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On Charter Schools, Constitution Stipulates Local Authority

A day after Governor Bob McDonnell proposed new legislation to promote charter schools, VEA and the organizations representing school boards and superintendents urged him to reconsider provisions that would unconstitutionally wrest authority from local school divisions.

"We believe charter schools in Virginia can operate in a manner consistent with Virginia's constitution, consistent with Virginia's system of educational accountability, consistent with nondiscriminatory practices, consistent with principles of fiscal accountability to the taxpayers, and consistent with policies that require well trained staff members who are treated in an equitable manner," VEA President Kitty Boitnott said at a Capitol news briefing. "Quite frankly, we are perplexed that a path unnecessarily in conflict with our constitution has been chosen in the proposed legislation."

VEA pointed out that the authority to review and grant charter school status rightly rests with local school divisions. The Virginia Constitution (Article VIII, Section 7) states that, "The supervision of schools in each school division shall be vested in a school board."

Further, VEA countered the argument made by McDonnell and others that the relatively small number of charter schools in Virginia means a lack of options for students who may not be successful in traditional public schools.

"Just in the Richmond area alone we have schools that specialize in arts, engineering, communication, languages, humanities, technology, International Baccalaureate,  IT, leadership/government and global economics, military, and science/mathematics and technology," said Boitnott. "We have governor's schools, magnet schools, centers for the gifted. The list goes on and on."

Are Charters the Solution?

Charter schools can be innovative, and, properly established and supervised, they can be one worthwhile option among many. But supporters sometimes overlook some larger issues in their rush to embrace this brand of school "choice."

Contrary to what some charter school proponents claim, the evidence on charters' impact on student achievement is, at best, mixed. There's not a single credible study that proves that, simply by attending a charter school rather than a more traditional public school, students will achieve better results. In one of the most widely cited recent studies, researchers at Stanford University found that 46 percent of charter school students earned scores in math indistinguishable from their peers in public schools. Seventeen percent posted better scores-but 37 percent did worse.

Moreover, the list of changes that could aid public schools is a long one. It includes proven strategies like lower class size, better partnerships with parents, sustained, job-embedded professional development, and so on. Experiments with charter schools may be worth undertaking, but other reforms also warrant our support.

VSBA Statement. Read more about the issue in this statement from the Virginia School Boards Association, released at the 2-11-2010 news briefing.