North Carolina Republican State Senators have filed legislation that would remove oversight of charters by the State Education Board and turn it over to a new board hand picked by the governor.
Charter schools would no longer be required to submit applications to local school boards. All meaningful supervision and oversight would be eliminated.
Local school boards would be required to lease available space to charters for $1 a year. Charters would be accountable to the new state charter board, not the local board.
This legislation appears to be based on ALEC model legislation, which is intended to allow charters to flourish while gutting local control.
And here is where it gets scary.
The charters would no longer be required to assure that at least half the teachers are certified.
Charter schools would no longer be required by law to conduct criminal background checks of their staff.
The law would have no provisions barring conflicts of interest for members of the new charter board, implying that charter operators might be appointed to the board to advance their self-interest.
In the public comment period, Baker Mitchell, the incoming chairman of the NC Alliance for Public Charter Schools testified in favor of the bill. He “owns The Roger Bacon Academy, which is contracted to run two public charter schools in Brunswick County. In the 2009-10 fiscal year, Mitchell received more than $3 million from the two charter schools for management fees and the cost of renting the buildings from another company Mitchell owns….”
He is just the kind of person likely to be appointed to serve on the state’s new charter board.
The only thing public about these charters is the money they take from unsuspecting taxpayers.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“Charter schools would no longer be required by law to conduct criminal background checks of their staff.”
That is scary. Do they not have a version of the Jessica Lunsford Law? So, traditional public schools will have to go through the expense of conducting FBI background checks (or charge employees), but the charters are exempt? Wow.
This is exactly what FL already has regarding charters. Anything goes when you’re a charter school in FL- accountability is non existent; certified teachers not necessary, background checks are up to charters (not our business, of course!), they can bypass school districts and go directly to the State (hand picked committee) and get contracts of up to 12 yrs!
When you fight these bills, be careful — sponsoring legislators (who are in the pockets of charter operators) frequently toss in certain clauses that they already know they will concede. So while you’re fighting to kill the entire bill, they make concessions and before you know it. their bill is passed.
Among FL’s newly proposed charter legislation is another clause exempting charter schools from class size laws already passed by the state of FL.
Another bill will allow charter schools to take over school buildings that are ‘deemed’ to be 50%+ vacant. Charters can take over that property and – wait for it- the school districts must still maintain the property!
Do you have a link to this? I will research it. However, this isn’t surprising given the way many charters are formed and the attitudes of many towards publc education.
Today’s NYTimes has an article reporting that 17 states have enacted laws that provide some form of vouchers… but they missed the point in the article by focussing on how those charters can be used to attend parochial schools. The privatization of public education is grossly underreported… it is THE driving force behind this kind of legislation.
I am really tired of corrupt politicians, which is a redundant description actually. How is this even a thought in anyone’s head, unless they expect to profit from it, which is what they want. It is time for people to start looking closely at their elected officials and get ready to fire them in the next elections. Why are we allowing this to happen?
The entire proposition is unfair. I would not want to send my child to a school without trained teachers. I don’t understand why people think anyone can teach. If we are so concerned about failing schools, every teacher should be trained to teach, and not just for a few weeks. If public schools are subject to oversight and having a highly qualified teacher in every classroom, then all charter schools should follow the same policy.
The part that really scares me, though, is the lack of background checks. That is a disaster in the making.
I think that the profiteers are taking advantage of the anti-science, pro-religion in schools audience to give those who homeschool an opportunity to send kids to schools that won’t be forcing students to listen to what they feel are evil, misguided, ungodly lessons.
When did background checks for teachers become mandatory? I looked around a little and found a few states implementing them around 2007. Was that typical?
TE, I can’t speak to laws but I was required to have a background check when I received my teaching position in 1997.
In NC anyone who works with children is required to have a background check. Daycares, preschools, after school programs, public and private schools and even volunteers who work in the school. I had mine done while getting my license and it should be required to help protect kids. As a parent you send your child to school thinking they’re going to be safe, schools should do their part by providing background checks for people who work or volunteer in the building.
Amber,
I know that it is currently in place in many jurisdictions, but I was curious about when, in general, states began doing this.
Like, Steve, I cannot speak with certainty about laws, however from experience, I know GA has been requiring fingerprinting and background checks for at least 10 years…the last two times I renewed my certificate, I had to do this.
Yes, I had to pay to be fingerprinted twice.
Like they changed.
1987, if not before, in the state of Maryland.
I have taught in Missouri, Kansas, Florida and North Carolina since 2000 and always had a background check.
