Hearing on charter schools draws crowd

Published: February 4, 2010 - Printer Friendly Update -  Send This Article To A Friend

February 4, 2010

Hearing on charter schools draws crowd

By Markeshia Ricks

The issue of whether the state should pass charter school legislation this year pitted two of the most powerful factions in the state -- business and education -- against one another.

Proponents and opponents of charter schools packed the auditorium of the Alabama Department of Archives and History on Wednesday for a joint meeting of both the House and Senate education appropriations committees.

For more than two hours, both sides testified during a public hearing, hoping to sway lawmakers to either move charter school bills forward this year or kill them.

Both committees are considering bills being pushed by Gov. Bob Riley and state Superintendent of Education Joe Morton that they said would provide another tool for local school districts to innovate and put the state in better position to compete for federal dollars.

On Wednesday, Riley met with President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who are both strong supporters of charter schools. But education advocates oppose these schools because they said it would drain funds away from other schools at a time when the state can ill afford it.

Roy Nichols, Mobile County schools superintendent, said that he supports innovation and competition, but he said there are better ways to do that. He pointed to examples in his own district including that it has six of the state's seven torchbearer schools. Torchbearer schools often are high-poverty, high-minority schools that also are high performing.

"You can do things to bring about innovation without draining money away with charter schools," he said.

Sally Howell, executive director of the Alabama Association of School Boards, said she is an opponent of charter schools, but she is a proponent of autonomy. Charter schools have been billed as a tool that gives local school districts more autonomy to address troubled schools without dealing with all of the red tape that traditional schools have to endure.

"It is the state laws and state regulations that are impeding innovation and we need to look at ways to loosen those rules and regulations," she said.

Howell also pointed out that it is local school boards that must bear the burden of the financial and legal liability if a charter school gets sued.

Bob Powers, chairman of the education committee for the Business Council of Alabama, said he heard some good points Wednesday from those representing different segments of education in the state. But he said many of the arguments were the same ones made against the state's nationally recognized pre-K program.

Powers said charter schools would give school boards the tools they need to try to solve some of the persistent problems in public schools such as the state's dropout rate.

"Our schools are for the students," he said. "I would rather keep them here and have them working in the community than pay for the social costs when they drop out."

John Hill, a fellow with the Alabama Policy Institute, said charter schools would provide another option for communities that are suffering from middle-class flight.

"Charter schools could stem the exodus of students to private schools and home schooling," he said.

Most legislators were loath to prolong the meeting by making comments, but a handful of legislators expressed a range of feelings about what they'd heard.

State Rep. Mac Gipson, R-Prattville, said he supported charter school legislation in 2004, and received major opposition from the whole education system, including the state Department of Education.

"We've won over a few of you since then, but we need to win over a few more," he said. "But what I've learned from then until now is that the education community is resistant to change."

Gipson said he doesn't buy many of the arguments against charter schools, and believes many of the issues that have been raised can be worked out so the legislation can move forward.

State Rep. Terry Spicer, D-Elba, said he had several concerns with the bills in their current forms, but he also said he heard concerns that could be worked out.

"I think we can get to where we want to go, but I think we have a pretty considerable distance to go before we get there," said Spicer, who also is the superintendent of Elba City Schools.

State Rep. James Thomas, D-Selma, said he could appreciate the arguments on both sides, but he had a hard time grasping all the talk about charter schools when traditional public schools remain under-funded.

Thomas is the principal of Central High School in Wilcox County, and he said there are building repairs that he can't do because there is no money.

State Rep. Richard Lindsey, D-Centre, said the House education appropriations committee would vote on the issue Wednesday.

Mark Dixon, deputy policy director for the governor, said Riley is open to suggestions that opponents might have to make the bill better. But he also said charter schools will continue to be an issue at the national level.