Lansing, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The State Board of Education recently passed a resolution that would increase its decision making authority regarding the starting or closing of charter schools.
“Charter schools are free, public, and open to all,” according to the Michigan Association of Public School Academies. “Charter schools provide families with another choice within the public school system that has the flexibility and autonomy to meet their students’ needs.”
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Within the resolution, the SBE called for legislation that would include provisions requiring:
– Review by the Michigan Department of Education for approval or denial of applications of new, replicating, or expanding charter schools after consultation with the local district in which the charter will operate.
– Transformation of for-profit charter management organizations to nonprofit charter management organizations within the state.
– Full and complete transparency in all financial matters related to revenues and expenditures for charter management -companies.
– Charter schools to comply with the Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act.
– Publication of detailed management contracts and detailed educational management organization expenditures by function on the charter schools’ websites.
– Charter schools and their management companies to follow all bidding laws and regulations.
– Prohibition of students from being excluded from attending a charter school, discouraged from enrolling in a charter school, or encouraged to disenroll based on behavior, academic achievement, disability, English-language proficiency, family status, or living situation.
– The prohibition of charter schools from refusing transfer students during the school year if the charter schools have available space.
– Strong encouragement that all charter school teaching and administrative staff increasingly hold certificates instead of short-term permits and that employees who are working while holding temporary or emergency permits are encouraged to become fully certified.
SBE Cites Failed Freedom of Information Act Requests as part of reason for heightened transparency demands.
In June 2021, the State Board of Education voted to have the MDE draft Freedom of Information Act requests of a portion of charter schools and education and management organizations.
“The purpose was to determine to what extent charter schools and their education management organizations were held to the same standards of transparency as traditional public school districts,” the Michigan Department of Education said in a statement.
12 of 166 charter schools that were sent the requests did not respond, according to the MDE, but all 112 traditional public school districts that were sent the request did respond.
The MDE highlighted the heightened transparency for charters among the other legislative priorities.
The MDE celebrated the passage of the resolution declaring that it would increase transparency for charter schools.
“Charter schools are technically public schools, so they should be expected to follow the same regulations regarding transparency as all public schools are required to follow,” said board member Dr. Mitchell Robinson, who introduced the resolution.
The vote came at Tuesday’s State Board of Education meeting.
“Our public schools are a vital part of our local communities,” said Dr. Pamela Pugh, president of the State Board of Education. “They should be governed by the people and not by outside groups that too often don’t support open government. Michigan spends more than a billion dollars annually on charter schools. Taxpayers must know how these dollars are being spent. Just as importantly, community members should be able to fully participate in important discussions and decisions that affect their public schools – including charter schools.”
State Superintendent Michael F. Rice also weighed in the decision.
“Parents should be able to choose whether they want their children educated in traditional public schools, charter schools, private schools, or parochial schools, or at home,” said State Superintendent Michael F. Rice. “However, charter schools, like traditional public schools, are publicly funded and should operate in an open and transparent fashion with the involvement of their local communities.”
According to the MDE, the resolution says the “large number of charter schools in Michigan is a threat to democratically governed community-based schools.”
Charter School Advocates issue caution regarding the new resolution.
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a research group committed to principles of free markets and limited government, shared its view that the resolution would “end charter schools as we know them in Michigan.”
Most charter schools in Michigan are authorized by public universities and community colleges, however the new resolution would give the state Department of Education veto power over local decisions and choices according to the group.
“The State Board of Education in Michigan should not stand in the way of educational options parents are desperately seeking,” said Dr. Molly Macek, director of education policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in a statement. “And allowing local public schools to have input on whether a charter school can be allowed to open is like giving Kroger the ability to decide whether a Meijer can open nearby. Of course, they will always oppose it. That’s not what is good for students and families.”
Beth DeShone, Director for the Great Lakes Education Project, a group that advocates for parental choice in education for all Michigan students, shared her thoughts on the new resolution.
“The Michigan State Board of Education ignored critical school safety work to launch an attack on public school teachers,” DeShone said in an email to Michigan News Source. “The Board is not a serious body and they do not do serious work. They’ve rarely been interested in helping kids. The least they can do is end the inane attacks on public charter schools.”
Charter School Impact in the State of Michigan.
Since the early 1990s, there have been more than 360 charter schools founded in the state of Michigan.
According to the Michigan Charter School Association (MAPSA), 75% of charter students face socio-economic disadvantages and work to overcome odds, and the charter schools in the state serve over 150,000 students.
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