AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine could miss out on millions in federal dollars if it continues to prohibit public charter schools from becoming part of the state’s educational offerings.
That was the message delivered by Scott Pearson, associate assistant deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, during a forum on charter schools held Wednesday at the Central Maine Commerce Center. Pearson said the Obama administration has made charter schools a key part of its educational reforms and has set aside billions of dollars to assist states in exploring their potential.
Pearson said states taking part in the DOE’s “Race to the Top” program will be able to draw from an available pool of $4.3 billion in federal education dollars. He said those states that permit charter schools will rate stronger than those that do not since the money is earmarked for innovative approaches to public education.
“It’s very clear that states that have a ban or cap on charter schools will be disadvantaged in the competition,” Pearson told the gathering.
Charter schools are public schools that operate with freedom from many of the regulations that apply to traditional public schools, according to the Web site uscharterschools.org. The “charter” establishing each such school is a performance contract detailing the school’s mission, program, goals, students served, methods of assessment and ways to measure success.
Charter schools are accountable to their sponsor — usually a state or local school board — to produce positive academic results and adhere to the charter contract. They are accountable for both academic results and fiscal practices to several groups: the sponsor that grants them, the parents who choose them and the public that funds them, according to the Web site.
Maine is one of 11 states that have yet to allow public charter schools. Although there have been a number of attempts to pass legislation to eliminate the ban, the proposals have never won favor. The most recent attempt passed the Maine House of Representatives earlier this year but failed to win the support of the Senate despite the Obama administration’s financial inducements.
The bill called for a 10-year pilot program that would have allowed a maximum of 20 charter schools to be established over that period. Any group, either private or public, would have needed to win the support of the existing educational system before being granted a charter.
The bill, which would have put charter schools under the control of existing local school districts or the University of Maine, was defeated despite having the support of Education Commissioner Susan A. Gendron and the Legislature’s Education Committee. Opponents were concerned that the proposal would draw away funding from existing public schools.
Nationwide there are more than 4,600 public charter schools with an enrollment of 1.4 million students, about 4 percent of the overall public school student population. Approximately 80 percent of those charter schools are independent with the rest being part of joint charter networks.
Pearson said the “Race to the Top” challenge was implemented to encourage communities to consider new ways of improving educational results, especially in preparing students to enter college.
Although he said “by no means do we believe charters are the silver bullet” to excellence, their ability to innovate added an important tool to the educational package.
Before accepting a federal position, Pearson was involved in the charter school movement in California. He said charter high schools in that state have focused on preparing graduates to enter college.
“The administration’s goal for education is to regain our position as the nation with the most students qualifying for college,” Pearson said. “We used to be that. We’re not anymore. We’re far behind. We need 20 million more.”
Pearson’s message was echoed by Todd Ziebarth, of the National Association of Public Charter Schools. Ziebarth said charter schools have made great strides across the country since they were first implemented 17 years ago. He said the association has created a “model law” for those states without charter schools. He said the law was similar to the one rejected by Maine legislators earlier this year. He said the law provides flexibility for developing charter schools, which on average cost one-fourth less to operate than the traditional public school. He said the federal government was prepared to provide grants of up to $700,000 for each start-up charter school.
“A state like Maine, by allowing a charter school to come in, can leverage a lot more dollars for a lot more students,” Ziebarth said. “There are also [funds available] from private foundations, the Walton Family and Bill and Linda Gates. From a state policy perspective, why wouldn’t you do that?”
William Jones, of Hope, a member of the Maine Charter Schools Association that hosted the forum, predicted it was only a matter of time before the state opened the door to public charter schools. He said the group planned to advocate for enactment of a charter school bill when one comes up in the next legislative session.
Before moving to Maine a decade ago, Jones and his wife Dr. Judith Jones, the MCSA’s former president, worked on developing charter schools in Washington, D.C. He said that while the teachers unions fought the proposal initially, today almost one-half of the district’s schools are charter schools.
“It looked pretty hopeless in D.C., but we got it through and we will get it through in Maine, too,” Jones said during a break. “We know history is on our side. If Gov. Baldacci doesn’t do it this year [2010] we will get it next year,” Jones said during a break. “The support is growing.”
For more information visit mainecharterschools.org.
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