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Board turns down charter school
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by Michael Poppy
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
The Madison School Board of Education voted against the proposal for a new charter school Monday night by a vote of 5-to-2. Board members rejected the notion for the Studio School as several concerns still loomed, including the potential site, costs and attendance. "I believe that this proposal is not ready for primetime," Board President Johnny Winston Jr. said. "I think there a lot of questions that we have. I can't say that this model is going to work." Superintendent Art Rainwater presented the School District's review on how much the school would cost over a five-year span at Monday's School Board meeting. The range was from $0 to $1.6 million, the large gap resulting from the difference in attendance. The district's goal was to have 90 percent of the charter school's attendance embedded from a host school, which was left unspecified. With that amount, the school's costs would be minimal — in fact, the district potentially could have profited off the school if it acquired certain grants. "There's really no additional costs to this as long as the 90-percent goal is met," Rainwater said. "If we have to bring in students from outside the school, costs occur because you're adding additional staff." Rainwater added the Studio School could not depend on students transferring from overcrowding schools for attendance, as it is inconsistent from year-to-year. Another concern came with the charter school's administrative model. Without a host school, it would have to hire its own principal and staff. However, even with a host school, finding the right teacher for the Studio School remained an issue. The Studio School was looking for a teacher to educate 44 elementary students, specifically in art and music, but who doesn't have to be a certified teacher yet. Studio School President Nancy Donahue and Vice President Lauren Cunningham said candidates could come from the University of Wisconsin as practicum students would be available in the fall. "How do we find someone with all these skills?" asked board treasurer Carol Carstensen in response to the Studio School's proposed outline. "One of the things we pride ourselves on in our district is the quality of our teachers and we're saying now we can find someone who can do all that and isn't necessarily certified." Ruth Robarts, along with Lucy Mathiak, voted in favor of the Studio School. However, both said they would have liked the district to look at other cities' experiences to certain Madison's proposed third charter school would be beneficial.
Anonymous (February 27, 2007 @ 8:50pm):
"...it would have to hire its own principal and staff"
Why are there so many staffs and other people not directly involved in teaching students? How many "assistant" principals and "learning specialists" are needed?
"How do we find someone with all these skills?" asked board treasurer Carol Carstensen in response to the Studio School's proposed outline. "One of the things we pride ourselves on in our district is the quality of our teachers and we're saying now we can find someone who can do all that and isn't necessarily certified."
YES, YES, YES!!! Carol, please listen to what you are saying--words from your own mouth. We don't need certified teachers. Let anybody who has something to teach, teach! Teaching really isn't all that difficult if the red tape is cut out--certification included. Of course, you're asking youself... how do we prevent perverts from getting into schools as teachers and molesting our kids ? Well, why are trusting our kids--at all--to schools? Teacher certification and background checks has not stopped the problem--only given us a false sense of security. The only way to know is get involved in your kids lives, and find out what their teachers are teaching, and participate in your school community.
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