Charm City Charters
January 26, 2007 09:57 AM
I read yesterday's Baltimore Sun story about charter schools in Charm City. While we're on the subject of organizing, I'll note that charter school teachers in Baltimore are covered by the union contract and are represented by the Baltimore Teachers Union. The Sun notes that the city's charter schools have a lower special education load than the traditional schools. The charter folks (a bit defensively) say this is because they are small. I agree. And, if the charter schools weren't part of the district I'd say it was still a problem. But they are part of the district, and the district authorized their creation. If the district is doing a poor job of dealing with this predictable issue, I wouldn't blame the charter schools.
The KIPP school in the article had the highest scores and retained 23 percent of its kids, compared to 7 percent for the system as a whole. Is this the norm for KIPP nationally? Does this policy count as a form of counseling out? And is that necessary for KIPP to work? I do like KIPP -- their first schools were opened in NYC under the UFT contract and the late Sandy Feldman was a board member. Also I once failed a lot more kids than that. But I am wondering how many of that 23 percent returned to KIPP. Did KIPP's decision mean that the kids were retained systemwide? Or could you switch from KIPP and land back on grade level? And does the district have any idea that this is an issue? I’d like to think so.
A lot of my concerns about charter schooling have to do with this sort of thing. The Sinn Fein (Irish for "Ourselves Alone") approach that a lot of charter schools take puts them in a position where the broader system is undergirding their efforts in ways that they might not realize or want to admit. It's one reason why I think that charter schools and districts need to be integrated or much more closely coordinated than they are now. As for Baltimore, I think it's the district's responsibility to see that the structure is set to allow KIPP to be KIPP while working alongside the other schools.
