Austin American Statesman
Published: 02-25-09
Let high-performing charter schools open in low-performing public schools.
Tear down the walls between traditional public schools and quality charter schools and watch both improve.
Better yet put them under the same roof. The Texas Charter Schools Association is bringing that proposal to the Legislature as part of a package of reforms to improve public charter schools. This is a proposal that makes sense because it puts students ahead of turf battles that pit open-enrollment charters against traditional public schools.
By locating on campuses of under-enrolled public schools charter schools would gain what they need most: modern classrooms labs and facilities. Typically public charter schools are located in churches shopping centers or abandoned campuses. Unlike traditional public schools charters which also are public schools have limited access to financing for facilities and renovations because they are legally barred from levying taxes or calling bond elections.
A campus-sharing arrangement also could benefit traditional public schools especially those in academic trouble that need an infusion of new ideas higher standards and innovative teachers. The measure would permit a district to claim scores of charter school students for accountability purposes.
Several Austin schools could benefit from that proposal including some of the districts lowest performers: Pearce and Garcia middle schools and Reagan High School.
Campus sharing could save failing schools like Pearce which has been rated low-performing for four straight years and faces closure if it does not raise its grade on the 2009 state report card.
Pearce could immediately raise its grade by making room for a high-performing charter school such as KIPP Austin Prep middle school on its campus. If that happened scores of Pearce and KIPP students would be counted as one campus. That would raise Pearces grade and remove the stigma associated with chronic failures.
Both KIPP Austin and Pearce serve similar student populations low-income minorities who show up several grades behind their grade level. Having both campuses under the same roof would give students more options in learning. Pearce students would gain from KIPPs successes; KIPP kids would benefit from better learning tools and facilities at Pearce.
At this point KIPP Austin has no plans to relocate at Pearce. But KIPP Austin is looking to open nine new campuses in the Austin district and is interested in locating some of those schools in under-enrolled Austin schools. Pearce and Garcia seem ideal for campus sharing because of their low enrollments. (Pearce with 507 students has capacity for 1061 students. Garcia with 647 has space for 1100.)
Campus sharing neutralizes the competition between charters and regular publics and puts the emphasis where it belongs on students. Of course schools can negotiate their own campus-sharing arrangements without legislation and some already are doing that. But without legislative action public schools would be unable to claim charter schools scores. Therefore regular public schools have little incentive to welcome public charter schools on their campuses.
Sharing scores is essential to sharing facilities. In the end students gain and thats a win for all.
