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Tough Road Ahead for Charters In MS

“Launching charter school in Miss. a grueling process”
by Ruth Ingram
Courier-Post
July 6, 2013

The first public charter school in Mississippi could open in less than two years.

But those who want to found one face a grueling process to put together a serious application that must win approval from a seven-member state board charged with reviewing them.

“It’s crazy hard. It’s supposed to be a challenging process. And it’s nothing compared to when you’ve got to start educating kids,” Ken Campbell, president of coalition member Black Alliance for Educational Options, told a June 25 gathering sponsored by the coalition and attended by about 100 people interested in beginning a charter school.

Then looking around the room, he said, “The most important thing I have to do today is talk some of you into this process and talk some of you out of this process. There are people in this room who have no business educating kids. That’s not a bad thing. That’s just reality.

“It’s OK to say, ‘You know what? I can’t do this,’ ” he said. “It’s not suited to be a family project. It’s real serious business.”

The Mississippi Charter Schools Act that lawmakers approved in the spring lists 32 requirements that must be addressed in the application, said Forest Thigpen, a charter schools advocate and president of the Jackson-based Mississippi Center for Public Policy think tank and a member of the newly formed Mississippi Coalition for Public Charter Schools. They include specific details of the proposed school’s mission and vision, its budget and cash flow, evidence of need and community support, how students will be chosen, and a description of the school’s instructional design.

“This is not something where you have a couple of meetings, then you turn in your application and you’re off to the races. It could take you six months to a year. Some people even take 18 months to prepare an application,” said Rachel Canter, an educator, the executive director of Mississippi First and a coalition member.

A charter school is a publicly funded independent school established by teachers, parents or community groups under the terms of a charter with state authorities. In exchange for being able to operate outside many of the regulations traditional public schools follow, the charter agrees to meet performance goals set out in its charter.

Nationwide, 5,714 charter schools enrolled 1.9 million children during the 2011-12 school year, according to the national Center for Education Reform.

Mississippi’s law allows charter schools in districts where education is often mediocre at its best, and failing at its worst.

Said Senate Education Committee Chairman Gray Tollison, R-Oxford, a charter schools champion: “Already, Mississippi is starting charter schools off on an incredible foot.”

In Mississippi, charter schools can only accept students from the school district in which they’re located — a restriction some legislators would like to change. They must meet most Mississippi public school requirements, including state-mandated testing and measuring of students’ achievement, being rated in the state’s accountability system, having their finances audited by the state, and following all federal laws.

But there are differences: Charters can employ teachers during their first three years of operation who aren’t certified by the state, although 75 percent of them must be certified the first year, and 100 percent by the third year. Teachers can be fired at will and they don’t qualify for state retirement.

The law limits 15 approvals annually “to give the authorizing board time to get on its feet and to grow,” Thigpen said. “You’re not taxing that board so much that they’re approving new schools while they’re trying to make sure the first 15 are doing all right.”

The law sets up a seven-member, appointed board charged with approving or rejecting a founding team’s application to begin a charter school.

If an application is approved in a district rated D or F in the state Department of Education’s accountability system, a school can form despite objections by that school district, the law says.

Mississippi has 20 districts rated F, including Canton schools and Hinds Agricultural High, and 27 rated D, including Jackson.

But if an application is approved to open a charter in a district labeled A-C, the school’s founders must get permission from the local school board. It’s a stipulation hotly debated during the 2013 legislative session, with some wanting schools to locate anywhere without the blessing of local authorities.

Mississippi has three A districts: Clinton, Enterprise and Pass Christian; 47 B districts, including Rankin and Madison counties; and 42 C districts, including Hinds County.

To found a charter school, Canter said, first form a team of community residents with diverse skills who have the time to do the work and research it takes to put together an application that will pass muster. Gather in not just educators, but people with financial and business experience, legal expertise and fundraising experience, she says.

“You need to make sure that they will be dedicated, and will be with you in the trenches all the way,” Canter said. “People are going to determine very quickly whether they’re going to support your school based on that initial founding team, and how they talk about what they want to do. Insincerity comes across very clearly to people, especially to parents.

“There will be people, because it’s new and untested in Mississippi, who will be attracted to this idea of charter schools because maybe they have political ambitions, or that maybe in a sneaky way they can profit from it. Those are not people you want on your team,” Canter said.

Those who receive charters should consider it a binding contract, Campbell said.

“The contract might talk about your admissions process, your discipline policy … It’s in essence your license. They will set up rules and expectations for the work you do. They will monitor your performance, but they won’t own it. It’s not their responsibility to make you good.”

Miss. Charter schools: At a glance

Charter schools are public and nonprofit. They can’t charge tuition or have a religious affiliation.

Private schools can’t convert to charter schools, and virtual charter schools are prohibited.

For-profit charter school organizations aren’t allowed to operate a Mississippi charter school on their own or under contract with the school.

Charter schools must accept all students who apply. If there’s not enough room, names are drawn.

A seven-member Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board is appointed by the governor, lieutenant governor and state superintendent of education.

Applications will be accepted after Dec. 1. The application board must be named by Sept. 1, with the board formally meeting as soon as possible. The board must render a decision on applications no later than 180 days after they’re submitted, and has the authority to say no to parts of an application, but still give overall approval.

Every charter contract is based on measuring and improving student achievement and growth, achievement gaps, college and career readiness, and other factors. If a school’s goals aren’t reached, the authorizing board can close it.

Every teacher and administrator must hold a college degree and demonstrate competency in the area in which each will teach.

Funding follows a child from a regular public school to a charter, including federal and local funding except for local taxes devoted to paying off bonds and other obligations. Charters receive no funding for buildings or facilities and must obtain their own classroom space.

Source: Mississippi Coalition for Public Charter Schools,www.msforpubliccharters.com