Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Legislature / Woods State House Revives Charter Schools Bill
Posted by Jeff Woods on Wed, Jun 17, 2009 at 9:30 AM
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In a defeat for the teachers' union, the House Education Committee held a surprise meeting this morning to approve expanding charter schools in Tennessee. The committee had closed for the year but reopened after successful negotiations on a compromise. The bill still opens charter schools to any student who receives a free or reduced lunch. That's three-quarters of Nashville's students. Under the compromise, students who are failing and attend failing schools are entitled to the first spots in charters, and a lottery will decide the rest.
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said the state could lose $100 million in stimulus money if it didn't open up to more charters. That threat was the impetus for the compromise. Even the Tennessee Education Association was forced to surrender, figuring it cut the best deal it could. The committee adopted the bill on a voice vote.
Until today, the House Democratic Caucus had locked down against the bill. Caucus chair Mike Turner, one of the last of the unrepentant old-line Democrats, gave his views on Liberadio! the other day. He said he heard it from Gov. Phil Bredesen and Mayor Karl Dean, both of whom back the bill, and even President Obama somehow contacted Turner to urge his support for expanding charters.
"None of them have their kids in public school. I'm a public school parent and I'm getting all this advice on what's best for my child when they've not experienced the public school situation. I think there's a misnomer out there that charter schools are a savior. I think they're a Band-Aid. The verdict's not in on charter schools. It'll help certain aspects of public education but not the whole thing. "There are a lot of people with agendas pushing charter schools. Most of the Republicans want them for Nashville and Memphis, but they don't want them for their districts. They don't want them in their area. They want to tell us what to do here. They're not sure how it works. They don't want to get their local teachers upset with them. There's a lot of politics in this. You have the whole Grover Norquist crew, which kind of started this movement to break unions and teachers' unions, which weakens the Democratic Party. They're big pushers of vouchers in public schools. It's on the Internet for anybody to see. I'm really surprised to see so many people embracing this because we're cutting our throats in the long run."
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