It's no secret that some of us (though not all of us ) at Fordham* think that "religious charter schools" is an idea worth exploring. I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel about this very topic?? on Monday at the National Association of Charter School Authorizers conference, where, I must admit, I failed to convince the audience of my point of view. But an interesting twist came to light during the discussion: it turns out that some charter school authorizers--the quasi-public bodies that oversee these schools and are charged with holding them accountable--are themselves religious.
Exhibit A is the Minnesota Education Trust, the subject of a recent post by Star-Tribune columnist Katherine Kersten .
"Minnesota Education Trust" sounds pretty generic, but the name seems to convey a clear sense of the organization's mission. Or does it?MET's "principal goals" are set forth in its articles of incorporation, filed with the secretary of state in May 2007. The first goal listed is "to promote the message of Islam to Muslims and non-Muslims and promote understanding between them." Other goals include building a virtuous society and providing education to children and adults. The final goal is to "support schools, community centers, mosques and other organizations that serve the above goals."
Kersten is already in a kerfuffle about an "Arabic" school that appears to be crossing the church/state line, so she's none too happy about this latest development. But Islamic groups aren't the only ones getting into the charter game. In Ohio--the only state beyond Minnesota that allows non-profit organizations (such as Fordham ) to sponsor charter schools--at least one authorizer is religiously affiliated. Take a look at the history of Educational Resource Consultants of Ohio , which oversees 25 charter schools:
Christ Tabernacle Ministries of Excellence, Inc. founded Christ Tabernacle Learning Center in 2000 to give educational support for pre-kindergarten student in Hamilton, Ohio. The Learning Center opened for business with two students and now has over sixty students with a standing waiting list....With a mind for excellent performance in education, Christ Tabernacle Ministries of Excellence sought to expand beyond pre-kindergarten to kindergarten through 12th grade to continue academic excellence for higher grades. Educational Resource Consultants of Ohio, Inc. (ERCO) was the brainchild of these thoughts. ERCO was founded in February 2005. We are an educational consulting firm that specializes in authorizing community [charter] schools, and support school treasury and financial consulting... ERCO's first year of operation saw sponsorship of two community schools. Two years later, our exponential growth is over twelve times greater with a sponsorship of 25 community schools...
Charter advocates in Minnesota are worried enough about this development that they are considering an amendment to state law barring churches from sponsoring charters. I understand the queasiness but don't share the alarm. Under current law, what matters is that the schools are secular. There are plenty of school boards in the country dominated by religious individuals, but that doesn't mean the public schools they oversee are religious. Still, isn't it time for at least one state to experiment by embracing religious charter schools, and test the constitutionality and practicality of such an approach? I sure think so.
* This isn't the only issue that Fordham staff disagree about .
