Public chartered schools can help rural school districts

The bill to allow Maine communities to form public chartered schools for children at risk, LD 1640, is now being debated and voted in the Maine Legislature. Opponents claim that allowing a pilot program of 20 schools over 10 years will hurt small and rural schools in Maine. Such claims are based on unfounded fears and misunderstanding of public charter schools.

Maine’s bill builds on the success of public charter schools in 40 states, where over 3,600 voluntary public chartered schools enroll over a million children, most of them children at risk. Maine has large numbers of children at risk of failing school. More than 1,700 students drop out of high school each year. Thousands of others are not thriving, are engaged in risky behaviors, and are disengaged from school for a wide variety of reasons.

Maine has hundreds of dedicated educators who are trying to meet these needs through public alternative education programs. But there are only about 80 such programs in Maine’s 280 school districts. These are often poorly supported and the first

to be cut when budgets tighten.

If Maine educators could expand alternative education programs through the public charter school mechanism, each chartered school would received the same per pupil allocation that a town now spends on its children. Enrollment is by choice of parents and students. If a chartered school does not meet its students’ needs, the student can withdraw, with the funds following the child to another public school. This gives chartered public schools a strong incentive to be lean on administration and strong on education.

Some superintendents are worried that existing small schools will suffer if a public chartered school enrolls one or two students. They assume that there are a limited number of students due to declining birthrates and out-migration from rural areas. Let’s look carefully at these arguments.

Families in rural areas are already making education choices to find the right program for each child. Home school enrollments are climbing. The number of private schools in Maine is growing. Some families move to another town to find a school that better fits their child; others move to towns that tuition out their children, so they will have a choice of schools.

So, a major reason for any school to lose students is that the school is not meeting the needs of the children in its area and parents want options. When students drop out, the district loses funds, so there will be no effect on a school’s EPS funding if a

chartered public school enrolls those who would opt out or dropout anyway.

Public chartered schools can provide new options within the public education system that are free to parents, non-religious, and open to all students without admissions tests. By allowing such options to emerge where needs are greatest, districts will strengthen public education in their area, which will attract and retain more families.

A variety of good public schools helps sustain small communities and attracts economic development. Instead of viewing alternative schools as threats, towns can collaborate on programs that meet a wider variety of children’s needs. Public charter schools have the potential to bring back students who have already dropped out. In northern New Hampshire, nine rural districts have collaborated to create an alternative high school that is saving dozens of former and potential drop outs. (See www.nhschoolreform.org) These rural districts benefited from the substantial federal grants for the planning and start-up phases of public charter schools (up to $150,000 a year for three years).

Lowering the dropout rate will help small or rural schools and their communities. As more students graduate through conventional, alternative, and chartered schools, unemployment and social service costs will decrease, and quality of life will increase. Experience in other rural states indicates that small or rural schools have not been hurt by the establishment of charters. Many have benefited by using public charter schools to attract and retain families. Some small schools may wish to convert into public chartered schools in order to provide a program that meets the needs of children at risk in their area, or to save their community school from consolidation.

Under the Maine proposal, local school boards will be the primary chartering authorities, the public groups that review applications, approve the five-year charter contracts, and monitor performance. Districts will be able to retain up to 2 percent of the annual per pupil allocations for administrative fees. Districts will also be able to contract with chartered public schools to provide services such as transportation, record-keeping, professional development, and leased space. These arrangements can provide new income streams for the district.

Yes, a declining economic situation and low birthrates are broad problems that affect school enrollments, but meeting more children’s education needs can contribute to community and economic revitalization, as well as save more Maine kids from the hazards of life without a high school diploma.

For more information on the Maine proposal, the needs for alternative public education options in Maine, endorsements of Maine citizens for public chartered schools and links to the substantial number of national organizations helping public charter schools emerge, please see www.mainecharterschools.org.

Dr. Judith Jones, of Hope, is chair of the Maine Association for Public Charter Schools. She is also a retired education and facilities planner.