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"font-family: Calibri;">DAPHNE, Ala. — The decision about whether

charter schools should be allowed in Alabama is in the hands of the

state legislature, but several residents recently discussed the

issue at a forum in Daphne sponsored by the nonpartisan League of

Women Voters of Baldwin County.

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"font-family: Calibri;">On hand to offer their opinions were Susan

Kennedy, manager of education funding for the Alabama Education

Association and Thomas Raines, policy director for the

Montgomery-based A+ Education Partnership.

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"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;">Charter schools

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are public schools created under contract with either a state

agency or local school board.

"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;">They are often organized to

address a poorly performing student population in an

underserved

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community.

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In his call for education reform through legislation, Gov. Robert

Bentley said, “

"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Obviously,

we are proud of the gains Alabama students have made in the past

year … Our bold education initiatives will give teachers the

flexibility, support and resources they need to bring the classroom

alive. We will give parents more public school options so that they

can select the school environment that is right for their

children.”

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Those parental options will include charter schools if Bentley is

successful.

"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Raines

said the governor’s push to establish charter schools in the state

is spot-on.

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“Charter schools are not for every student and they are not a

silver bullet, but are another tool to use in the toolkit that can

work toward great schools for every child,” he

said.

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Raines pointed out that 41 states and the District of Columbia have

already enacted laws enabling the formation of charter schools, and

said they are needed here. More than 5,200 charter schools

currently operate nationwide, with more than 1.8 million students

in attendance (4 percent of the total student

population).

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Unlike magnet schools established by local school boards, charter

schools have no admission standards, Raines said, but he added they

do have a much higher bar to reach when it comes to

accountability.

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Raines cited a 2009 Stanford Study by CREDO, as well as a 2011

University of Washington meta-study that indicate charter schools

in some cases outperform traditional schools. Their impact is

especially evident in poverty-stricken communities, according to

the studies.

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Not so fast, cautioned Kennedy. She said, “We have some things in

Alabama that we’re doing in schools that we know work. They have a

100 percent rate of success.”

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Among those she mentioned is the Alabama Reading Initiative, which

she said improves every student it touches. Another is the Alabama

Math and Science Technology Initiative, which she said has enhanced

the curriculum statewide.

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“It’s great. It’s like the polio vaccine, but we only have money

for half the kids to get it,” Kennedy said. “It’s not very fair the

way we do reform in Alabama. We do reform on the cheap, and that’s

a function of our population as a whole in the state, not being

able or willing to fund our schools at a necessary level to reach

those results. We have C results across the state, but we have

F-level funding, according to national studies, so we’re

outperforming our funding by two grades.”

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Whether it’s standard public or charter schools, both agree

teachers represent the bottom line in making a

difference.

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“I believe strongly that we need to develop the teachers that we

have,” Raines said. “There’s no way that we will close the

achievement gap without that.”

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That is easier said than done under the current funding levels,

according to Kennedy.

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“The last four years we’ve had zero money for professional

development in the budget,” she said. “We’ve had zero money for

technology in the budget. No library money at all. We have things

that make a difference, but we don’t fund them.”

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But, are charter schools even warranted in Baldwin

County?

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"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">“The

introduction of a charter school bill is a significant issue and

worth discussing,” said Dr. Alan Lee,

"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;">superintendent of Baldwin

County Public Schools. He noted that he took his own look at

charter schools, and the view from the trenches regarding the need

is quite different.

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"font-family: Calibri;">“Parents and government officials do not

have a good handle on the research,” Lee said. “They are not any

more successful than traditional schools.”

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"font-family: Calibri;">Although he acknowledged there are

certainly “shining” examples of successful charter schools in the

U.S., he pointed out that any issues a traditional public school

might have can be better managed if certain regulatory constraints

are removed.

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"font-family: Calibri;">Among those constraints is a shorter list

of options for dealing with problem students.

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"font-family: Calibri;">“We willingly take every student who comes

to us,” Lee said. “We welcome them. We need to work with them.

Charters are allowed to very forthrightly deal with poor

performance. I’d welcome the authority that charter schools

have.”

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"font-family: Calibri;">A difference in spending benchmarks also

weighs down regular public houses of learning, Lee said, preventing

administrators from making “intelligent decisions about our

schools.”

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"font-family: Calibri;">He said if Baldwin County schools were

competing on a level playing field with the charters, “We’d beat

them any day.”

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"font-family: Calibri;">As it stands now, our public schools offer

an ideal education, Lee contends. Although his son is now grown, he

said, “I had a very high standard for my child. There’s not a

(county) school I would hesitate to enroll him

in.”

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"font-family: Calibri;">Lee stressed that Baldwin County teachers

have the intelligence and ability to guide children toward academic

excellence.

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"font-family: Calibri;">“If parents want children to succeed,

Baldwin County schools can do that today,” he

added.