The Alexander City Outlook

Locals worry about charter schools

The passage of a Alabama School Board resolution in support of charter schools, which could assist in the passage of any related legislation, has raised concerns from local educators.

Officials from both the Alexander City and Tallapoosa County school systems have concerns about the legalization of charter schools ranging from funding to oversight.

Alexander City Superintendent of Education Lou Ann Wagoner said one of her main concerns stems from the amount of oversight for charter schools from local and state boards of education.

“It really concerns me,” Wagoner said. “They don’t have to adhere to the same guidelines from the State Board of Education.”

The less stringent guidelines allow charter schools more flexibility when it comes to tenure law as well as some dismissal and hiring policies, according to state board spokeswoman Malissa Valdes.

“Because there isn’t a tenure safety net, teachers have to put their all into it,” Valdes said. “Their jobs are on the line if they don’t do well.”

While charter schools are required to meet the same academic standards as public schools and have the same number of days, charter schools can alter the school schedules as the institution sees fit.

“Charter schools are allowed to hold class on Saturdays if they want to,” Valdes said. “They can have different hours in order to alter learning time. The goal of these schools is to educate at a more stringent level in order to create more success then a public school.”

Tallapoosa County Assistant Superintendent John Paul Wilcox said he would like to see public schools have some flexibility when in comes to creativity and innovation.

“I don’t see a need for (charter schools) if we can do the same thing,” Wilcox said.

Wilcox is also concerned that the legalization of charter schools would lead to a lack of funding in public schools as the system would lose some of its allocated money.

Valdes said each individual system would not lose its allocation because money follows the students not the individual schools.

“It’s just like adding another public school to the system,” Valdes said. “The more students that come to public schools the more funding is given by the legislature.”

Another benefit to charter schools from the state’s perspective is the availability of federal grants because of them. The state would add 40-points to a 500-point “Race to the Top” grant worth $200 million. Valdes said that money could be used for a variety of education costs throughout the state and would not be used exclusively for charter schools. Federal money could also be used to help charter school start-up, according to Valdes.