They’ve gone too far this time, surely. If the parents in NC could be made aware, wouldn’t they protest?
I live in NC and sadly, I think most parents are pretty excited about all the new charters opening. People have swallowed the charter school kool-aid.
Oklahoma’s Representative Jolley. (R) Edmond OK has authored this ALEC sponsored bill in Oklahoma. The Bill creates a Charter school commission to create Charters anywhere in the State. This bypass’s the current state law and removes local boards from the decision. Apparently this is an ALEC boilerplate bill that is spreading like a cancer.
It was painful to listen to the discussion about this bill yesterday. During the comment about background checks, bill sponsor Tillman essentially said he didn’t want to overburden charter operators with too many rules! Really? I guess it’s ok to overburden our public schools and hold them to much higher standards. I’ll gladly send my children to schools where background checks are the norm, teachers are certified…
So let’s get this straight…the same GOP who wants tougher standards, tougher evaluation systems for public school teachers, a school grading (rating) system using an A-F model based on standardized test scores, etc…now want to circumvent state law requiring that at least half of the staff at a charter school hold teaching licenses, as well as remove background checks as a requirement for school personnel. Oh, and only be accountable to a “board” made up of members who are handpicked by the owner of the charter school. UNBELIEVABLE!!! Folks, you can’t make this stuff up! I don’t know who is more stupid…the guys making the laws to fix education, or the citizens who believe their solutions will work. I solved our public education woes well over a decade ago. Want something that will actually work? Just ask me.
“Republican state Sen. Jerry Tillman, the sponsor and committee co-chairman, gave a gruff assessment of the state board’s view on charters since lawmakers eliminated a cap on the number of schools in 2011. He said charter schools are too restrained to be successful.”
“Tillman cited an example of a pharmacist who wasn’t able to teach chemistry because he wasn’t a licensed teacher, saying the pharmacist had more experience than most teachers. “Any time you’ve got a piece of bologna that has two sides to it, I don’t care how thin you slice it, you’ve got to look beyond what might appear on the paper,” he said.
*Laughs* Oh Tillman, you foolish, foolish little man. Just because someone is an expert in a field does not make them a good teacher. Case in point: Some years ago, in a Charlotte high school, a former Duke University professor decided she wanted to “make a difference” and work with minority, at-risk kids and “share her vast knowledge of the field in which she was an expert.” She lasted one year. The kids ate her up and spit her out. Duke. One of the most prestigious Universities on the planet. Expert in her field. Lasted ONE year.
Am I the only one tired of the lawmakers, educrats, and faux-reformers who write the laws and make decisions on education, while not having a degree in the field? It would be like me telling a physician how to treat his patients, and I don’t have a background in the medical field.
I think some of these guys think just because they went to school makes them knowledgable on how to fix a school. Remember, just because you know how to drive a car does not make you a mechanic.
So let’s get this straight…the same GOP who wants tougher standards, tougher evaluation systems for public school teachers, a school grading (rating) system using an A-F model based on standardized test scores, etc…now want to circumvent state law requiring that at least half of the staff at a charter school hold teaching licenses, as well as remove background checks as a requirement for school personnel. Oh, and only be accountable to a “board” made up of members who are handpicked by the owner of the charter school. UNBELIEVABLE!!! Folks, you can’t make this stuff up! I don’t know who is more stupid…the guys making the laws to fix education, or the citizens who believe their solutions will work. I solved our public education woes well over a decade ago. Want something that will actually work? Just ask me.
“Republican state Sen. Jerry Tillman, the sponsor and committee co-chairman, gave a gruff assessment of the state board’s view on charters since lawmakers eliminated a cap on the number of schools in 2011. He said charter schools are too restrained to be successful.”
“Tillman cited an example of a pharmacist who wasn’t able to teach chemistry because he wasn’t a licensed teacher, saying the pharmacist had more experience than most teachers. “Any time you’ve got a piece of bologna that has two sides to it, I don’t care how thin you slice it, you’ve got to look beyond what might appear on the paper,” he said.
*Laughs* Oh Tillman, you foolish, foolish little man. Just because someone is an expert in a field does not make them a good teacher. Case in point: Some years ago, in a Charlotte high school, a former Duke University professor decided she wanted to “make a difference” and work with minority, at-risk kids and “share her vast knowledge of the field in which she was an expert.” She lasted one year. The kids ate her up and spit her out. Duke. One of the most prestigious Universities on the planet. Expert in her field. Lasted ONE year.
