MIAMI, March 26 (UPI) -- Charter schools are certainly here to stay, but that doesn't means there aren't any failures or any telling criticism.
The use of charter schools is growing even as some schools are folding.
Washington Gov. Gary Locke signed a bill last week allowing charter schools in that state for the first time, and opponents of charter schools in Massachusetts are having trouble passing a moratorium on the new schools.
The Bush administration is solidly behind charter schools, though not solidly enough according to some.
The Department of Education announced Tuesday the award of $37.3 million in grants for charter school facilities in at least 13 states.
"This program complements our efforts under No Child Left Behind to give parents more options for enhancing their child's education through school choice," Education Secretary Rod Paige said. "And it helps ensure that charter schools are located in facilities that are conducive to teaching and learning."
Yet in Philadelphia, school officials rejected 11 of the 14 applications submitted to open new charters in September.
Some schools in Florida are in danger of losing their charter because of poor performances on statewide tests.
"I'm in favor of good charter schools and, in the case of low-performing charter schools, the state has offered a considerable amount of assistance," said state education Chancellor Jim Warford.
"However, should these schools continue to fail, we would urge the local school boards to carefully review the charter (school's) contract," he said.
At least one charter school in New York's Harlem is in danger of shutting down because of poor performance.
That's not the problem with one of Atlanta's most innovative schools, Fulton County Charter High School of Mathematics and Science.
It has performed better than many public high schools, but it had to tell parents it might not have enough money to pay the rent as soon as May, forcing it to shut down.
Anna Weselak, president-elect of the National PTA, said those kinds of problems are due in large part to inadequate funding of education -- both for traditional public schools and charter schools.
"I think there are a lot of problems with schools because of the funding situation," she said. "They are asking schools to do more without fulfilling funding requirements."
"Everybody's having trouble. The PTA's position has been that schools should be funded adequately to make them effective," she said.
Many credit the late Albert Shanker, head of the American Federation of Teachers, with developing the concept of charters, but the union has cooled on the issue over the years.
The AFT's Celia Lose said charter schools have "veered away" from the original concept of providing more innovation and experimentation that "public schools can't traditionally do."
"We have seen more and more for-profit companies come into the arena," the spokeswoman said. "A number of studies have been done detailing educational and management problems.
"There certainly are some charter schools that are successful and true to the concept of innovation and meeting needs that haven't been met," she said. "Unfortunately, with expansion, that is the exception rather than the rule."
The first charter school was established in Minnesota in 1992, and the movement has grown to 3,000 schools in 36 states. Washington, Iowa, New Hampshire and Tennessee have charter laws but no schools yet.
Charter schools enroll 500,000 children, or less than 2 percent of the public school population.
The original notion was for charter schools to start with a group of teachers and sometimes parents developing a plan for a school, who would then apply for a charter from the local school board.
Charter schools could have a specific academic focus such as math and science or the arts. Or they could employ specific teaching techniques or target a specific group of students, such as those who are at risk.
The AFT says studies of charter schools in Texas and Arizona show that there has been no evidence of improved student performance among charter school students.
Another problem voiced by the PTA involves diversity and inclusiveness.
Research indicates that charter school student populations are often more alike in socioeconomic status and race. They enroll fewer students with limited English proficiency and enroll fewer students with disabilities than traditional public schools in the same district.
The published position of the PTA is that it "supports the creation of charter schools based on a set of principles that are designed to keep the integrity of public schools intact."
"The PTA looks at charter schools as part of school reform, but you have to make sure to keep the integrity of public schools intact," Weselak said.
She said charter schools shouldn't divert money from public schools and they "need to be accountable to local school boards to measure their level of effectiveness."
She said they should have a certified staff and parental involvement.
It all adds up to a work in progress, but the charter schools, as they develop, will be around a long time.
