To:  Coalition Members and Charter School Supporters

From:  Bridget Barrus, President

The 2006 Legislative Session is under way and we are beginning to see legislation and events that affect charter schools start to work their way through the process.  Here is a look at what is happening at the Capitol this week:

CURRENT LEGISLATION

Below is information concerning pending legislation affecting Idahos public charter schools.  You can also track this legislation online at www.legislature.idaho.gov. As these bills move through the legislative process, we will keep you updated and will also add new legislation to this list as we move through the session.  If you have any questions about our stance on a specific piece of legislation, please feel free to contact us at info@idchartercoalition.org.   

UPCOMING EVENTS

PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS IN THE NEWS

On Saturday, the Idaho Statesman ran a readers view opposing Idahos public charter schools.  Below is the full text of the editorial.  It is time to stand-up and respond to the misinformation, half-truths, and myths perpetuated by this readers view. 

Debi and Steve Maughan: Views of charter school advocate Deide are divisive, wrong

 Edition Date: 02-04-2006

In his Dec. 26 Reader's View, Darrel Deide, chairman of Idahoans for Excellence in Education, attacked what he calls Idaho's 19th century school system. He claims his IEE just wants to improve education for all Idaho's students. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Deide's IEE is a charter-school special-interest PAC with a vested interest in spreading the Harbor School method. This method - with its emphasis on regimented learning, rote memorization and catering largely to an elite - is arguably the real throwback to the 19th century. Overexpansion of this system, when connected to Deide's attack on adequately funding mainstream schools, threatens a great 20th century idea: that all Americans - regardless of income or background - deserve a quality education and access to the American dream.

Charter-school advocates protest that charters don't discriminate in admissions, so they don't cater to an elite. But charter enrollments are driven by self-selection, often from relatively affluent, educationally committed families with a free parent who can provide transportation, lunches and volunteerism. The result: In social profile, charter schools look like private schools. They just aren't a realistic option for many two-parent income and single-parent households.

Not all charter families fit this profile, but enough do to give charters a performance advantage. Deide crows that Idaho charters outperform traditional schools. But they cater disproportionately to families who fit their model: native English speakers; involved, ambitious parents; competitive, focused children; few with learning disabilities. It's dishonest to say charters perform well just because they are a better model and not because they also cherry-pick students and families.

Deide also crows that charters cost less than "government schools." But charters also rely entirely on the government to give a separate education largely to already privileged students. They spend less per student, but have special advantages: few expensive, special-needs students, eager volunteer help and reliance on local districts for extracurriculars.

The IEE claims the Idaho Education Association advances nothing but teacher self-interest. This is hypocrisy. The IEE advances charter-school self-interest. Charter schools routinely pay their teachers significantly higher salaries and replicate district bureaucracy with high-paying positions. Don't believe Deide when he says the IEA is all about money, and the IEE is all about principles. That's just bull.

Understandably some parents, ambitious for their children, are attracted to charter schools. But there are real costs to pushing charter schools too far. Every talented parent and student who leaves for a charter impoverishes his or her local school as voluntarism drops and successful student role models disappear.

American values don't just boil down to choice, but also to a public-spirited commitment to opportunity and education for all. The IEE's model of 21st century education, however, is the gated community, where the privileged withdraw, surrounded only by people pretty much like themselves. That is not a vision for a strong, just and competitive 21st century Idaho.

Don't be fooled by IEE rants. Idaho's schools don't need more money, they shout; charters are doing just fine. The simple facts, however, are that Idaho has the eighth-largest class size in the country and ranks 45th in per-pupil education expenditure. Respectable studies of education indicate that the simplest way to improve education for all students is to lower classroom size. But Deide says leave mainstream schools begging as charters siphon off able students. The result will be ghettoized schools and an Idaho increasingly divided between haves and have-nots.

Some charters fit a real need, and all our public schools can support each other if we keep our balance. But this won't happen with ideologues like Deide sneering at the problems and denying the achievements of traditional schools to advance a self-interested agenda. This attitude is unworthy of charter-school advocates who supposedly also have the larger public good in mind. Idahoans should reject the IEE's divisive rhetoric and work to provide the resources and the support necessary for all of our students to receive an education worthy of American democracy.

If this piece inspires you to give your public charter school testimony, stop reading right now and get writing!  Letters to the Editor need to be 200 words or less and believe me they will come easier than you think because all you have to do is tell your story  why is your childs school important to you? 

You will need to submit your information electronically to the Idaho Statesman.  Click on the link below and provide the requested information.   Someone from the Idaho Statesman will contact you to confirm that you did submit a letter to the editor. 

http://forms.idahostatesman.com/lettertoeditor/ . 

Stay tuned for our response to the Maughans anti-charter school editorial as well. 

KUDOS AND CONGRATULATIONS

• A special thank you to the Albertsons Foundation for recently awarding nearly 20 Idaho public charter schools from across the state with individual grants of $100,000 each.  We appreciate their support of our schools and look forward to working with them to improve education for all of Idahos children. 

• Congratulations to ANSER Public Charter School of Boise for their recent front-page recognition in the Teaching K-8 magazine.  To view the article, visit www.teachingk-8.com. 

• Ed Ex Idaho recently completed a spending efficiency study based on data from the State Department of Education for the 2004-05 school year.  Idahos public charter schools took the top 5 spots respectively and 10 of the 18 charter schools in operation during the 04-05 school year ranked in the top 20 for efficiency.  To view the full list of results, visit http://www.edexidaho.org/best_rest/12.%202004-05_ADA.htm

ACTION ITEMS

º      Contact your Legislator and tell them to oppose S1281.  It eliminates the flexibility that public charter schools and their authorizers need to serve the children in their communities.  Currently Idaho school districts are given the flexibility to set their own boundaries and enrollment policies.  Idahos public charter schools shouldnt be treated any differently.  Visit www.legislature.idaho.gov for your Legislators contact information.  (If you do not know who your legislator is, e-mail your street address to info@idchartercoalition.org and we will be happy to provide it to you.) 

º    Attend the hearing on S1281.  The Senate Education Committee will consider S1281 on Wednesday, February 8^th, in the Gold Room on the 4^th floor beginning at 3pm. 

º    Gear up for Charter School Day at the Legislature.  (1)  Contact your school administrator and see what you can do to help showcase your schools successes on February 15^th.  (2)  Contact your Legislator and encourage them to visit your schools display on the 4^th floor that day or, even better, make an appointment to meet with your Legislator that day and take them up to your schools display.  (3)  The Coalition will be sharing chocolate for charters so if you have some favorite chocolate goody you would like to share with your Legislator, please feel free to bring it down (labeled with your name and address) to the Capitol on Charter School Day for them. 

As always, we appreciate your efforts and support.  Be sure to visit our website often for current information about what is happening in the Capitol and at Idahos public charter schools. 

~ Bridget