Tom LeClaire, President: I'm Raising A Warning Flag for Families of Schools of Choice

Warning flags have been used for generations to alert others of oncoming dangers. Raising a warning flag early allows others to seek safety or work to diffuse a threat, providing sufficient time to prepare for the approaching danger. 

Today, I raise a warning flag for Idaho’s parents of charter schools. 

When the Idaho legislature authorized charter schools over 24 years ago, their intent was to create high-quality public educational opportunities for families, students and educators with several distinct differences from traditional public schools. 

That legislative guidance opened the door to the creation of dozens of innovative and high-quality schools across the state and online. Charter schools are in fact public schools, they are just independently operated, and have the autonomy to set their own curriculum and provide educators with flexibility to teach using new and different educational methods, as long as they meet state standards. Virtual public charter schools in particular have been a huge value-add to our state’s public education system by developing and delivering an innovative educational option for families. Thousands of Idaho students and their families have directly benefited from charter schools, and our economy has indirectly benefited from a well-trained and prepared workforce. 

But recently, government bureaucrats have become hostile to some of our charter schools, forcing some to close their doors and pushing for others to limit their services. This has had an impact on Idaho’s most vulnerable students, many of whom did not succeed in traditional settings but found success in virtual public charter schools. 

A few months ago, Another Choice Virtual School and Richard McKenna Charter School’s virtual program were recommended by bureaucrats to close. The reason? Poor performance on state tests, a metric traditional schools are not measured against. It didn’t matter that the school served at-risk students that were left to fall through the cracks at their previous brick and mortar, nor did it matter that many of these students were seeing academic improvement. And, to add insult to injury, bureaucrats warned commissioners to ignore the pleas from parents, teachers and students to consider other data points when making a decision.

Test scores are just not something parents care about when assessing the quality of their child’s education. In fact, according to a recent survey by the National Coalition for Public School Options, only three percent of parents surveyed nationally said they consider test scores when choosing a school. Instead, parents consider curriculum, teacher quality, family values, distance and safety as being more important. Something the bureaucrats in Idaho don’t seem to care about.

This same survey showed 62% think public schools are on the wrong track and another 80% support allowing parents to choose the best school for their child. With such overwhelming public support for increased school choice, it’s baffling that Idaho allows government bureaucrats to have greater say than parents in providing our children with the best education possible.  

As President of the Idaho Charter School families, it is my duty to raise a warning flag on behalf of thousands of charter school students and families across Idaho. Despite claims to the contrary, many officials overseeing Idaho charter schools are choosing to restrict and limit creative and innovative educational options in Idaho. 

The current trajectory is not what the Idaho legislature had in mind when they worked so hard to create charter schools legislation so many years ago. My plea with raising the warning flag is that leaders – those in the legislature, the governor’s office, and in education – start working together for the benefit of our children, their futures, and the future of the state of Idaho.