January 17, 2012
Why Democrats Support Charter Schools
By Lisa Macfarlane, DFER Washington State Director
Trying to have a conversation with Washington State Democrats about allowing the development of charter schools is like trying to talk to Republicans about implementing an income tax. Their minds are closed and they don't want to be confused with facts. (Washington Voters have repeatedly turned down charter school and income tax proposals.) But, fortunately, thanks to leadership from Representative Pettigrew (D-Seattle, 37th District), Senator Rodney Tom (D-Bellevue, 48th District) and others, our legislators will be revisiting the issue of public charter schools this session.
The news of an upcoming legislative charter school debate has sparked charter hater ideologues to hit the blogosphere, posting things like "Why Democrats Oppose Charter Schools" and "A lesson by a Seattle teacher on charter schools."
New flash to the haters: There are many Democrats who support charter schools. Our country's top Democrat, Barack Obama, the man we all fought to elect, is a big charter school fan. He believes in the ability of successful charter schools to help some of our most educationally disadvantaged kids.
Charter schools are not a silver bullet. Not all charter schools are great, just like not all traditional public schools are great. Over 40 states now have charter schools and a number of lessons have been learned from the last 20 years. High quality charter schools like KIPP have figured out how to close achievement gaps and they are successfully replicating themselves across the country to achieve greater gains in student achievement for at-risk student populations.
Local Democrats should examine the reasons why the National Democratic Party platform, the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and many good Democrats support high quality public charter schools.
Here are a few good reasons:
• High quality public charter schools are successfully closing achievement gaps.
• High quality public charter schools can give underserved parents a choice and voice in their education.
• High quality public charter schools can act as laboratories of reform, identifying successful practices that can be replicated by traditional public schools.
• High quality public charter schools offer teachers autonomy not typically found in traditional public schools.
What great charter schools have in common is a relentless focus on high student achievement for a group of kids that the traditional system has failed, and their results are making urban educators and policy makers take notice.
Last fall, the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) legislative assembly voted to support charter school legislation, because of their potential to close pernicious achievement gaps.
These inconvenient truths are causing parent and community leaders to reconsider their views about charter schools:
• By 2018, 67% of our jobs will require a college degree or credential, but Washington's high school graduation rates hover in the bottom third nationally.
• Only 31% of 2004 Washington high school graduates had graduated from either a two or four year college by 2010.
• The picture is far bleaker for Washington's students of color. Only 16.2% of African Americans, 15.5% of Hispanics, and 10.7% of Native Americans are getting either a two or four year college degree.
Given the moral and economic imperative to do a better job educating our low- income and minority kids, PTA leaders seriously evaluated the research on what high quality public charter schools are doing to close achievement gaps and how they have served our students in greatest need. Will our Democratic leaders have the courage to do the same?
Lisa Macfarlane used to be a charter opponent; she managed the phone bank in the 1996 NO charter school campaign. She is the Washington State Director for Democrats for Education Reform, a co-founder of the League of Education Voters, a past President of Schools First (Seattle's levy and bond committee), the sponsor of two statewide education funding initiatives, and a PCO in the 46thDistrict. Read more about Lisa here.