|
S.C.
Statehouse Report
Sunday, Jan. 23, 2005
VIEW: http://www.statehousereport.com/columns/05.0123.charter.htm
 HOT ISSUE
 Charter
school bill might provide political cover
By
Andy Brack
SC Statehouse Report
JAN. 23, 2005 - - Not all charter school applicants are created
equal.
Take the case of a North Charleston group that sought to
start a charter school last year. On the North Charleston
group’s application cover page, it misspelled a slogan
as “Becuase learning is a lifelong experience!”
Before a state advisory board could consider its application,
the group withdrew it.
|
Find
the misspelled word on this charter school application
cover page.
|
But under a proposal that will be taken up in the S.C. House
of Representatives in next week, it might get easier for organizations
to become charter schools without much local input.
Charter schools are specially-licensed public schools to which
parents in some counties can choose to send their children.
These innovative schools currently have to be approved by
the state and local school boards, but operate outside the
traditional school system. They generally have more freedom
from regulations that apply to most schools.
For many, charter schools provide a public school option that
also gives parents a choice about where their kids go to school.
Currently, there are 23 charter schools in South Carolina.
Another nine or 10 are expected to open in the fall.
Under the legislative proposal that will be considered on
the House floor, local school boards may be cut out of the
loop. Lawmakers propose creating a special statewide school
district for charter schools that allows a new bureaucracy
to consider and approve whether groups should be able to start
new schools.
Proponents of the measure say it’s needed because some
local boards are opposed to charter schools and as such, parents
in those districts don’t have the options for school
choice available to them.
“There seems to be a good bit of resistance of local
school districts to issue a charter,” said SC Sen. Larry
Grooms, a Berkeley County Republican who is sponsoring a charter
school bill in the Senate. The House takes up a similar bill
in the coming week.
Opponents, including the state Board of Education, say the
current charter school system, started just a few years ago,
is on track to have 50 charter schools across the state in
five years - - quite a large number for a state the size of
South Carolina.
“We feel like the present system under the Charter School
Act is working,” said Carolyn Donges, interim director
of the state’s Office of Safe Schools, which oversees
charter schools.
|
ALSO
THIS WEEK
McLEMORE'S
WORLD: From the archives
FEEDBACK:
Power to the wealthy?
SCORECARD:
Thumbs up/down and amixed review
SUBSCRIPTION
INFO
FEEDBACK
POLICY
We
encourage your feedback. If you'd like to respond to
something in SC Statehouse Report, please
send us an e-mail. We reserve the right to edit for
length and clarity. One submission allowed per month.
Submission of a comment grants permission to us to reprint.
Please keep your comment to 250 words or less:
feedback@statehousereport.com
|
Critics maintain the proposed new statewide charter school
district would create another statewide school bureaucracy.
In addition to the state Department of Education, there would
be a statewide charter school bureaucracy.
“It’s creating a new school system that’s not
accountable to the local needs,” said SC Sen. Phil Leventis,
D-Sumter. “It’s the antithesis of accountability.”
And while advocates say administrative costs would be limited
for the new bureaucracy, it’s curious that one of the
prime supporters of the bill, Gov. Mark Sanford, is pushing
for more bureaucracy since he’s the fellow who is supposed
to be against more government.
Scott Price, spokesman for the SC School Boards Association,
says his group has no major problem with the new charter school
initiative, except that it puts control of it under the governor’s
office for the first few years, instead of at the Department
of Education.
“What we don’t like about this legislation is a
whole new oversight board,” he said. “We don’t
feel we need to be growing government or government bureaucracy.”
It looks like the House will pass the charter school bill
easily, but it might face more scrutiny in the Senate.
But what observers should really look for is an interesting
political dynamic: Will some House members and senators use
a vote for the charter school bill as a vote for school choice?
If they use this vote as a way to highlight how they’re
for school choice, it could make it tougher for Sanford to
pass his bigger school issue - - the “Put Parents In
Charge” school voucher proposal.
