It’s the height of the silly season when politicians and others with points of view and axes to grind say and write things that make little sense in order to get the people they want elected or not elected. So I probably should not be so surprised.
In fact, in the scheme of things, the attack message against a politician running for state office in my own district may not be as mean or as ridiculous as many we have seen on both the state and national level.
But I am responsible for representing the state’s education policy and agenda on behalf of the LePage administration. And it offends me to see a political mailer that so blatantly and knowingly mischaracterizes the public charter school law passed by the Legislature in 2011. Especially because it was put out by people who participate regularly in the process, who know the truth and who willfully refuse to give the truth a place in its campaign of deception.
I am speaking of a postcard sent by Citizens Who Support Maine’s Public Schools, a political group that this year received 100 percent of its funding — $171,220 — from the National Education Association, which is parent organization to the Maine Education Association, the largest teachers union in the state. The postcard accuses Sen. Chris Rector, R-Thomaston, of “selling out” Maine’s students by voting to “privatize our schools.”
The assertion is more than ludicrous — it is a lie. Maine’s charter school law, LD 1553, defines the very precise terms under which public charter schools operate. Charter schools are by definition in law public — not private — schools that have more flexibility than traditional public schools over decisions concerning curriculum and instruction, scheduling, staffing and finance. But, they are accountable to the terms of the contracts, or charters, that authorize their existence and the academic standards to which all other public schools are accountable. And, unlike other public schools, they are closed if they don’t meet the needs of students.
The Maine Charter School Commission, a public body, as well as local school boards, are authorized to charter a school. The law, approved by a significant and bipartisan majority in the House and Senate, reflects a growing understanding among Mainers that no one school can be all things to all students. And that it is our responsibility to help families find the right educational environment for their children.
Of course, reasonable people can debate that. Not up for debate is this assertion of “privatizing” schools. Is it called “privatizing” when public groups of parents and neighbors come together seeking choices for their children? Also the postcard talks about “these virtual schools” when the authors know very well that none of Maine’s current or conditionally approved charter schools is a virtual school.
The postcard ends with the silliest argument of all: “The more students enrolled, the more they collect.” At least that statement is true. In fact, this is how all public schools work — funding is based on the number of students. It is hard to imagine a system that worked any other way.
I am not here to defend a candidate for political office in Maine. I am writing because we cannot possibly have an honest debate about the merits of education policy if we can’t even agree to be honest about the facts.
Stephen Bowen is commissioner of the Maine Department of Education.
The fact is that Mr. Bowen is the appointee of an administration that demonizes public employees unions and would rather privatize the entire state government than raise another cent in taxes to fund public institutions. Since direct school privatization is politically impossible, Mr. Bowen’s policy defunds public schools with a “seperate but equal” system, rather than fixing existing problems. The sooner these people are out of office the better.
I think if people just simplified here they would understand a bit more. I lived in an area that the schools weren’t even meeting the basic standards for learning. I had no choice in schools so I had to work approx. 70 hours a week to get my children in a private school as the other local schools would not take them because we were “out of their district”. I would have LOVED to have been able to save all that money and the 1.5 hours each day on the road getting them to school and back! All this is giving us is a choice. Not everyone can afford a private school as much as many might think not all private schools have “rich families” some are there with fund raising opportunities that allow several children to get a scholarship and others like me find themselves in a position that they make more money than the minimum allowed for a scholarship and not enough money that makes it comfortable to send their kids to a private school. Gee, I think I just described the Middle Class. We can change this state if we would stop thinking about everything so negatively! Give it a chance, you just might change a poor class child or middle class child’s life by giving them the ability to choose a place they can actually learn from and take forward and make a difference in the world as adults.
I applaud Governor LePage for thinking out of the box…someone has to.
I don’t have a dog in this fight, not an educator, not a student. But it seems to me Mr. Bowen’s definition of ‘not private’ would include Maine’s largest private employer, Bath Iron Works.
BIW and many other private corporations contract or charter (same thing) with the government to provide a service or product.
Chartering schools sounds like privatization to me.
Let’s not redefine private.
I love political mailers, regardless of which side they are advocating. When you mix them with unsolicited junk mail and put them in your wood stove, they throw great heat for a couple of minutes. Maybe I should let both major parties know that I am ” undecided”. I might be able to forgo buying firewood this season.
The Republican running for highest office doesn’t even have the honor and integrity to be honest in his ads — you think these little PACs and groups are going to be honest?
Some of the respondents here should do more homework before posting. Though there may well be other reasons to question the LePage administration’s overall approach to education, Commissioner Bowen is not wrong here. Charter schools are not “privatized” schools, though some school districts do permit corporate management of such schools. Charter schools may be started by teachers, non-profit groups, other government entities (such as universities) and must be managed on a non-profit basis. They must also meet all state standards for public schools and students must pass state-mandated tests. Charter schools have long existed in numerous other countries. They simply represent an alternative approach to public education. Private schools are an entirely different proposition.
