Michigan House Committee Votes To Lift Cap on Charter, Cyber Schools
Wyandotte school Superintendent Carla Harting went to Lansing recently to oppose the measure.
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The state House Education Committee voted Wednesday to allow more charter and cyber schools to open in Michigan.
Senate Bill 618, which lifts the state's cap on the number of charter and cyber schools allowed in Michigan, now goes to the full House. The Senate narrowly passed the measure in early October.
Wyandotte school Superintendent Carla Harting went to Lansing recently to oppose the bill, even though she said she suspects it will pass and be signed into law.
"We have concerns about this particularly with the opening up of the online aspect for kids to take classes online from outside Michigan," she said. "They are taking school dollars away from public schools."
There are no charter or cyber schools in Wyandotte; however, there are some charter schools Downriver.
Summit Academy operates in Flat Rock and Romulus, along with Taylor's Trillium Academy.
Harting said she's seen firsthand how charter schools have negatively impacted Wyandotte.
"I’ve had some instances where people are not happy with charters and they come back to public schools after count day," she said. "By then, it's too late (to get the per-pupil funding for that student.) ... We will never turn anyone away. We will always take students in. But they are taking money from public schools."
The Michigan Education Association has openly opposed the bill, saying it "would allow for unlimited charter schools, regardless of the quality of those schools and the resources they draw away from neighborhood schools."
There are about 250 charter schools in Michigan.
Cass Pawlowski
1:30 pm on Thursday, December 1, 2011
Charter schools have been given wide birth in teacher accreditation, actual class size, teacher to pupil ratio, testing to mention a few.
natalie
1:44 pm on Thursday, December 1, 2011
Maybe Mrs Harting should consider hiring more teachers so the class sizes aren't so large. One of the reasons parents like charter schools is because of the smaller class sizes.
Anna Hardy Smith
1:47 pm on Thursday, December 1, 2011
Regarding Natalie's comment: Wyandotte schools receive the least per student in the state and the state has cut that amount further. If you'd like more teachers to be hired, please contact the governor. He has been unwilling to budge about school budgets and is in favor of cutting them further. Dr. Harting would be more than willing to hire more teachers if there was sufficient funding and I can tell you this with all confidence.
I have little doubt it will be voted into law given this administration and its disdain for public education. Dr. Harting is 100% correct in her assessment. Charter schools in this area have proven to be substandard compared to Wyandotte's curriculum and year after year they return after leaving on the myth that charter schools are superior to public. And if you have a child with any special needs, leaving Wyandotte will surely result in a return with great regret as to ever leaving. Working in the special needs community I can not tell you how many parents I have guided to Wyandotte after poor and even tragic results in other districts, including charter and parochial schools. Once in Wyandotte they always say that they are happy that finally their children are getting the care and education they deserve.
natalie
2:32 pm on Thursday, December 1, 2011
My kids have been going to Wyandotte schools for longer than the current governor has been in office. Their class sizes were always too large. I'm not saying that charter schools are superior to public I'm just saying I would like to have that choice.
Jim
11:31 am on Friday, December 2, 2011
Charter school quality is usually not as much of an issue because most seem to do pretty well at educating the students. However, cyber schools need a very "self disciplined" and very "self motivated" student along with a very good support or the results are disastrous. Many cyber school students lack this and therefore are doomed to fail just as they were doing in the educational system that they just left.