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For the next couple of months in this column, I am going to focus on dispelling some of the myths about charter schools. Although charter schools have been in existence in many states for many years, and in New Mexico since 1999, they remain somewhat of a mystery to many people. There are a number of misconceptions about charter schools that have been perpetuated by supporters of the educational status quo, and I hope that I can correct some of that misinformation in the next few columns.
What are some of the prevailing myths about charter schools? The most common misconceptions include: charter schools hurt the graduation rate of the local district; charter schools are private schools; charter schools “cherry pick” their students; charter schools receive more funding than traditional schools; charter schools don’t serve special needs students; charter schools are not accountable for academic performance and charter schools operate without any oversight.
I am going to start with the myth that charter schools hurt the graduation rate of the local school district. The truth is that the graduation rate is actually a “shared responsibility” between the local district and the charter school. What this means is that the local district actually benefits from a student that leaves the local district during their high school years and goes to a charter school and graduates.
Let’s say a high school student leaves a local traditional high school at the end of their 10th-grade year. Instead of dropping out (which would hurt both the local district’s graduation and dropout rate), the student goes to a charter school and graduates. The local district gets credit for the time-frame in which the student was enrolled.
Thus, the local district is benefiting from a charter school’s ability to help students who leave the local district school system who may have otherwise dropped out if not given the option of charter schools as an avenue to success.
Therefore, charter schools do not hurt a local school district’s dropout rate. Charter schools provide a viable option for students who feel their needs are not being met at the local district.
Another myth I would like to dispel this month is the myth that charter schools are private schools. That is absolutely not correct. Charter schools are public schools, and just like any other public school, there is no tuition and they are free for any student who wants to attend. Charter schools are a public school option, but they are free to be more innovative and are held accountable for improved student achievement.
The myth that charter schools “cherry-pick” their students is another huge misconception about charter schools. I have even heard that charter schools are “elitist” and “discriminatory” in determining who gets to attend.
New Mexico law states that charter schools must provide open enrollment to any student in the state. The New Mexico law further provides that charters may either enroll students on a first-come, first-served basis or through a lottery selection process if the total number of applicants exceeds the number of spaces available.
Please keep in mind that when a charter school is approved, it is limited by its charter to the number of students that can attend. If more students want to attend that school than what is allowed by the charter, then the school must hold a lottery.
New Mexico law also goes on to state that charter schools must give enrollment preference to students who have been admitted to the charter school through an appropriate admission process and remain in attendance through subsequent grades and to siblings of students already admitted to or attending the same charter school.
Bruce Hegwer, executive director of the New Mexico Coalition for Charter Schools, writes a monthly column for the Journal.
