Pennsylvania School Board Association has always had some reservations since the passage of Act 22 of 1997, which essentially opened the floodgates for charters. If a private school or home-school student, who never went to public school, chooses charter, the district is viable to pay for the child, he said. And when cyber-schools later came along, Allwein said PSBA's argument became "fairly bitter" over whether these schools were even authorized to receive district funding under the charter act.

"A thorny issue for us has always been the funding, because so much of the funding comes from public schools," Allwein said.

Monaca Superintendent Michael Thomas said his district shells out from $150,000 to $160,000 in tuition costs to send about 20 students to attend charters while the state only reimburses 35 percent. Thomas said the numbers increased "significantly" when the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts opened in Midland. On top of that, he said districts have to have their budgets completed by June 30 without knowing in advance whether more students will exercise choice and later enroll in a charter.

"It's purely a guess at that point," Thomas said, adding that tuition affects budget numbers. "You can't offset those costs. A district can't decrease without affecting other parts of the budget," he said.

"I think that at the state level, if they feel that charter schools are a critical component ... then the state needs to find a better way to fund them," Thomas said.

Riverside Superintendent David Parry's concern has always been with funding and the lack of accountability. Riverside pays $6,300 per student in tuition and $12,420 for special education, learning support or gifted students.

Districts also provide charter students transportation to and from school, and if a charter student attends a vocational technical school, districts are responsible for paying those costs as well. Meanwhile, as they pay, Allwein said, school districts now have limitations on how much they can raise property taxes before they need voter approval.

Daniels, however, believes charters are underfunded and that schools have an obligation to spend taxpayers' money on taxpayers' children.

"They're already getting less. That's not very fair," Daniels said.

By and large, Allwein said PSBA wants to see charter schools held to the same accountability standards as traditional public schools, for instance having to provide reports on how students are achieving or on how funding affects performance, especially since charters spend taxpayer money. Funding, particularly for cyber schools, also needs to be adjusted, he said, given that local school boards have no say-so in approving cyber charters.

"Our opinion is school districts are paying too much of the bill for these institutions," Allwein said.

Larissa Theodore can be reached online at ltheodore@timesonline.com.