New Hampshire not selected for federal charter school grant

This artwork by Jennifer Kohnke relates to school funding issues.

But that’s not enough funding to support the kind of brick-and-mortar growth the charter sector has seen, said Michael McShane, the director of education policy for the Show-Me Institute in St. Louis.

“Those who need access to education the most are being severely impacted by this”, she said.

A little more than $6,600 of state funding follows a student, which means if 100 students from Fort Smith go to the charter school, the Fort Smith School District would lose more than $660,000. The state “circumvented the protection provided by the hold-harmless provisions” for charter schools in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, she said.

Several charter schools expressed concerns their Title I awards fell well below levels allowed by federal statute – no school is supposed to receive less than 85 percent of the previous year’s allocation. This is a democratic process that does not “steamroll the will of the people”, as Ms. Lecker would have you believe. A few board members expressed their desire that the Guild School founders use the district’s existing framework for testing new educational opportunities.

But now, as new private-school-choice programs continue to emerge-most prominently in Nevada, where all public school students are eligible to participate-some advocates are pushing the private-school-choice movement to look to its charter brethren for strategies on how to recruit talent, fund new schools, and ultimately, survive. “We’re taking the public schools’ lunch money, but we’re not feeding the kids”. They claimed they reviewed the charter laws in more than 40 other states and that Initiative 1240 reflected the best language from each. It’s impossible to discuss the charter school ruling without viewing it in the context of the Supreme Court’s 2012 McCleary decision, which ruled the state is violating the constitution by not amply funding basic education.

But the federal government has not tracked how its dollars have been used by charter schools, nor has it studied their academic performance. “We will appeal, of course, because we still think we have something that could work”. Every district across the nation is required to pay for special education costs.

Schools like Broome Street, which gives preference to students who are homeless or in foster care, also help the charter sector combat the perception that it doesn’t serve its fair share of the highest-needs students.

Spokesman Daniel Altman says the agency will ensure the schools receive the money they’re entitled to. However, under a law passed by the Legislature and signed by Governor Cuomo last spring, charters are poised to change the annual lottery process to set aside a significant number of seats for children of their employees, including employees of charter management organizations. It does draw public funds for each student attending the charter school. The same in the afternoon.

Back in August, the Fort Smith School District Superintendent Benny Gooden asked the school board to decide if the district will oppose the charter school.

“This bill isn’t about whether you like charter schools or not”.