August 29, 2008
TECHNOS QUARTERLY Spring 1996 Vol. 5 No. 1
Variations on Privatization
By Mardell Jefferson Raney
Charter schools are “autonomous, results-oriented, publicly funded schools of choice that are designed and run by teachers or others under contract with a public sponsor.” In September 1995, there were 226 charter schools in operation in the United States. Of these, 214 were in states with the most expansive charter school laws—Arizona, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Minnesota—while there were only 12 schools in five states having the most restrictive laws—Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, New Mexico, and Wisconsin.
Most charter schools are small elementary schools that are experimenting with a variey of educational approaches, such as interdisciplinary instruction, expanded use of technology, increased parental involvement, performance assessments and portfolios, and back-to-basics instruction. Two major barriers affect most charter schools: lack of capital funds and lack of legal aid and business expertise. Effects on student achievement are not yet documented.
Golden Rule Insurance Company's Pat Rooney visits with some CHOICE students in Indianapolis.
In Milwaukee, where a voucher system has been implemented, the six-year legal battle over a school choice law will culminate on February 27, 1996, when the Wisconsin State Supreme Court will review what promises to be a landmark case. A decision is expected in April or early May. In 1989, the original choice amendment, introduced by Wisconsin State Representative Annette “Polly” Williams (D-Milwaukee), was passed. But when the choice program began operating in 1990, public school teachers and administrators sued, after which parents in favor of the choice program countersued. The straightforward voucher program had some 1,420 students enrolled, but 3,000 had applied and already started school when the injunction was issued, leaving many students without educational provision. At that time, PAVE (Parents Advancing Values in Education), a private scholarship organization serving low-income families since 1991, quickly organized an emergency fund-raising drive, led by executive director Dan McKinley. Within 10 days, it had raised $1.8 million to send all the remaining students to school. On March 3, 1993, the Supreme Court ruled that private school choice was constitutional in Wisconsin. In 1995, Governor Tommy Thompson signed a state budget that would dramatically expand the choice program, and again Milwaukee Public School teachers and the American Civil Liberties Union sued to block the move. The Supreme Court took the case directly and enjoined program expansion until a decision could be issued on its constitutionality.
Clint Bollick, litigation director at the Institute for Justice in Washington, D.C., expects similar challenges as other states adopt private school choice programs. Currently, there are 26 programs in Wisconsin, where the state issues funds directly for education. Ohio plans to have its choice program in place for the 1996–97 school year; Minnesota and Vermont have similar programs in place.
A Chicago organization, Family Options for Children Urban Scholarship Fund, or FOCUS (launched in December 1995), models Milwaukee's PAVE program. FOCUS plans to provide partial scholarships for some 30 to 50 students in September 1996 and to continue to provide partial scholarships for low-income parents for at least three years. The FOCUS fund was started with an initial grant from the Children's Educational Foundation, funded by the family fortune of the late Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart.
The Educational CHOICE Charitable Trust program, funded by the Golden Rule Insurance Company, pays half the cost of private school tuition for K–8 children of qualifying families within the Indianapolis Public Schools district. Led by Chairman Pat Rooney, Golden Rule has pledged at least three years of support for the program—at a total cost of $1.2 million. CHOICE was praised by the Wall Street Journal as “a breakthrough in corporate support for educational choice” that other businesses should model. Golden Rule's CHOICE program, recognized by the Childhelp USA organization and the U.S. Senate for helping children and families succeed, is the first privately funded tuition voucher program in the country. Currently CHOICE-inspired programs are operating in 22 U.S. cities, with enrollments totaling 10,000 students and some 16,000 on waiting lists for admission.
The Edison Project establishes partnership schools, either in contract with public authorities or as part of a charter school initiative within a local community. A team led by Benno C. Schmidt, Jr., former Yale University president, recently spent two years integrating successful educational practices into this comprehensive school design. The first four full-partnership schools, serving K–5 students, opened in summer 1995 in Sherman, Texas; Wichita, Kansas; Mount Clemens, Michigan; and Boston. In fall 1996, these schools will add programs for grades 6–8, with additional elementary schools opening in another six or so communities.
Photo courtesy of CHOICE.