The chatter over charters
Maybe the reaction has come from parents who’ve been staring at their kids over the holidays.
Maybe it was spurred on by that four-part series on education published by The Press.
Whatever the reason, we’ve gotten a surprising number of messages asking the same question...
Why aren’t there more charter schools in Kootenai County?
Another version of the same query: Are more charter schools or academies being planned?
This isn’t the type of thing we’d normally see while writing a column like A Brand New Day — which suggests that there is a huge number of families wanting to ask the question of pretty much anyone who might have a clue.
All we can do, I’m afraid, is answer those questions in the most basic terms.
SO HERE’S the unhappy news...
No, if we’re talking about mainstream charter schools — home to rigorous classes and academic excellence — then no more are in the serious planning stage.
“The schools in place — Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy and North Idaho STEM Charter Academy in Rathdrum — are really, really excellent,” said Wanda Quinn, a member of the Idaho Public Charter School Commission.
“But there’s a reason why more entrepreneurs aren’t proposing more of these schools. They are like small businesses with all that implies, and in addition, they have to take on all the challenges of top-level schools.
“To make a charter school successful, you have to find a combination of excellent businesspeople and excellent teachers — people like Scott and Colleen Thomson at North Idaho STEM — but that’s a unique skill set and it’s pretty rare.”
One obvious frustration for some parents is that while North Idaho STEM is a K-12 school, the Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy is limited to sixth grade through high school.
“It’s better to concentrate on your mission and do it well, rather than expand and suffer for it,” said Dan Nicklay, principal at Coeur d’Alene Charter.
“Our goal is to be an outstanding college prep school, and students below sixth grade aren’t yet at that stage of development.”
PARENTS WHO want to get their children into one of these existing charter academies need to start at entry level.
“We obviously have a few openings in every grade each year,” Thomson said, “but there will be 44 in kindergarten, just like there will be sixth-grade openings at Coeur d’Alene — so that’s where to apply.
“A fairly high percentage of the kindergarten applicants get in, and tuition is free. However, there are challenges, in terms of logistics (getting kids to school) and the fact that a lot of parents say they want their children to be challenged, but when they’ve been getting an A in every subject elsewhere, and suddenly they come home with Cs...
“Sometimes the parents decide they’ve made the wrong choice.”
Nicklay echoes that sentiment, but encourages families who have kids with college aspirations to apply.
As for more charter schools...
“We get state funding like any public school,” Nicklay said, “but not for facilities. We have to raise our own money for the brick and mortar.”
As Quinn pointed out, that’s a tough business — especially when you also have to meet the charter commission’s tough academic standards.
Charter schools obviously can add something wonderful to any community.
Running them successfully, though, is no picnic.
•••
Steve Cameron is a columnist for The Press.
Email: [email protected].
Facebook: BrandNewDayCDAPress.
Twitter: @BrandNewDayCDA