Published Thursday, July 02, 2009

Schools: CEC set standard for charter petitions

The Newnan Times-Herald

One reason for the Coweta County Board of Education's decision to deny Charter Schools USA's plan to establish a charter school in Senoia was because, according to Superintendent Blake Bass and the school board, the application just didn't measure up to the standards established by another local charter school -- the Central Educational Center.

"The Coweta County School System has approved three charter petitions presented by the Central Educational Center during the past 10 years," said Bass and school board members in a prepared statement.

"These petitions have become the model for charter academy petitions across Georgia and have been promoted as a clear leading-edge model across the nation by various education groups," including the Academy for Educational Development (AED), the International Center for Leadership in Education (ICLE), the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), and others.

"The analysis and development of CEC's charter was part of a three-year process," said Bass and the school board. "That process itself was designed from best practices used in business and industry, and was akin to the process used to revamp education in the Republic of Korea."

He said the "CEC process" is being taught across Georgia, in other states and even in other nations as part of the USAID-AED efforts to assist the U.S. government.

"The State Department of Education asked CEC to teach that process to other Georgia communities and awarded the Coweta County School System the largest charter dissemination grant in state history to support that effort," said Bass.

"As compared to the CEC petitions, which were driven by a process that forced clear agreements to proceed the charter's filing, we find the Charter Schools USA petition to be speculative and open-ended," he said.

"The lack of clear memorandums of understanding and the lack of specificity as related to special education services, staffing, and transportation ... are of particular concern," he said.

The fact that there was only one special education teacher budgeted was an immediate red flag, he explained.

Charter Schools USA officials have said they will serve special ed students, but they admit "they do not know the demographics of the students they plan to serve relative to those with special education needs," said Bass.

"The Coweta County School System has serious doubts that, as budgeted, the charter petitioner is adequately prepared to provide the special education services it will likely encounter," Bass and the school board said. "Serving all special education students is non-negotiable."

Partnerships and negotiations with the Coweta County School System and other educational institutions, including the Central Educational Center, are "mentioned frequently throughout the petition but have not occurred at this time," said Bass and the school board.

But the success of the proposed academy would "rely heavily on the establishment" of such currently non-existent agreements, Bass said.

He said that's a "critical component" to have essentially in limbo.

"Approval of a petition... lacking any detail in place is contradictory to responsible business practices," he said.

Senoia Councilman Jeff Fisher, a proponent of the school, said that it only makes sense that there are still certain details that would have to be ironed out, since it's still early in the process.

"The theme has not even been decided yet," said Fisher. "They would have to come back and decide what the community needs. It could be an underlying theme of special education, or the arts, or maybe a technical school. Some things just haven't been determined just yet, because they have yet to get that far."

He said everyone he has spoken to in Senoia is "extremely in favor" of the project.

"That's not just the city, but everybody," he said. "Everyone wants to be a part of this new school.

"It seems like these charter schools are supposed to offer more innovation and less bureaucracy," said Fisher. "I wish our public school system would take a note from that."

Charter Schools USA announced this week that it will indeed appeal to the state for the establishment of the school, in spite of the thumbs-down from the Coweta school board.

Fisher said he believes the state will give the school petition the nod.

"I believe the state views charter schools as a significant benefit," he said. "I would think it would be approved at the state level. But that's strictly my opinion."