Parents concerned as CPS begins review of charter school contracts
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A showdown on charter schools is expected on Thursday in Chicago – as the city's Board of Education begins reviewing them and deciding on new contracts, if any.
Parents and the people who run the charter schools are concerned.
The contracts for a total of 49 charter schools in Chicago will be up for vote by the Chicago Board of Education Thursday. The decisions will determine for how long the charter schools' contracts will be renewed.
Nearly 30,000 students will be impacted.
"We've demanded the board give them seven-to-10-year renewal contracts, and they're scheduled to vote on it tomorrow," said Andrew Broy, president of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, "and the board is proposing terms between three and four years - which we think is too short."
Broy said longer contracts mean more stability for the schools and their hiring.
"The schools have earned it," Broy said. "They're academically succeeding. They're doing quite well by their students. They're enrolling families and serving neighborhoods across the city, and they've earned their right to a longer term."
For some charter school parents like Myisha Shields, that stability is vital. Three of her children have graduated from a Chicago charter school, while two currently attend Mansueto High School in Brighton Park – part of the Noble Network of Charter Schools.
"We don't want to have to worry about after four or five years, what's going to happen," Shields said. "Charter should always be an option. School choice should always be an option."
Shields plans on joining other parents and the Illinois Network of Charter Schools at CPS headquarters downtown Thursday to protest the school board's proposed short-term renewal lengths.
"The current board appointed by the new mayor, Mayor Johnson, is decidedly anti-charter, and wants to review charters for compliance much more than performance," said Broy.
The rally comes after the board last month passed a resolution laying out a five-year strategic plan from the Chicago Public Schools to move away from school choice and shift its focus to neighborhood schools.
Constance Jones, CEO of Noble Charter Schools, called the school board's vote last month to reprioritize neighborhood schools instead of focusing on selective enrollment schools a "political game towards the end of school choice."
"How can this board claim to support a quality public school education when it's actively trying to get rid of schools that do exactly that?" she said.
However, the school board has said shifting focus to neighborhood schools does not amount to a vote to close selective-enrollment, magnet, or charter schools.
Chicago Teachers Union representatives said the school board needs to ensure charter schools are spending money properly, claiming many charter schools lack proper services for the special education and bilingual students they serve.
CTU President Stacy Davis Gates said Thursday morning the union has used its collective bargaining power to address similar problems at other charter schools where teachers and staff have unionized.
"So we are the check and the balance in terms of the collective bargaining agreements. We have been able to provide the equity and the resources in the way that they've been missing them," she said.
Davis Gates also shot back at critics who have accused CTU of opposing school choice.
"Choice only exists if you have choice. Choice exists when I have two pair of the same gym shoe before me. Or choice exists when I have two winter coats that can withstand the rigors of a Chicago winter. But on the South Side and the West Side of the city, that doesn't exist," she said. "It's a tattered coat down the street, and it's a tattered coat in front of me."
Meantime, a CPS spokesperson said the district's proposals for charter school contract renewals are the result of a months-long review process, including a four-hour public hearing earlier this month to get community input, and "state of the school" sessions at each individual charter school to hear from the community about school performance.
"Term lengths are not automatic or arbitrary but are considered in light of all the relevant facts for each school and established to ensure ongoing school improvement, collaboration, and accountability," CPS spokeswoman Mary Fergus said.
Charter school contract renewals range from 1 to 10 years, depending on the findings of the district's review process.
Right now, there is no appeal for the charter renewal term – meaning the schools cannot appeal the decision the board will make on their contract lengths.
The schools can appeal if the CPS board chooses to close a school – but the Illinois Network of Charter Schools said it does not anticipate such a thing will happen, and neither does CPS itself.
