Lee Scholars Charter School Moves Forward

I have "School Board 101" tomorrow and Friday, so if I were smart, I'd probably wait to write this after being trained in how to avoid saying something stupid.  But that's never quite been my style, so here goes.  As always, note that I speak here for myself only, not the CHCCS board in this.

A bit of history: On Sept 1, 2011 the state Board of Education approved a process for charter schools to open in NC in August, 2012 on a fast track basis.  27 schools applied by Nov 10th, including The Howard and Lillian Lee Scholars Charter School.   The application indicates that National Heritage Academies (NHA) was selected as the Charter Management Organization to run the school day to day.  NHA is a for-profit company based in Michigan.  The Lee Scholars application listed 3 reasons for the school to be approved:  1) close achievement gaps, 2) prepare students for a rigorous high school and college preparatory program, and 3) alleviate overcrowding in elementary schools. 

The CHCCS board asked Dr Forcella to write an impact statement on Dec 1st.  He noted a couple of errors in the application (incorrect achievement #s in the 1st point, no mention of Elementary #11 coming in the 3rd).  He also noted the impact a school with high percentage of African-American students would have on the racial makeup of our district (which has already seen significant decrease in African-American students over the past decade).

In mid-December, 11 of the 27 applications were approved to move on to interviews with the Charter School Advisory Committee, including Lee Scholars.  They had their interview on Jan 10th.  My notes from the interview indicate the most concerning items were questions on whether NHA will achieve better results than traditional public schools, the financial model where NHA receives almost all the funding regardless of what it costs to run the school, and whether August, 2012 is feasible to open a new school building in Chapel Hill/Carrboro.  It was noted that a strong board is needed to ensure money is spent correctly and great student achievement happens.  Howard Lee's involvement was viewed as ensuring that will continue.  With three recused advisory committee members (based on NHA connections or NHA competitors), the Lee Scholars application was one of 4 schools approved to move forward to the SBOE.

The SBOE will meet on Feb 1st and 2nd to vote on this.  This is the final approval step for fast track charter applications.  If Lee Scholars is approved on Feb 1st/2nd, they will immediately begin work on building a school, hiring teachers, and recruiting students to open in August, 2012.  The board indicated they have 3 sites in Chapel Hill/Carrboro area in mind that will work to build a new school building by August.

I have a couple of objections to this charter school.   1) I do not believe corporations should be making a profit on educating our children.  The incentive systems are simply not in place to be able to trust that student needs are put first. 

Here's a comparison of what a 480-student elementary school would look like in the Lee Scholars proposal and CHCCS:

Also note that they project an average teacher salary of about $38k.  The state average is $41k and CHCCS pays a 12-25% local supplement on top of that (based on years of service).  

It should be noted that while charter schools get the same funding for operational expenses as district schools do,  they need to provide their own capital funds.  So Lee Scholars' budget does not call out a line for rent or building expenses, but NHA will own the building and a portion of the profit they get from running the school will essentially be used to recoup their capital expense they are fronting Lee Scholars.  Charter schools in NC operate at a disadvantage in this regard, although the #s above (for same operational funding) seem excessive to me.

 2) I don't see anything in NHA's track record or proposal to use test-driven teaching that gives me confidence they will run a school with great instruction.  This is such a contrast to the KIPP school we visited last week (I need to write up my impressions of that as well soon), where there was great, deep thinking-generating instruction going on in almost every class.  I know KIPP does its share of test prep as the year nears completion, but NHA goes out of their way to tout how test-driven they are.

3) It is notable to me that there is no mention in employment or student admission or harassment criteria of non-discrimination based on sexual orientation.  While that's certainly legal in NC, it seems seriously out of touch with Chapel Hill/Carrboro.

I've been asked what people might do.  While I don't know that there is a formal process for public input, the next step in the approval process is the SBE Februrary 1st.  The only email address I quickly see is for the board chair, Bill Harrison: harrison-feedback@dpi.state.nc.us

I should note that if approved, I hope this school succeeds.  These students will still be our Chapel Hill and Carrboro kids and we all need them to be well educated and successful in life.  I also appreciate (and said this at my 2nd board meeting) that this discussion is useful in pointing out where CHCCS is failing a significant portion of our African-American and other subgroups today.  There would not be demand for this school if we were meeting all the needs on a consistent basis.  I believe Dr. Forcella is committed to improving instruction in our district schools in a way that will lead to greater achievement for everyone.  His focus on improving culture in the school building isn't an easy answer, but I believe it will deliver the results we expect.  Everyone who is interested in his vision for our schools should attend his "Greenhouse Project" on March 24th to hear and provide input on his plans.