NCSBA Slams Charter Schools

NC’s Charter School Law: Creating Two Public Education Systems.; that’s the title of a new publication from the North Carolina School Boards Association (NCSBA). For those that didn’t already know, the title tells you all you need to know about NCSBA’s stance toward charters.

NCSBA says the publication compares “laws and facts regarding local school systems and charter schools.” But a quick review reveals NCSBA is playing loose with the term “facts.” What do I mean?  There are numerous problems, but let’s focus on one. On page 2 under a section titled, Governance and Accountability, NCSBA writes; “Private board of directors runs the school and is not accountable to the public despite being publicly funded.”

For starters, let’s say the two grammatical errors don’t help the cause.  But, back to the real issue: Do charter schools really lack accountability? Charters are authorized by the State Board of Education. If they fail to fulfill the requirements of the charter, the State Board of Education is required to close the school. In addition, if a charter school fails to educate a student or to satisfy a parent; students leave.  As of last year, there were 30,000+ students who were wait-listed for charter schools.   What does that say about accountability?

If NCSBA is concerned about accountability, would the organization be in favor of a proposal to have the same provisions applied to traditional public schools?