RALEIGH – The State Board of Education approved creation of nine charter schools Thursday despite opposition to some of the schools from the NAACP, some elected leaders, and backers of traditional public schools.
It was the first wave of charter school expansion since a 100-school cap was lifted by the General Assembly last year. The proposed charter schools in Chapel Hill and Durham had drawn the most opposition.
Some members of the board expressed concerns similar those expressed by critics of the Chapel Hill and Durham charters: that charter school diversity may not reflect the general population, that traditional public schools will be squeezed by loss of dollars to the charters, and that charter schools may acquire an imbalance of students of means with engaged parents.
“I think those are legitimate issues,” board chairman William Harrison said. “At this point, those issues would not be adequate for us to deny a charter.”
Harrison cautioned board members to remember “they are public schools. For some reason [the relationship] has gotten off to an adversarial start, and I don’t think it needs to be that way” between charters and traditional schools. He urged cooperation.
“The end result will be better opportunities for all kids,” Harrison said.
The new schools chartered to open in August are:
Bear Grass Charter School in Martin County, Cornerstone Charter Academy and High Point Preparatory Academy in Guilford County, Corvian Community School in Mecklenburg County, North East Carolina Preparatory School in Edgecombe County, Research Triangle High School in Durham County, Howard and Lillian Lee Scholars Charter School in Orange County, Triangle Math and Science Academy in Wake County, and Water’s Edge Village School in Currituck County.
State Treasurer Janet Cowell was the most outspoken board member in discussions leading to the votes. She repeatedly raised questions about approving schools whose applications were flagged for deficiencies by state education officials.
“There’s a lot of trust and faith in these votes,” Cowell said.
“It would be nice if we had some supporting data . . .that a deficiency has been resolved to the satisfaction of the committee,” board member John Tate of Charlotte agreed.
“How do we monitor” the progress of charters in complying with the remedies they said they would implement in order to gain state charters, Tate asked.
Board member Shirley Harris of Troy wanted to know about long-term vigilance regarding schools and standards.
“How do we, as a board, monitor and provide the oversight to make sure we do not have schools that are not meeting the needs of the kids?” she asked.
Board member Chris Greene of High Point appeared unnerved by some of the complaints.
“We accepted without question the transportation, facilities, all of those parts of the rubric on any of those schools” flagged with deficiencies after they were examined by the Office of Charter Schools, the North Carolina Public Charter School Advisory Council
and during board committee and subcommittee meetings, Greene said.
“If we didn’t question those that were approved the first time, I’m not sure why we’re questioning the advisory board” decisions, Greene said.
“I respectfully disagree,” Harrison said, trying to quell the back-and-forth. “We had questions last month . . . we had a number of questions yesterday,” and satisfactory answers were given.
“This is just the final go-round. I want each school to stand or fall on their merits,” said Harrison, who directed staff to explore ways to give the board the most up-to-date information on future charter votes.
Joel Medley, director of the Office of Charter Schools, said the state will begin providing comprehensive training to charter organizers on March 23, and continue training once a month for four months, after which site visits will be conducted.
“If they have not received that certificate of occupancy” to open in their school site by August, “then money will not begin to flow to that school,” Medley said. The board approved a motion to nullify fast-track charters for schools unable to open by the starting date. They would be allowed to submit another application the following year.
Darrell Allison, director of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina, a charter school advocacy organization based in Raleigh, and a board member of Research Triangle High School, applauded the approval process and the results.
“Was it a painful process?” Allison said. “Yes. However, did it cause the charter application members to sharpen their sword” and make necessary revisions and improvements where concerns were raised? “Yes.”
“The idea that, because we eliminated the cap on charter schools, somehow it’s going to be the wild, wild west” in education is misguided, he said. “We don’t minimize [academic] quality.”
Pamela Blizzard, executive director of the Contemporary Science Center, from which Research Triangle High School was spawned, called the process “an emotional roller coaster.”
The charter will implement innovative techniques to deliver STEM education – Science, Technology, Engineering, Math. It drew opposition from the Durham County commissioners, school superintendent, school board and mayor. They lodged concerns about the charter’s financial impact on district schools, its transportation and meal plans and whether its diversity would be reflective of the community.
The charter already has 115 applications for the initial 160 student slots, Blizzard said. As of Thursday, only 39 percent of the applicants are white. The rest are African American, Latino, biracial and multiracial. School officials are interviewing teacher candidates daily, she said.
The school will be located in Research Triangle Park.
“The deal isn’t signed yet. We’re working with a developer who has property on both sides of the [Wake-Durham counties] line,” Blizzard said.
Blizzard maintains that charter schools “have the autonomy and flexibility” to be more tolerant of innovation. Charter schools are education laboratories where creativity is easier to foster than in large school districts, she said.
“Charter schools have absolutely led the way” in closing the achievement gap for urban students and children of color and in getting them prepared for college, Blizzard said. Those methods can then be shared statewide.
Angela Lee, the point person on the application for the Howard and Lillian Lee Scholars Charter School in Chapel Hill, said the school’s goal is to reduce the achievement gap between minority students and white students. She does not believe opposition from the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools and NAACP will persist.
“I can’t imagine why we wouldn’t be able to work with the NAACP and any other members of the community” now that the charter was approved, Lee said. “I think we are all interested in the well-being of our kids in the community. I’d like to think we can all work together for the good of our kids’ education.”
She said “not all students learn the same, and one environment does not necessarily work for all students. . . We have many students who have not achieved to their potential,” despite good schools, teachers and initiatives.
A prospective school facility has been identified, though Lee said she would not name it until the deal is signed.
“I should know next week,” she said.
Soliciting student applications and recruiting teachers will begin “in the very near future,” Lee said.