Casimir Pulaski High School, 2500 W. Oklahoma Ave. (Photo by Jabril Faraj)
Sean Roberts, executive director of Milwaukee Charter School Advocates, takes exception to a recent Community Voices piece about the proposed partnership between Carmen and Pulaski high schools.
In his column on Oct. 26, Jamaal E. Smith writes, “The students of Pulaski High School should be exposed to the same education as the students at Carmen” in response to the proposed Pulaski-Carmen partnership that has been supported by MPS Superintendent Darienne Driver as well as Pulaski’s principal, Lolita Patrick. I couldn’t agree more, which is why I think it is important for our community to support and understand the facts behind the proposal.
Unfortunately, Mr. Smith included outright falsehoods in building his case for opposing the partnership. His assertion that “…charter schools are able to select the students they desire” is patently false. By state law, charter schools must enroll any student who wishes to attend, and must hold selection at random if more students enroll than there are seats.
A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to sit in on Carmen High School of Science and Technology’s lottery in which students were randomly drawn to begin 9th grade at the school out of hundreds who wished to enroll. Knowing the impact it has on families — those who get in and those who are on the wait list — has built grassroots community support for this partnership. Yes, the students of Pulaski should be exposed to the same quality education as students at Carmen, and that is why a partnership between the two schools—which would be open to anyone and serve the needs of all students—is precisely the sort of “win-win” scenario we should pursue.
It makes sense for the Carmen students who would benefit from Pulaski’s successful tech education programs. It makes sense for Pulaski students who could take advantage of Carmen’s successful Advanced Placement courses and rigorous college prep curriculum which led to 100 percent of the school’s 2014 class being accepted into a four-year college or university.
Additionally, the partnership makes sense for MPS as a whole, as the district actually sees substantial revenue from its partnership with the charter schools they authorize. Mr. Smith’s assertion that non-instrumentality MPS charters schools such as Carmen “drain money” from the system is, again, false. The fact is that the district receives around $10,000 in state aid for each student Carmen enrolls, but under the charter contract only pays Carmen $8,075. From the funds Carmen receives from MPS, the school also pays a lease and an administrative overhead fee to MPS.
Lastly, charter schools are public schools. Carmen’s students count as district students for the purposes of state aid, testing results, and the rules and regulations that govern other public schools in our state. Carmen is accountable to the Milwaukee Board of School Directors through its charter contract. It’s time to support the growth and successes of our public schools.
Prvately ran charter schools ARE NOT required to abide by that state law, that is why they are private! All charter schools are not public schools and that has been proven countless times. Your point would be accurate if it was a public charter school; however, Carmen is not! How can we discuss any form of partnership when the students from both schools will be separated from each other?? That breeds segregation, pure and simple! Let’s also discuss the fact that there are many parents of Pulaski who are not in support of this partnership. Until public school adovocates spoke against this partnership at a recent MPS meeting, the proposal was going to be presented as stone without asking the opinions of the community. This is a reason why the meeting was moved to a later date. Does that say collaboration community wide?? Not at all. Dr. Driver supports it?? What about the school board directors that don’t support it, such as Wendell Harris or Anne Woodward?? There are many points that both you and I could probably discuss, but fact is, we are not on the same page with this proposal. The schools being segregated is the biggest issue in my opinion!
Mr. Smith, you are simply wrong on the fact that charter schools are not public. For your readers, please be very carful on what you call public versus private. Private schools that receive public funding are called “voucher” schools or “choice” schools. Charters are a federally funded contract that only allows a certified authorizer (Milwaukee authorizers are: MPS, City of Milwaukee, UW-Milwaukee, or MATC). In order for a school to be chartered they must meet all of the federally mandated qualifications along with any that individual authorizer might include (secular programs, non-restrictive admission, non-profit).
Now, let’s look at Milwaukee. Milwaukee currently has three versions of charter schools, two of which are housed under the MPS authorizer meaning these students are still counted as students of MPS. First are the instrumentality charters, these schools are supposed to be given certain liberties like modifying their curriculum, a modified academic calendar, etc. The main difference is the employees of these schools are required to be MPS staff which for the most part means teachers that are a member of MTEA.
Non-instrumentality charters are given a few extra liberties, but their main difference is they report to two boards. The MPS school board of directors who authorize their charter and a “private school board” that runs the school. This means, NI MPS charters can be “at will” employers which means they are not required to hire MPS teachers or union members.
This brings us to our last category of charters in Milwaukee, the 2-R charters or “independent” charters. These schools are still counted at public schools under the federal charter agreement, but instead of being “paid” by MPS per student, they are paid directly from the state. 2-R charters can choose to employ MPS teachers or at will employees, but their students are no counted as MPS students,
Here in lies the “private” charter fallacy. Groups like “No Pulaski Takeover” and “Stop the Takeover of MPS” which are all run by MTEA members want the public to believe that charter schools are just like voucher schools. Private schools with no accountability and are not required by any laws to report their student test data. The TRUTH is charters are not private. The only time a charter “syphons money out of the district” is when they are a 2-R charter. That does not make them private, it just means they are outside of MPS, but still bound to strict charter guidelines dictated at the federal level and state level through the Department of Public Instruction.
If you are going to challenge the executive director a group that spends all its time supporting and working with charters, I’d expect you do do a little more digging and a little less propaganda plugging.
Sincerely,
An educated and concerned citizen
First, thank you for the side insult, I find it to be quite classy!! Notice in all of that, neither of you addressed the segregation part of my article in any way!! So I assume this is going to be acceptable practice. Second, the federal government has even written that there is a fine line between public and private when discussing charter schools. And, actually, MTEA wants there to be an overhaul of the charter school system and the voucher school program removed period. There have been countless meeting about the broken system that has taken over with the charter school selection and voucher schools, two systems that by and large, have not outperformed MPS. Also, I can quite aware of the charter school authorizes within the city of Milwaukee and I work hand in hand with public school advocates. It’s not about who has a great title, motives can be questioned at any point and I will if need be.
But thanks for the feedback, Mr. Educated and Concerned Citizen!!
Also, 2-R charters are not required to abide by the same regulations and public oversight as traditional public schools and through that charter contract you discussed, have been given full autonomy, and act as an independent entity, as you referenced. So, wouldn’t that appear to be a formality being recognized a public?? We can debate about the semantics of different charters and vouchers, yet the fact remains this school would be separated from Pulalski, which does not allow for the collaboration that’s being proposed.
Would just add here that anyone interested in researching the facts can find information here:
https://sms.dpi.wi.gov/charter-schools
“Charter schools are public, nonsectarian schools…” – Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
Or here:
http://legis.wisconsin.gov/lfb/publications/Informational-Papers/Documents/2013/28_Charter%20Schools.pdf
“A charter school cannot: (a) be a converted private sectarian school; or (b) charge tuition. A charter school must be nonsectarian in its programs, admission policies, employment practices and all other operations.” – Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau
Mr. Roberts, I would live to meet with you to have a conversation and see how we can both work to help build capacity for quality education. How can I get in touch with you??