Education Week - January 29, 2014 - 7

Surge in Charter Schools Stirs Concerns in North Carolina
Limits on charters
eased by new laws
By Katie Ash
If the next round of 2014-15 char-
ter school applications are approved
in North Carolina, the state could
double the number of charters in
operation there within three years.
A 2011 overhaul of the state's
charter school law by a Republicancontrolled
legislature lifted the
100-school cap on charters and relaxed
laws controlling how the publicly
financed but independently run
schools can operate.
The change has raised some con-
cerns among district officials about
the quality of the new charters that
have been approved and the impact
the new schools could have on traditional
schools.
The tensions come after a separate
law, passed last year, dissolved
the former charter school board and
created a new advisory board made
up of charter supporters. It also removed
districts' right to submit impact
statements with charter school
applications. The changes created
an environment viewed as more
charter-friendly.
North Carolina currently has
127 charter schools in operation.
The state approved eight new char-
ter schools in 2012-13 and 23 this
school year. The state school board
recently approved the opening of 26
new charter schools for next school
year, and the state's newly created
Charter School Advisory Board has
announced that it will consider putting
62 other charter applications on
the runway toward state approval
for opening in the 2014-15.
"We're still at the beginning of this
next phase of growth in North Carolina,"
said Nina Rees, the president
and chief executive officer of the
Washington-based National Alliance
for Public Charter Schools.
Lifting the Cap
The rapid growth of charters in
North Carolina isn't unusual, although
the number that open after
a cap has been lifted varies from
state to state, said Ms. Rees. In
states that lift caps but still have restrictive
laws-such as Alaska and
Iowa-the growth has been slower,
she noted. The dramatic growth of
charter schools in Michigan after
the cap was lifted parallels what is
happening in North Carolina.
In that state, a new law mandates
that a new advisory board's members
must have demonstrated "a
commitment to charter schools as
a strategy for strengthening public
education." The goal was to give the
board more independence from the
state education department. The
new board operates in an advisory
function only; the state board of
education still has the final say on
approval of charter schools.
Heath E. Morrison, the superintendent
of the 142,000-student
Charlotte-Mecklenburg district, is
"
ter schools from providing transportation
or meal services.
Districts' right to submit statements
of impact that the charter
school would have on the community
also was abolished by the law
that created the new advisory board.
"My concern is not the loss of
All of us are truly
beginning to feel like
we, as a system, are
being attacked and
that our teachers, in
particular, are being
left behind."
CHRISSY PEARSON
Durham Public Schools
among those who are wary about
the sudden influx of charters in
North Carolina. He said he supported
lifting the 100-school cap,
but does not support other changes
to the charter school laws, such as
only requiring half of the teaching
staff to be certified and freeing char-
funding or parents choosing; it's
about allowing charter schools to
operate like private schools that are
being funded through public funds,"
Mr. Morrison said.
'Economic Divide'
Bill Anderson, the executive director
for MeckEd, a nonprofit nonpartisan
education advocacy group in
the Charlotte-Mecklenburg district,
said the changes in the charter
school laws are especially detrimental
for disadvantaged students.
"Poor kids, kids who need transportation
or food services, they're
not going to be enrolling in these lotteries,"
he said. "It's become a racial
and economic divide."
Ten of the newly approved charters
are slated to open next school
year within the district's borders.
W. Edward Gooddall, the executive
director of the North Carolina Public
Charter Schools Association, said
that not providing transportation
to charter schools isn't an attempt
to shut out low-income students,
but rather reflects the financial
limitations of charter schools.
"We don't have a nice, tight attendance
zone that we can limit our
bus service. Some charters have enrollment
from up to 11 counties, so
that's very challenging from a cost
standpoint," he said.
He also noted that charter schools
do not receive funds for facilities,
forcing them to spend a portion of
their operating budgets on capital
costs and furthering the need for
new charters to tighten their belts
in other areas.
Joel Medley, the director of the
state education department's charter
schools office, stressed that the
state is committed to ensuring that
only high-quality charters are approved.
Even after the state board
grants final approval to charters,
they are monitored for any red flags
before they open, he said.
The state is also set to launch
a new voucher program in 2014,
which allows low-income students
to attend private schools with public
funds.
Both developments have motivated
public school leaders to come
together in protest of the changes,
said Chrissy Pearson, a spokeswoman
for the Durham district.
"All of us are truly beginning to
feel like we, as a system, are being
attacked and that our teachers, in
particular, are being left behind with
these legislative changes," she said.
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