We hear many Republican and Democratic lawmakers, particularly
those that represent good school districts, are concerned
about the impact of the voucher plan. But they also want to
be “for” school choice. The charter bill might allow
them to have their cake and eat it too.
RECENT COMMENTARY
McLEMORE'S WORLD
1/23: Let freedom
ring
A still timely cartoon from our archives:
LEARN MORE DAILY
 The
best way to get South Carolina news is to augment your morning
paper and TV show with SC Clips, a daily executive
news summary compiled from more than 30 state newspaper and
TV sources. It's delivered every business day and is packed
with news of statewide impact, politics, business and more.
Subscriptions are affordable at $30 per month -- and less
for business subscribers. More: SC
Clips.
FEEDBACK
1/18: Power to
the wealthy?
To the editor:
So let me see if I understand what this Libertarian Governor
(Statehouse
Report, 1/9) wants to do...as a Libertarian, he seeks
to reduce government and the power of government to influence
and of course intrude into the peoples private lives. Yes,
and I say amen to that, and exact approach our founding fathers
had in mind.
Except in the case of Governor Sanford, he seeks to transfer
that government power into the hands of a wealthy few, all
be them in the private sector, still to the hands of the powerful
wealthy, certainly not us run of the mill working class dudes.........
For example, one of his top advisors, and least experienced,
was Mr. Chad Walldorf, who as of the last reporting cycle
had given more than $11,000 in cash to the campaign.......hmmmmm.....you
do the math on who Sanford is trying to bring to the government
trough!
-- Sandy Gibson, Lexington, SC
SOUTH CAROLINA SCORECARD
Here's a "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" related to various
political events from the past week:
Thumbs
up
Statehouse Report, Wilkins. We're giving ourselves
a pat on the back this week for being a possible legislative
spark. On Jan. 2, Statehouse Report said living people shouldn't
have public structures named for them. Sixteen days later,
House Speaker David Wilkins and others proposed just such
a measure.
Jobs bill. The House this week approved the Jobs Creation
Act, subject of last
week's Hot Issue.
Mixed
reviews
Ports, Jasper. There's a big battle brewing between
Jasper County, the SC State Ports Authority and the Georgia
Ports Authority over land in Jasper County and who will be
able to use it (if at all) to create a new port. It seems
like one big headache and a huge potential lawsuit.
Thumbs
down
Sharpe. Former state Agriculture Commissioner Charles
Sharpe cut a deal this week that led to a guilty plea related
to a cockfighting case.
Ten Commandments. Thumbs down to a Senate Finance
subcommittee that approved a measure that would allow the
Ten Commandments to be displayed on Statehouse grounds. It's
not needed and is divisive.
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
How you can subscribe to the full edition
of the report
The above version of S.C. Statehouse Report is the
free edition. Our paid version, which costs about $100 per
month, offer a weekly legislative forecast packed with information
that can keep you and your business on the cutting edge.
Notes veteran lawmaker Sen. Glenn McConnell: "Statehouse
Report gives an inside practical report of weekly problems
with and progress of legislation. It reviews the whole landscape."
In each issue of Statehouse Report, you'll get::
Hot issue -- an early peek at weekly commentary
on something really big. Last year, we continually beat
other news organizations in finding major trends in issues,
from teacher and budget cuts to wetlands proposals.
Agenda -- a weekly forecast of the coming week's
floor agenda
Radar Screen -- a behind-the-scenes look at what's
really going on in the General Assembly
McLemore's World -- an early view of our respected
cartoonist Bill McLemore.
Tally Sheet -- a weekly review of all of the new
bills introduced in the legislature in everyday language
Scorecard -- A Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down of major
political/policy events for the week.
Calendar -- a weekly list of major meetings for
the House, Senate and state agencies.
Megaphone -- a quote of the week that you'll find
illuminating.
To learn more about subscriptions, contact Andy Brack at:
brack@statehousereport.com
|
