Charter school deadline nears

The deadline is approaching for potential new charter schools looking to fast-track their applications, now that North Carolina has repealed its charter cap.

No one has applied yet, but that's fairly typical of the process behind charter approvals, administrators at the state's Office of Charter Schools said. They expect applications to come in right at the deadline: Nov. 10 at noon.

"We don't know whether we're going to have three, four, five or 50 of them," said Dottie Heath, a state consultant who works with charters in the western part of the state.

There appear to be a few Winston-Salem area groups considering new charters, but not necessarily during this round of applications. The fast-track schools must open their doors in the fall of 2012.

For schools looking to open in 2013, the application deadline is in April.

Charter schools differ from traditional public schools in several ways, but they are public schools. They get per-student funding from the state, but they're on their own when it comes to paying for a place to hold classes.

"There are charter schools that start with board members mortgaging their homes," said Heath, who was principal at one of Winston-Salem's five charter schools, Forsyth Academy, before she joined the state's Office of Charter Schools.

There may soon be federal money for charter school buildings, though, Heath said. The Republican-dominated legislature repealed the state's 100-school cap on charter schools earlier this year. The cap had disqualified North Carolina charters from federal start-up grants, Heath said. With the cap eliminated, the state plans to apply for that money next year, she said.

Charter schools are similar to public schools in some ways, and different in others:

Curriculum

Charters don't have to teach the state's standard course of study as traditional schools have to do, but their students do have to take the same state-mandated tests, Heath said. The curriculum flexibility allows charters to be "schools of innovation," essentially functioning as pilot programs and developing ideas other schools can copy, Heath said. If charter schools don't hit various accountability thresholds, the state can pull their charter and shut them down.

Teachers

Charter school teachers don't all have to be certified, like at traditional public schools. At the elementary level, 75 percent of teachers must have their teaching certificate, and at the middle and high school levels, the requirement is 50 percent, Heath said.

All charter teachers must be "highly qualified," a designation that essentially means they're educated in the subject they teach. That means someone with the proper degree in chemistry could teach chemistry without a teaching certificate, but they couldn't teach biology, Heath said.

Lunch

Charters don't have to feed students, as traditional schools must. They can offer lunch, though, and can get federal funding for free and reduced-price lunches if they do, Heath said.

Transportation

Charters don't have to provide bus pickup, but they must have a transportation plan. These plans are a big factor when the state considers new charters, Heath said. They can rely on organized car pooling, but the state is not likely to look favorably on plans that simply call for parents to bring their children to school, Heath said.

The charter application asks schools to "describe in detail the transportation plan that will ensure that no child is denied access to the school due to lack of transportation."

Tuition

Charter schools can't charge tuition. They can charge students the same fees local public schools charge.

Students

Many traditional public school proponents fear charters will skim off the best, and most easily educated, students, leaving traditional schools with higher concentrations of poor or disabled children.

But state law mandates that charters not discriminate against students based on "intellectual ability … disability, race, creed, gender, national origin, religion or ancestry."

The schools must enroll students who apply, and if there aren't enough seats for all applicants, the school must hold a lottery.

It can give preference to teachers' children and siblings of students already enrolled and, in its first year, to the children of the school's board of directors.

Other than that, the lottery must be fair to all applicants, the law states.

Focusing on curriculum or population

There are many types of charters. Some focus on a particular curriculum, such as the Arts Based Elementary School in downtown Winston-Salem, which infuses the arts into every subject. Others focus on a particular population.

That's the type of school Yolanda James envisions on the east side of Winston-Salem, though she doesn't plan to apply for a charter until next year. James, a teacher with experience in the state's pre-K programs, said she wants to open the "Jump Start Educational Institute for Girls" as an all-girls charter school for at-risk children.

"That's going to be my focus," James said. "Promoting self-esteem and educating young girls."

James said she's hoping for funding help from Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina, which pairs minority-targeted charter schools with advice and funding. The group was founded because minority communities liked the flexibility of charter schools, but too many of them were getting shut down by the state because of financial problems and poor organization, President Darrell Allison said.

Allison said his group helps identify minority leaders to work with schools, and that it has taken 100 applications for funding help in North Carolina. Some of those may win funding from Partners for Developing Futures, a "national social venture fund" Parents for Educational Freedom has partnered with, Allison said.

Partners for Developing Futures has put millions into charter schools around the country, Allison said. The group is a nonprofit, and many charters are organized as nonprofits.

Some charters work closely with for-profit companies, though, paying them to provide a curriculum and, in some cases, a building.

Forsyth Academy is an example. It's part of National Heritage Academies, which is a for-profit company that manages 71 schools, including five in North Carolina.

These management contracts are a fairly common arrangement, Heath said. Companies generally charge schools a percentage of the per-pupil money schools get from the state.

In return, the company often provides its schools with a curriculum, various record-keeping services and, in some cases, a building, Heath said.

"They would tell you they are able to make money because they represent a lot of schools and, therefore, can produce curriculum materials, staff development and these other services at a reduced cost," Heath said.