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| Charter Schools vs Public Schools |
May 7, 2009
KIFI-TV
http://www.localnews8.com/Global/story.asp?S=10325660&nav=menu554_1_1
Charter Schools vs Public Schools
Posted: May 7, 2009 10:31 PM EDT
Updated: May 7, 2009 11:59 PM EDT
By Karole Honas, Anchor
EASTERN IDAHO - School districts in Eastern Idaho are struggling this week finding new ways to cut the budget. Money is so tight, suggestions of consolidation and moratoriums on new charter schools have been offered as a solution.
Bill Lofholm is a retired engineer from Morrison Knudson. At age 96 he's not afraid of crunching numbers. He has the time and patience to chart the dollars of every charter school in Idaho, and he is convinced charter schools get more money per student than public schools.
"So, Blackfoot received $4,749.50 a student," says Lofholm, "and the charter schools received $4,975.71 per student. That's a difference of $226. The charter school gets more than Blackfoot."
He'll get no argument from Senator Richard Sagness of Bannock County who says, "Of course they take money away. Anyone that says they don't doesn't understand schools."
Senator Sagness tried to get a bill to halt approval of new charter schools for the next three years, until the recession eases up. But he couldn't get it out of committee. He says, "The chairman of the committee is a strong supporter of charter schools and choice, and would not allow the bill to be heard. The public was not allowed to come in and support the bill. Never got a hearing, and that's bad practice."
The head of the Senate Education Committee, John Goedde, responded to Local News 8 in the following email:
"The first reason I am holding the bill is practical. I know there aren't the votes in committee to pass it to the floor so why have charter school supporters from around the state trek to Boise to testify? One member told me that he had misvoted at the print hearing or the bill would not have been printed in the first place. The second is philosophical, I am a firm believer in school choice. I sat on the Coeur d'Alene School Board when one of the first charters in Idaho was granted to the Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy. That charter is a college prep school and has consistently been acknowledged as one of the top charter schools in the entire country. Graduates in classes of around 25 garner hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships for post secondary education. I am told that over 7,000 Idaho children are on waiting lists for charter slots right now. Why would we deny them the opportunity for success? Waiting three years to start any more charters would deny some of that 7,000 that education opportunity forever. Charter schools are funded the same way as small schools in the state and they have no access to property taxation. The bottom line is that charter schools cost the local taxpayers less than traditional schools per student. Competition is a cornerstone of the American Way yet public education has been monopolistic is it delivery of services for many years. Since the charter school movement, traditional public schools have taken a second look and are becoming more innovative."
The former state superintendent, Marilyn Howard, is convinced charter schools are taking funds away from the traditional public schools. In a recent newspaper editorial, she says, "The state should put a moratorium on authorizing new charter schools. Every new charter has the same effect as adding another school district and that just slices the monetary pie even thinner."
The Blackfoot school superintendent agrees. Scott Crane says, "If you have 100 districts in Idaho and add 10 charter schools which are new districts, there are now 110 schools taking from the same amount of money. When you divide a pot by 100, it's more than when it's divided by 110 so from that point of view there is a cost to charter schools."
But Superintendent Crane says the people of Idaho have made their decision. They want charter schools.
Wendy Horman walks both sides of the debate trail. She volunteers at White Pines Charter School where her daughter attends, but she also serves on a local school board that struggles with budgets and has two sons in traditional public school. She believes the state money follows the child and does not believe charter schools cost the state more. But most importantly, she thinks it's imperative parents have a choice.
"I do. I believe it's important. Families in our community have the opportunity for education of children that meets the childs needs, not the adults in the system. If we can't do that in a one size fits all public school, we need to create that opportunity somewhere else," says Horman.
Bill Lofhholm says it's fine to have a choice. But he says parents should pay for that choice. He thinks if they choose charter school, they should have to pay the $226 difference he says it costs the state for a child to go to charter school in Blackfoot, for example.
When asked if he was going to quit the battle at age 96, he responded, "Not until I die. I have support and I'm getting more."
Tim Hill is in charge of the school formula for the funding of education in Idaho. He does not believe charter schools get more money per student. He says without seeing how Lofholm arrived at his numbers, he can't comment on them. But he did say three things drive funding for students.
First, large school districts get less money per student than a small district.
Second, it's who you hire. More experienced teachers translate into more money from the state per student.
Third, it's who you teach. At risk students will get more money per student than a kindergartner. Hill says, "If you understand the formula it all makes sense."
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| Coalition of Idaho Charter School Families PO Box 6236 | Boise, ID 83707-6236 | 877-792-5900 |
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