Am I the only one tired of the lawmakers, educrats, and faux-reformers who write the laws and make decisions on education, while not having a degree in the field? It would be like me telling a physician how to treat his patients, and I don’t have a background in the medical field.
I think some of these guys think just because they went to school makes them knowledgable on how to fix a school. Remember, just because you know how to drive a car does not make you a mechanic.
Completely agree regarding the “expert” as teacher.
I mean, come on…didn’t this clown go to college. Surely he had a few professors who may have been geniuses in their very specific areas, with all manner of degrees and publications to their credit, but man were they lousy teachers.
I sure encountered some of these, mostly in grad school, but wow they actually made going to class worse for understanding than just staying home and reading the text.
I agree with you on so many points, especially the experts who think that good teaching will always result when you have someone like Mr. Wonderful with no pedagogy training, no understanding of child/ adolescent development/ no understanding of the philosophical, historical, and sociological framework for seeing curriculum as a political text, a racial/gender text/ an oppressive text. No instructional design or any critical assessment literacy skills… and so on. Just be cause you went to school does not make you the arbiter and sole decider of what makes a school. Perhaps these folk need to start with Mike Rose’s book “Why School?”
When posters here talk about the great schools that the children of the “elite” class attend, they mention the lab schools at the University of Chicago, Sidwell Friends, Phillips Exeter, or perhaps Dalton where Dr. Ravitch sent her own children to be educated. Are teachers at those schools required to hire teachers who are certified to teach in public schools?
When are we going to “lawyer up” and begin fighting these laws in the courts, especially in federal court, because most of these proposals violate federal education laws. A multi-pronged attack will be needed to defeat this type of thing…the courts, parents up at arms, and taxpayers who are sick of being bilked for someone else’s profit. And we must change the language. The de-formers call public education a “government monopoly” and use other business terms to describe an entity that is decidedly not a business.
Don’t forget President Obama is in favor of charter schools. The Feds will do nothing other than make it easy for charter to pollute our communities. i live in NC and I can tell you many many parents are pro-charters.They can’t seem to realize that an two tier education system will be of significant harm to our society, including their own children.
Speaking of lawyers, here’s what another NC representative wants: Judges that don’t need law degrees.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/03/27/3944072/a-judge-without-a-degree-in-law.html#disqus_thread.
I live in NC, and noticed that this piece mentions a public comment period. Does anyone know if that period is still open, and if so, how to comment?
It seems to me that requiring that teachers have TB tests is as important as background checks; it may actually be more important as there is a greater risk.
As to certification, there are excellent private schools that hire uncertified teachers — but not paid for with tax dollars. Still, the unfortunate reality is that communities usually get the kind of schools they want & are willing to pay for; and parents get to choose what kind of education their children get. So if the duly elected representatives of the people of North Carolina decide to create a lousy school system, that is between the people and their legislators.
I would think that, eventually, a certain number of these charter schools will be challenged because they are actually parochial schools funded by government. But that is probably years away.
Flim flam artists, con men, racketeers, pack your bags and move to North Carolina. Their legislators are betraying their own taxpayers and setting up the best con ever. No financial accountability will exist and you will be able to appoint your buddies as the “board of education”. You will be allowed to employ your unqualified family members because bureaucratic rules just get in the way of “innovation”. Don’t worry about anything. Once you give a stack of cash for campaign funds the legislators will help you keep your school open. After a few years you will have purchased the school property through taxpayer money thus, you will be that much richer!!!! Come one, come all-No previous experience nor expertise required!! They won’t even do a background check so your last term in prison for fraud won’t even show!!! This is just sad.
This is bad. Very bad. But did you know that public schools were invented by and overseen by major Industrialists (Carnegie, Rockefeller, etc.) and Social Darwinists (Darwin, Dewey, etc…) from the very beginning and that the reason the Americans are so dumb now is because the plans of those Industrialists–and now the neo-GOP– are working perfectly? Read John Taylor Gatto’s seminal book, Dumbing us Down and see for yourself! What we are seeing now is just the next step in the overall plan created in the early 1800s. Really! Do your homework and read the book. The problems we speak of today are just the tip of the iceberg and we cannot be dissuaded by these new changes into not looking at the real, deeper issues of our school system.
Well, Deborah, not all public schools were created by industrialists. The earliest public schools in New England long predate the industrial age. Gatto was not a historian. Whoever created public education, it sure is better than ignorance.
What they are trying to enact in NC is already business-as-usual in Arizona. Our government is stacked, from the governor on down, in favor of charter schools.