Life is getting harder for charter schools and those seeking to start them. In Massachusetts, word comes this week that new charter applications are down more than 50 percent--just 14, compared to 35 last year. And charter opponents in the Bay State are gearing up in support of a bill [see http://www.edexcellence.net/gadfly/issue.cfm?issue=25#75] that would slap a three-year moratorium on new charter schools. (The bill passed the state Senate earlier this year.) In California, lame duck Governor Gray Davis signed A.B. 1137, which sets new academic and financial reporting standards for California charter schools, which may or may not be good for California charters. Gary Larson of the California Network of Education Charters, says the new law "will allow charter schools to . . . focus even more on student achievement," while Brad Huff, a Fresno charter principal, complains that it will set Sacramento regulators breathing down his neck. What is definitely bad for California charters is the Assembly's continued failure to act on A.B. 1464, which would open up charter school authorizing to bodies beyond the local school board [see http://www.edexcellence.net/gadfly/issue.cfm?issue=114#1435], a major recommendation of the recent Fordham study Charter School Authorizing: Are States Making the Grade?. And Mike Antonucci, author of the invaluable Communique, notes that the California Teachers Association is gearing up for a major push to unionize the state's charter schools. First step is a series of articles in California Educator recounting horror stories of failed schools and tyrannical charter school directors. "I went from having union representation to having no representation and no sense of security. Around here we say, 'Don't sneeze too loudly; you might get fired,'" wails one former union member now teaching at a charter school, in an Educator article with the leading title, "Without union protection, teachers are vulnerable." And in Arizona, the state board for charter schools has put in place new checks on the academic and financial operations of charter schools that will also make it tougher for new schools to get approved.
"Charter school applicants drop by more than half," by Kevin Rothstein, Boston Herald, October 14, 2003
"Davis signs charter-school bill," by Jennifer M. Fitzenberger, Fresno Bee, October 14, 2003
"California Teachers Association to target charters," by Mike Antonucci, Communique, October 14, 2003
California Educator, October 2003
"Charter board toughens systems," by Pat Kossan, Arizona Republic, October 15, 2003