Yesterday, Harrison Blackmond (DFER MI State Director) testified in front of the Michigan State Senate Education Committee regarding a bill that would impact Michigan’s charter schools.
The bill, which is part of a seven-bill package known as the “Parent Empowerment Education Reform legislation,” includes the following provisions that would impact Michigan’s current charter school regulations as reported in the Detroit Free Press:
• University charter school authorizers would no longer be held to an authorizing cap of 150 charter schools;• Community colleges would be allowed to authorize charter schools outside their geographic boundaries;• Charter schools could be developed in districts that have had a graduation rate of 75% for the last three school years;• Charter schools would be exempt from property taxes;• Charter schools would not be required to abide by a district’s collective bargaining agreement.
Although Blackmond is supportive of raising the cap on Michigan’s charter schools, in his testimony he expressed concern regarding what he believes is missing from the bill – a lack of oversight and accountability for charter school authorizers. He stated:
I had hoped that the Senate would consider legislation that would not only remove the cap on university authorized charter schools, but would put in place safeguards so that no child becomes the victim of a failed charter school experiment. I had hoped that the Senate would put in place strong accountability provisions that would require that authorizers issue charters only to those operators who have a solid track record of educating the kinds of students they will attract or those who can demonstrate that their education approach is grounded in sound research and stands a strong likelihood of successfully educating children. No child should be subjected to unsound, untried and unproven educational approaches and methods.
It is not enough that authorizers say they will close bad schools after three to five years. What happens to those children during those years and after the school is closed? What affect will those three to five years of inadequate or nonexistent education have on hundreds, if not thousands of children? Who will be held accountable for the decision to authorize a charter for such schools? What are the consequences?
Blackmond went on to say, “We should use this legislation as the starting point for producing a bill that addresses both quality and quantity.”