On Tuesday, in its first-ever business meeting as a unified 23-member Shelby County Board of Education representing Memphis and suburban Shelby County, perhaps the biggest issue confronting the board will likely concern the approval of a record number of charter school applications. Jane Roberts today delves into the practical challenges the issue of charter-school approval creates for the board, and lays out why it is unlikely a moratorium would be granted, as suggested by MCS representative Jeff Warren in last week's board work session.
Rev. Anthony Anderson, head of the Memphis Business Academy charter school, agrees with Warren. "It makes sense from a business perspective," he said. "The unified board is trying to maintain and understand what they have instead of adding new programs. "A charter school is definitely going to a 'new program.'"The story goes into some fascinating numbers from studies by Stanford University on whether charter schools are more or less effective at improving educational outcomes when compared to traditional public schools. It's important to remember that charter schools are public schools. Jane always provides an easily understandable paragraph explaining this:
Board member David Pickler says Warren's idea is "intriguing" but doubts it is practical.
"The problem is the law is determined by the legislators and they don't come back into session until late January," he said. "We have a 60-day window upon which we must act on the application or they are deemed to be approved."
Charter operators have latitude to set their own hours and school calendar and hire whomever they want, although teachers must be state-certified. Tax dollars for education follow the student to the charter school.
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