Helping charters serve at-risk kids

By BILL PHILLIPS
Last Updated: 3:40 AM, June 20, 2012
Posted: 10:56 PM, June 19, 2012

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What do we do about the fact that some New York charter schools dont enroll
(or retain) their fair share of at-risk kids? Its a fair question but not the
charter killer that opponents of these innovative schools seem to think.

The state Board of Regents and SUNY the two main authorizers of
charters in New York recently released some data on the issue, along with
a new approach to setting targets for charters on this front. Importantly, they
also looked at the record of regular (district) public schools in this regard.

Statewide, about 80 percent of the charter schools meet at least one of the
three enrollment targets, and 73 percent did the same for retention. (There are
three targets for three distinct at risk populations: children qualifying for free
and reduced lunch, English-language learners and students with disabilities.)

With this new information, where should policy makers focus their energies?
How do they hold schools accountable in a way that maximizes outreach to
high-needs students and respects parent choice?

First, the Regents and SUNY should examine the 20 percent of charters that
missed all three targets. These schools should try to copy what already works
for other charters and, failing that, give such students preferences in the
admissions lottery.

Second, the Legislature can change laws that prevent charters from serving
disadvantaged students. Thankfully, the state Senate yesterday by 46-13
passed a bill that lets schools use service consortia to be better able to serve
at-risk students. In the Assembly, its sponsored by Black, Puerto Rican,
Hispanic and Asian Caucus Chairman Karim Camara. Lets hope the
Assembly passes the bill before it leaves for the summer.
These simple fixes will reduce the number of schools that miss targets, but
wont end the problem. So the Regents and SUNY need to aggressively
implement the good-faith effort clause and start to be more candid about
the limits of enrollment targets.

A first step toward that candor is their decision to analyze the at-risk
performance of all public schools because it provides long overdue context:
The analysis shows that a number of district schools struggle with the same
issues.

When district schools miss targets, and yet are rightly seen as valuable
institutions, it becomes untenable to hold charters to a different standard.
Both authorizers must also be clear about the statistical problems behind the
targets. Its unclear how the authorizers will use the methodology to accurately
determine if small schools with small at-risk student populations have met
each target.

This is not a criticism of the attempt to apply these statistics in a nuanced way.
Rather, its just one example of many that shows the difficulty of creating a
comprehensive statistical model to allow us to form good policy. The Regents
and SUNY are in a near-impossible position and should just admit as much.
Schools certainly should seek out the highest need students but it lacks
perspective to penalize high-performing schools that fail to meet all targets.
Schools with superior academic performance that enroll a large number of
students in even just one disadvantaged category should be celebrated, not
closed.

Lets admit the obvious: Neither the Regents nor SUNY will tell families that a
charter school that effectively educates their children should close over a de
facto enrollment quota, just as the Regents would never close a district school
in a similar situation.

The uncomfortable fact remains that there are not enough excellent public
schools district or charter. Policymakers dont have the luxury of
sanctioning schools that fail to meet every goal.
Unquestionably, charter operators will chip away at this problem. In the
meantime, the Regents and SUNY have no choice but to do two things well at
once enforce good-faith efforts to enroll more disadvantaged students and
also acknowledge the primacy of academic performance.

Bill Phillips is president of the New York Charter School Association.