Corporate management of schools = privatization.
Church or religious group sponsorship of schools = privatization, religious type.
By that definition public schools would be socialist, right?
And therefore privatized schools fascist. Again by definition.
And public colleges like Penn. State aren’t?…..hope you get to testify at the trials of all the public officials who covered up Sandusky’s abuse.
Maybe so, by the broadest of definitions. Are you in favor of elitist private schools? Product of one? Hardly a good fit with your apparently conservative/libertarian views. The rise in public education through the centuries of our existence is a prime factor in the nurture and growth of democracy.
I am not a libertarian by any means and definitely liberal on social issues but I don’t buy into the bashing of the Charter School concept. It has little to do with elitism or privitization and everything with parents’ rights to look for the best educational opportunitites for their kids. There are plenty of examples of poverty level parents sending their kids to charter schools. I have seen this system work in other countries, where public schools must compete with charter schools, with improved outcomes as the result. The notion that education can only function under local control should be relegated to the past. Stale thinking doesn’t suit the left any better than the right.
Right, and over the past 20+ years, 41 other states and DC have had charter schools, to varying degrees of success, so far. Oversight is important.
Except that our Democracy was a product of people who were educated in religious schools and colleges run by religious orders, and to a certain extent still is—check the backgrounds of the Supreme Court Justices or all of the people who graduated from Colby, Bates, and Bowdoin now being elected to public office.
If you mean the schools are publically owned, then yes, it’s socialist. Privitization is not the best option here. Adding a profit motive to education is not always a cure-all. Look at the NCAA and for-profit college scams for example. Fixing existing schools should be the priority.
Charter schools cannot use religious instruction or activities, just as any other public school.
Charter, or more honestly, for profit school, are being bought up by investors as they are returning over 10% on the investment. Guarenteed taxpayer funded income generators. Profit centers whose sole reason to be is profits, not education. Made Jock and Olympia millions.
Which begs the observation that they must be thriving, viable schools worthy of investing in…….or would you prefer to invest in schools that lose money and perform poorly?
Charter schools and school choice benefit the haves.
Which begs the question on why in every portrait I’ve seen of charter schools, the children they serve are largely poor and minority…..unless you’re a Democrat and these really are the ‘haves’?
The charter schools I’ve seen have the children of the wealthy.
School choice is not fair.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, only 37% of the students were white; while 30 % were Black, and 26% were Hispanic. The percentage of charter schools which were high-poverty was 33% and only 19% were low poverty.
Bowen is correct and only reflecting official USDOE statistics found at http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=30
Not saying you’re ignorant or a union troll; but it sure looks like it!
When I begin to see applications for Charter Schools that would specialize in educating our 504 students, special education students as well as our “we don’t need no education” students–all for the one price of current per student cost–then I might say “bring them on”.
Removing the “easily educated” from the mix in public schools leaves what? And without the per pupil income received for educating these students, do you honestly believe the remaining public school population could still be educated for the same cost? No! 504, Special Ed etc costs much more than standard ed. With taxpayers still footing the bill for the Charter students, those remaining in public schools would raise the cost to the public schools necessitating that the districts go to the taxpayers for more money. By the way, that more money they would be asking for would have a direct correlation to the “profit” siphoned off by the charters. Oh, I forgot, charters are non-profit. OK, lets rename profit “the cost of doing business”.
At the current time we do indeed have school choice. It is called a “Superintendent’s Agreement”. If you as parent believe firmly that it would be in the “best interest” of your student to attend a different school you need only bring the matter to your superintendent. If she/he disagrees with you, simply appeal to the Commissioner. He would be happy to overrule the superintendent and send your child wherever you want to take him. At least this would keep our tax dollars in public schools that are overseen by people you elect to the school board.
I say this all with my tongue part-way into my cheek. So please, when harpooning me, keep that in mind.
As they are public schools, charter schools cannot discriminate. They have to accept ALL students who apply, up to capacity. After that, students are accepted on a lottery basis. This means that all students with special needs are to be accepted and accommodated. The only way that there can be discrimination is if a school does specialize in serving students who have special needs or are “at risk”.
They however can counsel out parents by claiming they don’t have the resources to care for their student or that the school is not a good fit for their student. This is one of the reason that Charter Schools kick out 10 times as many students (proportionally) as do their public school counter parts. Despite this gaming of the system, Charter schools drastically underperform public schools. Anybody who supports charter schools is either a fool, has an axe to grind, or stands to make money by the privatization.