Charter schools are a hot topic in Virginia, especially after Gov. Bob McDonnell signed legislation designed to make it easier to open the schools. But that doesn't mean Virginians are any closer to reaching consensus about the schools, which receive public funding.
At a panel discussion Thursday night at Virginia Commonwealth University, several of the 40 attendees said that talking about charter schools is distracting from a bigger issue: how to improve all public schools. Richmond School Board member Maurice A. Henderson said "charter schools don't automatically equal good schools."
During the two-hour discussion, panel members laid out criticisms of and concerns about charter schools. They could lead to segregated schools, they move dollars and students away from public schools, and they are ripe for abuse by for-profit companies, panel members said. Some expressed concerns that the lottery system under which children are selected could make kids feel excluded.
Supporters suggested that, by cutting red tape, charter schools offer a chance for teachers to be more experimental and to focus on reaching high academic standards, rather than on procedural hoops. Charter schools also provide parents an educational choice that many want in the public school system, proponents said.
Antione Green, a board member for Richmond's recently opened Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts, said his school has kept families in the city that would have otherwise moved out to the suburbs. "With this additional choice, we've encouraged them to stay here," he said.
State Sen. Henry L. Marsh III, D-Richmond, said that while he does not oppose charter schools, he wants to make sure that the state proceeds "very carefully and cautiously with this new experiment."
"I want to make sure nothing harms our public schools," he said.
The Virginia Board of Education is considering a more rigorous vetting process for the schools, which go to local school boards for approval.
Lamont Bagby, a Henrico County School Board member, said he is open to all ideas for improving public education, but "we have to make sure we put the resources where they are needed," pointing to extended days, pre-kindergarten and career and technical education.
But Sheila Bynum, a board member for the Richmond Education Foundation, which is proposing a charter school in the city, said the suggestion by some panelists that the "best practices" utilized by charter schools should be used in all schools was disingenuous, because that's not currently happening.
"There's obviously a disconnect somehow, and to say there is not a need for educational reform is somewhat unsettling," she said.
kgreen@timesdispatch.com
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