Monday, May 14, 2012

Charter: It's the Law

From the P&C:

Gov. Nikki Haley signed a charter school bill Monday that advocates say will strengthen the state’s 47 public charter schools.
 The bill enables higher education institutions to authorize charter schools, permits single-gender charter schools to operate and allows charter school students to participate in extracurricular activities at their neighborhood schools.

ll focuses on expanding high impact public school options for students across South Carolina,” said Mary Carmichael, executive director of the Public Charter School Alliance of South Carolina, in a statement.

South Carolina has outpaced national growth in the number of charter school students served during the past 5 years. Nearly 18,000 students statewide attend charter schools.
Eight new schools will open this year, 13 have been submitted for 2013-14, and more than 30 planning groups are working on applications.
Charter schools are public schools, but they aren’t governed by the county school board. They instead have separate boards to make decisions about the way they spend money and the curriculum they offer.

5 comments:

NChas parent said...

Freedom of Information is the law, too. School district's are the most notorius violators of that law. Who will check to see if school districts are following this new law or any other for that matter? I hope parents and charter schools will have the courage and strength to hold this district accountable for its "dog in a manger" reputation when it comes to charter schools.

Babbie said...

Amen!

It's Just OPM said...

This is off topic, but it does relate to the way CCSD does business behind closed doors. The latest rumor is Board Chairman Chris Fraser wants to hold a special "via telephone" board meeting on Thursday so they can get approval for another raid on the CCSD general fund. It might be "open to the public" but, really, how public is a "via telephone" board meeting?

Henry Copeland said...

Well the school board is doing just that. It's the annual vote to use public funds to provide individual stipends for summer trips enjoyed by a handful of students enrolled in special programs. The real question should be what happened to the endowments behind those funds? Why is it necessary for the board to hold a special meeting just 3 days after a regular meeting was held in front of cameras and a large audience?

NChas parent said...

I have heard the school district is still suing the state legislature over the act which gives charter schools equal access to whatever the district gives to other public schools. Does anyone know where this case is and how much it is costing the taxpayers all in the name of keeping charter schools down?