Oklahoma: Some Charters Use Application Process to Winnow Students

Oklahoma has 29 charter schools. The charter law says that charters are not allowed to base enrollment “on a student’s past academic performance, income level or the abilities of their parents.

“However, on their applications, several charter schools in the state require parents to explain their child’s academic abilities in detail, pledge a commitment to volunteer at the school or have the student submit an essay…Oklahoma law prevents charter schools from limiting admissions based on ethnicity, national origin, gender, income level, disabling condition, proficiency in the English language, measures of achievement, aptitude or athletic ability.”

But some charters have found a way around the law.

“ASTEC Charter Schools in Oklahoma City requires that prospective students and parents fill out a 14-page application with over 80 questions, some that ask for short essay responses to questions about the student’s greatest strengths, what causes the student the most problems in life and why they are applying to ASTEC.

“ASTEC’s application also asks for a student’s discipline history, if they have ever received special education services and whether they can write in cursive…

“Some charter school applications are very simple, including Dove Science Academy in Oklahoma City, which only asks for the name and address of the student applying.

“KIPP Tulsa College Preparatory uses a one-page application that only asks for a student’s contact information.

“But Harding Fine Arts charter school in Oklahoma City asks students to submit three essays with their application, including one answering the question, “What makes you a good student?””

Catherine Blanche King says:

July 28, 2017 at 1:03 pm

Diane: Whack-a-mole in progress.

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dienne77 says:

July 28, 2017 at 1:10 pm

Anyone want to take a guess at the demographic make-up of ASTEC vs. the demographic make-up of Dove?

Laura H. Chapman says:

July 28, 2017 at 1:41 pm

A profile of the Founder of ASTEC Charter Schools is here. http://www.edmondsun.com/news/dr-freda-deskin-superintendent-founder-of-stec-charter-schools-receives/article_32bcaf48-81fa-11e6-afd1-df40d2c18c95.html

The impulse to micromanage the “image” of any ASTEC student is documented here. https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/6d9e2d_ba6dfce226544b1cae989ddfd21a3ff5.pdf

The Harding Fine Arts charter school requires parents and students to engage in community service http://hardingfinearts.org/student-life/community-service-hours/

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Yvonne Siu-Runyan says:

July 28, 2017 at 1:18 pm

OMG … cherry picking and also “not so veiled” threats. Sick.

LeftCoastTeacher says:

July 28, 2017 at 1:55 pm

I cannot believe we have public schools in this country that have application processes instead of just registration procedures. So wrong!

NYC public school parent says:

July 28, 2017 at 2:02 pm

A number of parents at Success Academy who won lotteries for post-Kindergarten grades have stated on news programs that their child is tested before enrolling and if a child doesn’t pass whatever this test is, they are told their child must repeat a grade if they want to enroll their child.

So a child who completed Kindergarten at a different school would not be allowed to enroll in first grade without proving that they have met some kind of academic standards before being allowed to enroll.

Not surprisingly, with no oversight this pre-enrollment test discourages parents who don’t want their child to repeat Kindergarten because an inexperienced charter administrator has decided they aren’t worthy of a 1st grade spot. There’s no oversight, so we don’t know how many parents of 2nd and 3rd graders are told their kid must enroll in Kindergarten in order to make sure that every one of their unaccountably high attrition spots are filled with students who test at or above grade level. The SUNY Charter Institute says this is perfectly fine and doesn’t care how many parents of the older kids who are identified as pre-enrollment “failures” by Success Academy choose not to accept the labeling of their child as a pre-enrollment failure and give up their spot. After all, it’s all just business and those kids are not worthy. And it also keeps them from having to drum out the unworthy kids later.