Charter schools bully another district
At a Commonwealth Club presentation on charter schools that I attended a few months ago, Caprice Young — head of the California Charter Schools Association — basically squirmed and stammered when asked if a school district can ever have a productive relationship with a charter that is forced on the district against its will. All I can say is, duh.
The Mercury News story:
continue reading...Charter group planning to appeal
PARENTAL MANDATE AT ISSUE IN MORELAND
By Luis Zaragoza
Mercury NewsA group seeking to establish a K-8 charter school in west San Jose is vowing to appeal the Moreland School District's rejection of its application due to a distinguishing aspect of the proposed campus: mandatory parent participation.
Charter proponents say it's a must. The district contends it's unlawful.The mandate amounts to forcing parents to pay tuition, the district says, and public schools, including charters, are not allowed to charge for enrollment.
Charter proponents believe requiring parents to take part in classroom activities such as teaching for a specific amount of time — and not just babysitting or dropping in occasionally &mdash is crucial to the school's success. They disagree with the district's characterization of parent labor as tuition and plan to appeal to the Santa Clara County Office of Education within two weeks, said Barbara Eagles, a lead proponent of the proposed Discovery Charter School.
"We knew it would be a hot-button issue," Eagles said. "But we know of lots of charter schools that require parent participation."
Parent participation levels in charter schools vary greatly, according to studies, with some schools issuing "contracts" in which parents pledge to attend certain school events and put in volunteer time on campus. In the Paradise Unified School District in the Sierra Nevada foothills near Chico, the 200-student Children's Community Charter School wrote mandatory parent participation into its charter when it formed nine years ago. How the Discovery proposal compares could be hashed out on appeal.
In a report from Superintendent Les Adelson submitted before last week's vote, trustees were urged to reject the application on the basis of several points. The district contends, for instance, that the charter school's proposed student discipline rules are flawed, and that the group claims rights to classroom space that are not granted by state law. The district also expressed concerns about the ethnic makeup of the school's projected enrollment of 350, saying it would be overwhelmingly white when it ought to reflect the district's diversity. Moreland's approximately 4,300 students are about 44 percent white, 24 percent Latino, 24 percent Asian, and 4 percent African American.
Eagles said the group first learned of the district's objections the day before trustees were scheduled to vote. Eagles said the group has attempted on several occasions to establish communication with the district to discuss possible conflicts, but never heard back. Many of the objections listed in the report could have been addressed quickly in advance of the vote, Eagles said.
Messages left with the district Monday were not returned.
Eagle said the group is meeting today with its lawyers. If the county office rejects the application, the group could appeal to the state board.
The group approached Moreland because it is located in an area of West San Jose in which a number of parents are interested in a charter school that could offer more personalized instruction utilizing parent participation.
The charter group's Web site, www.gotcharter.org, has links to the district's report and the charter group's response.
Contact Luis Zaragoza at lzaragoza@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5803.
Bullying and threatening this school district hurts kids.
7 Comments:
Moreland's big problem with this
charter is rooted in vengeance.
What was not said is that most of
the sponsers of this charter school
have not 'cooled' off since the closing of the Discovery School which was a special school in the
Moreland District . Either way -
when ever charters are pushed as alternative schools to public schools ,budget practice becomes vary secretive from the public and
often charters do close within one year after opening. The only path for the Moreland District is talk to the angry group take the charter as part of their district and control the charter as part of the Moreland District , not run it on a 'declartion of independence'from the district. The fact that this charter group is
jumping ahead to separate for the district makes me vary suspect as to their real motives.
Well............
Just hold your breath on this one.
By February 1st they ( the school district will know ) it went before
the county board of education . It had strong support and weak opposition.
Charter passed County Board February 1st . Now Charter plans to open in the Fall as usual the
School District lacks space to
house the charter . It is now forced to close two schools and
give layoff notices to Teachers and staff March 15th . Can any one please give any legal advice?
The discussion of school closures is not new in the Moreland school district. Due to the district's poor financial situation, the schools would have closed regardless of the charter school. The district could have avoided the charter school altogether just by addressing the concerns of these parents. I think the district is just poorly managed. Instead of taking blame for its dire situation, it conveniently blames the charter school for all its problems.
Let's share the blame :
District 50% and Charter 50 %
Here is an update to the Moreland Discovery charter.
Local gossip has that the teachers who work at the Discovery charter are not happy with 'parents' telling them what to teach- yea we all thought that parent involment has to do with helping the 'teachers' , but here it's the opposite.
Another odd thing is that some of the parents have put themselves on 'payroll' with public funds - wow! ,
another note some of the 'parents' there are hoping to expand their school like the Harker Academy's we are so used to see . Last Year the Santa Clara office of Education approved of various other 'charter' schools without giving a 'grace period' to see 'or justified need' , yet the county follows blindly the state department of Education which needs to be 'chnaged' in regards to charter schools , passing the buck these days is that charters are viewed as an 'alternative' to public education ,however the 'we' should take that cautiously as the new year unfolds .................
Here is an update to the Moreland Discovery charter.
Local gossip has that the teachers who work at the Discovery charter are not happy with 'parents' telling them what to teach- yea we all thought that parent involment has to do with helping the 'teachers' , but here it's the opposite.
Another odd thing is that some of the parents have put themselves on 'payroll' with public funds - wow! ,
another note some of the 'parents' there are hoping to expand their school like the Harker Academy's we are so used to see . Last Year the Santa Clara office of Education approved of various other 'charter' schools without giving a 'grace period' to see 'or justified need' , yet the county follows blindly the state department of Education which needs to be 'chnaged' in regards to charter schools , passing the buck these days is that charters are viewed as an 'alternative' to public education ,however the 'we' should take that cautiously as the new year unfolds .................
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