The New Business of Education-Charter Schools
Monday, February 18, 2008PAUL KANGAS: NCLB's focus on school performance has motivated parents to look for more public school choices. That's led to a boom in the formation of charter schools. As Midwest bureau chief Diane Eastabrook reports, charter schools are built on the premise that they can educate children for the same amount of money as standard schools, but with better results.
DIANE EASTABROOK, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Destiny, I'm Diane Eastabrook. The 500 students at Chicago's Noble Street college prep are used to classroom visitors. They are also used to stricter rules, a stricter dress code, longer school hours and a longer school year than students at Chicago's other public schools. Noble Street is one of Chicago's five charter schools. It was authorized by the city's public school system and receives about $7,000 a year per pupil from the system. That's slightly less than the public schools receive. But as a charter school, Noble Street doesn't have to follow the same rules and regulations as Chicago's public schools. Superintendent Michael Milkie says that gives him a lot more budgetary and academic freedom.
MICHAEL MILKIE, SUPT., NOBLE STREET CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL: We have a college counseling course that wouldn't be allowed under the union contract where a non-certified college counselor is really the teacher of that class and guides the students through every step of the college application process.
EASTABROOK: There are about 3,000 charter schools nationwide. Their supporters claim that having greater flexibility allows charter schools to tailor curricula that better meets the needs of their students. But in exchange for that flexibility, the schools must meet stricter student performance standards than public schools or face possible closure. Liz Howard is the associate director for the Center for Nonprofit Management at Northwestern University's Kellogg school of management. She says charter schools are the product of the school reform movement of the 1980s.
LIZ HOWARD, ASSOC. DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR NONPROFIT MNGT.: They are a different method of educating children in the sense that the vast majority of charter schools are very small schools. They may focus on a particular curricula or age group which enables them to have a more laser-like focus.
EASTABROOK: In Chicago, charter schools are run by non-profit organizations. But elsewhere, for-profit service and support companies advise and operate charter schools. In Florida, privately-owned charter schools U.S.A. operates schools. The firm gets a portion of the public dollars its charter schools receive.
Another for-profit firm, Academica, manages 30 charter schools in Florida and makes money by charging schools a management fee. Academica President Fernando Zuelueta says his company does everything from designing schools to hiring teachers to maintaining records.
FERNANDO ZULUETA, PRESIDENT, ACADEMICA: You don't want your principal spending his or her time doing this kind of work. You want them focusing on ensuring that the students are getting the best education possible.
ESTABROOK: Corporate America has played a central role in the development of many charter schools here in the U.S. Family foundations established by business leaders like Bill Gates and Michael Dell have contributed millions of dollars to the charter school effort. Chicago's Rowe-Clark math and science academy is named after Exelon Corporation CEO John Rowe and Commonwealth Edison Chief Executive Frank Clark. Exelon and the two executives collectively donated more than $4 million to cover the school's start-up costs. Rowe thinks corporations have an obligation to serve their communities.
JOHN ROWE, CHAIRMAN & CEO, EXELON CORPORATION: What I want is to help more kids well, to learn well, to get what they need so they can earn their way into college and be part of the successful part of America rather than always (ph) behind.
EASTABROOK: Experts say in the past decade about five percent of the nation's charter schools have been closed for poor performance. The hope is that better data will help states and school districts better track the progress of charter schools and reduce failure rates. But until that happens, questions will remain as to whether charter schools can offer a better product for the same taxpayer dollars as public schools. Diane Eastabrook, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Chicago.
