CHARLOTTE — Proponents of charter school expansion are feeling less than hopeful about Governor-elect Beverly Perdue. The lieutenant governor has been outspoken about her hesitancy to remove or change the cap of 100 charter schools in the state, and there’s little evidence that her opposition will change when she takes office in January.
RALEIGH — At Woods Charter School in Chapel Hill, educators emphasize “academics and the life of the mind,” according to Principal Harrell Rentz. Such intellectual pursuit has an equally potent, if less tangible, partner: school cohesion, shored up by a strong emphasis on community, and a “high level of parental involvement,” Rentz says.
The issues of charter schools and parental choice in education promise to stay at the forefront of political debate this year. Here are some more reading assignments.
There are new reports purporting to show that charter schools aren’t delivering the goods. But in addition to technical issues, they suffer a more basic flaw: that of disregarding parental preferences.
RALEIGH — Students who cross county lines to attend a charter school should have local funds provided by their county of residence. That’s the state law. But two charter schools in Northampton County are having trouble collecting payments for students who reside in Halifax. The two schools are part of the KIPP Academy network. They are Gaston College Preparatory charter and the Haliwa-Saponi Tribal charter school. Halifax officials have not replied to inquiries from either school about the alleged omission. Families of the KIPP students who reside in Halifax are not being cited for truancy, so it’s not clear where the county believes those students attend school.
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