The 2009 Virginia General Assembly session provides lawmakers with a fresh opportunity to create laws that will chart a brighter course for the commonwealth.
As Virginia lawmakers ponder how best to strengthen its economy, continual improvement of the existing public school system must remain a top priority.
Equally important is an expansion of parental options through public charter schools and private schools for Virginia families and children. In the recent 2008 presidential election, then-presidential candidate Barack Obama acknowledged his support for public charter schools. Why? Because he believes accountability in the public school sector works. And this month President Obama acknowledged his support for private school options by enrolling his two daughters in an elite Washington, D.C. school. Why? Because he and Michelle Obama want the best education for their children -- as do millions of Virginia families.
Results from a 2,200-person telephone survey conducted in Petersburg, Richmond, and Norfolk by the Virginia-based Thomas Jefferson Institute and the Washington, D.C.-based Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO) demonstrate that black families in Virginia also support parental options for their children -- both in the public and private school sector.
For example, 76 percent of respondents indicated that they support school choice. When asked to identify a preference for the type of option they prefer, 89 percent support publicly funded scholarships for students with disabilities, 70 percent support public charter schools, 68 percent support personal income tax credits, and 65 percent support business income tax credits.
None of these represents entirely new ideas. In fact, each parental-choice option is operating in several states. For private-school based options, lawmakers have enacted scholarship tax credit programs in Iowa, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. Arizona, Utah, Ohio, Georgia, and Florida offer special needs scholarships. These programs educated more than 100,000 students in 2007-08.
EVEN MORE dramatically, nearly 1.2 million students attend public charter schools in 40 states and the District of Columbia. Given the interest expressed by black parents in three major Virginia cities, most of whom voted for President Obama, shouldn't lawmakers give some consideration to public and private school options?
On the public charter school front in Virginia, one important improvement would be creation of a public charter school authorizing agency in addition to the local school board. This will help enrich the public school options in Virginia. At least 26 states allow for multiple authorizers, including Southern states such as Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina. Not only do these additional authorizers add to the options, they add expertise in the understanding of how charter schools operate -- recognizing the difference between a quality charter and a charter that is likely to struggle.
In our nation's capital, for example, a recent report showed that of the top 10 middle schools in math proficiency, seven were public charter schools. And of those seven charters, five were chartered by the D.C. Charter School Board, which is a separate entity designed specifically to review charter applications. No wonder that when residents are asked about the benefit of multiple authorizers, they like it!
ONE NEW option for Virginia, given the plethora of universities and colleges in the commonwealth, might be including them among public charter school authorizers. Many charters in the country are authorized or operated by colleges, such as historically black colleges and universities like Howard University and the Atlanta University Center.
If, after all, we are willing to trust colleges with the education of our higher education students, why should we not trust them to understand what it takes to prepare students for college?
Nor, in these tough financial times, would the choice option be a drain on the state's finances. Public charter schools are just that -- public schools. They do not charge tuition, they do not "cream the best students" (they use a lottery system), and they do not receive more public funds than traditional public schools. Contrary to popular belief, public charter schools enroll a higher percentage of minority and low-income students than traditional public schools, and parental satisfaction is high. Charter school students also sit for the same state examinations as their peers. For all these reasons, support for charter schools will grow in 2009.
Therefore, as the Virginia General Assembly prepares to carry out the will of the people, please know that parents and taxpayers of the commonwealth have a voice for choice.
Gerard Robinson is the president of the Black Alliance for Education Options. Contact him at (202) 429-2236 or [email protected].
Source: RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH, Opinion Section, Jan. 29, 2009.