interesting op-ed from a Texas newspaper

[kber <kber@EARTHLINK.NET>]

the link for which is http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/editorial/1682345


Ken B

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Nov. 30, 2002, 1:14PM

No 'A' for charter school accountability

By CLAY ROBISON
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle

AUSTIN -- In President Bush's educational alphabet, "A" stands for
accountability. There's mostly nothing wrong with that, except that government
has been trying to make some people more accountable than others.

So far, the heaviest burden is falling on the kids, starting with the
third-graders who now will have to pass a tougher, standardized reading test to
be
promoted to the fourth grade.

The ban on "social promotions" was a legacy of Bush's administration as Texas
governor, and so were some inconsistencies.

Educational experts are predicting that thousands of third-graders will fail the
new standardized test -- the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills
(TAKS) -- and be held "accountable" by being held back a grade.

While debate over the TAKS test continues, it has become apparent that
accountability, however, was not high on the lists of then-Gov. Bush and
Texas legislators when they approved another of Bush's priorities, a form of
educational deregulation known as charter schools.

Created by a 1995 law, charter schools are mainly funded by the state but are
exempt from many state regulations. The idea was to give private
groups or individuals the opportunity to be innovative, to compete with more
traditional classrooms for the chance to stimulate bright young minds --
or to provide options to failing public schools.

In some cases the idea has worked. In others, it has given would-be,
strike-it-rich "entrepreneurs" with questionable academic and management
credentials the opportunity to rip off youngsters and taxpayers alike.

Some of the bad apples have quietly disappeared or been shut down by the state,
while others are still being monitored. But putting charter failures
out of business is only part of the problem.

There also is the matter of millions of tax dollars, which were given to failing
schools but remain unaccounted for and may never have been spent -- at
least not on education.

Estimates of what failed charter operators owe the state start at $5.7 million
and could be millions more, according to a recent story in the Fort Worth
Star-Telegram. The newspaper reported that operators of some closed schools may
have transferred some of the money into private accounts or other
ventures.

The state is trying to get a handle on the problem, but it's getting a late
start. The 1995 law that created the charter school program didn't require
failed
schools to return unused money. The Legislature imposed additional restrictions
in 2001, including a provision that charter operators can be held
liable for the state funds they receive, but enforcement is still difficult.

The lost charter money is particularly annoying now that legislators are getting
ready to cut corners next year to balance a new state budget without
raising taxes. The missing dollars alone aren't nearly enough to bridge a
multibillion-dollar revenue shortfall, but they could have been better spent
improving remedial instruction for some of those third-graders who are in danger
of falling behind because they can't pass a test.

A standardized test can be an important assessment of a student's achievement,
but making passage a requirement for promotion, I believe, is wrong.
It, nevertheless, is now the law, thanks to the selective accountability imposed
by Bush and the 1999 Legislature. Eventually, the requirement also
will apply to fifth- and eighth-graders.

A child who fails the test after taking it three times can be promoted only if
advancement is approved by a committee of his parents, teacher and
principal, and there may be a lot of committee meetings.

Almost one-fifth of the state's third-graders, or about 50,400 students, are
expected to fail the required reading portion of the TAKS test when they
take it the first time next spring.

The Legislature made the schoolchildren accountable. Lawmakers also made
teachers and principals accountable by creating a rating system for
schools and school districts.

Ultimately, however, the responsibility for a quality public education system
rests with the Legislature. Lawmakers set educational standards and
largely determine the quality of programs and instruction -- and how many kids
pass standardized tests -- by dictating how the public schools are
financed.

Significant improvements to the public school finance system are long overdue.
Legislators can meet their own accountability test by devising a fairer
and more effective system that draws heavier on state funds and less on local
property taxes.

But that "A" will be particularly difficult to earn next year.


Robison is chief of the Chronicle's Austin Bureau. (clay.robison@chron.com)

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