Tertium Quids expounds on the Hanover County School Superintendent’s resistance to reform. The article from the RTD that inspired the reaction is a fairly good overview:
And in this General Assembly session, bills have been introduced that address charter school policies statewide. One submitted by Del. Robert G. Marshall, R-Prince William, would withhold state funding to school systems that deny applications from charter schools deemed acceptable by the state Board of Education.
The amount would be based on the average daily student membership proposed within the charter application. The bill says funding would continue to be denied until the local division approves the previously denied application.
Currently, local school divisions have the final say when it comes to approving charter applications in their districts. Applicants may send their applications to the state board to make sure they contain the right information, but that board cannot provide a recommendation.
Hanover’s superintendent was not amused:
Hanover County Superintendent Stewart D. Roberson, however, characterized the measure as a “The Emperor Has No Clothes” bill. It doesn’t do a good job of concealing the real motivation, he said, which is that some charter school proponents want to take money away from public schools to open charter schools.
In this economy, he said, “it would seem that the state would be looking for an increasing number of ways to partner with localities rather than hitting them over the head with a hammer.”
TQ responds in kind:
If Richmond’s experience with the nearly-kaput Patrick Henry charter school are any guide, then there may be good reason to threaten school boards with a ruler.
There’s no question that the majority of Virginia’s public schools are bloated and in desperate need of reform. Competition is one method of bring that reform about, and so long as private schools continue to produce a better quality education for roughly half the average cost to educate a public school student, the requirements of reform, be they through charter school development or otherwise, deserve a fair hearing from enterprising school boards ready to do right by students and teachers.
The alternative is to do nothing… and keep pushing money into a 19th century schematic. Not quite the alternative I’m looking for.