The Charter Dilemma

There is a saying during the legislative session that it isn't over until its over. That stated, signs do point to the fact that current voucher proposals don't appear to have enough support in the Iowa House to advance. That seems to square with public sentiment. The majority of Iowans feel the same way, at least according to the recent Iowa poll which found that more Iowans oppose public funds [being used] to pay for private education. 

However, the fate of an expansion to Iowa's charter school law remains uncertain at this point. There has no doubt been a heavy focus on education during this legislative session. The pandemic has shined a light on the importance of having schools open and in session, not only for the educational role that we play but for those secondary and tertiary benefits that during normal times we take for granted. The frustration some parents had with decisions made by schools that led to them not reopening in a timely manner, and their feelings of being trapped are understandable. Frankly, I was disappointed that some of my colleagues felt state law didn't apply to them. Unfortunately this has given our legislators all the permission they needed to focus a lot of attention on choice schemes that would do nothing but undercut the good work that is going on in our public schools around the state. 

So while I have cautious optimism the voucher bill has been stymied (at least for now), the charter expansion does not yet garner that same amount of confidence. Here is what you should know about this bill. First, it is important to note that Iowa currently has a charter school law on the books. That's right, a mechanism already exists for charter schools in Iowa. Granted, there aren't very many of them. Proponents of the expansion would argue the current law is too onerous and cumbersome to set up a charter. I might counter that point with the thought that when dealing with multi-million dollar organizations (which deal with taxpayer money); having a bit of oversight and accountability might be a good thing. 

What this current proposal would do is eliminate a lot of that accountability. In fact, this charter bill would permit an out of state corporation to set up a charter school in a community and completely circumvent the locally elected public school board. These folks who run the charter school would be accountable to their shareholders, and not even live in our communities. If the parents who sent their kids to the charter school had a complaint, they wouldn't have the option of airing their grievances with the local superintendent or having an opportunity to speak at the next school board meeting. The Board of Directors won't be elected by the local community and may be two states over. 

The arguments that I have made countless times against the privatization of public schools over the years remain the same, whether we are talking about voucher programs or charter school expansion. Public money needs to remain with public schools where there is proper oversight and accountability from the local community and locally elected school board. 

The latest installment of Jamie Vollmer's 'Schools Cannot Do it Alone' network video is 'The Privatization Game'. In this video, he rightly states that public money should be reserved for public schools. He goes on to state there is no higher return on our investment than public schools: 7:1!