FACTS About Charter Schools In Oklahoma

There are many misconceptions about public charter schools being perpetuated by those with hidden agendas or by those who are simply uninformed. For additional facts refer to the Oklahoma State Charter School Laws that may be found online. 1. What is a public charter school? A public charter school is a tuition-free, non-sectarian, public school of choice that has site-based management and its own governing board, but is accountable to an authorizer with an elected board, the state and the federal government regarding its financial and academic outcomes. Charter schools were created in 1992 for large inner cities where the drop out rate is 50% or higher to give parents and children another option. Oklahoma passed charter school legislation in 1999 after strong support of President Bill Clinton. 2. How do Oklahoma charter school laws differ from other state charter school laws? In Oklahoma charter schools are allowed only in the inner cities of Oklahoma City and Tulsa where classroom space is limited or non-existent. Unlike, Arizona, Texas and others, Oklahoma has very strict laws and requirements to become charter schools are rigorous. That is why in 14 years there are only 15 established in Oklahoma. Public charter schools in Oklahoma do not receive full funding, including ad valorem tax, chargeables (extra millage monies, etc.) or transportation monies. These monies go directly to the local district authorizing the public charter. Public charter schools in Oklahoma must provide and pay for their own facilities and upkeep and are not eligible for bonding. 3. Do public charter schools take money from the local district or other state schools? No. Districts where public charter schools exist receive the ad valorem, chargeables and transportation monies which equals 39% of the per pupil allocation for those children. In addition, the public charter pays the local district an additional 3-5% authorizer fee. The authorizing district is not responsible for housing or educating the children, yet receive 42-44% of their funding. The building overcrowding for the district and the need to build additional buildings is eliminated. The public charter must pay their own facility rent from the amount that they receive per student, which is only about 56-58% of what traditional schools and districts in Oklahoma receive per student. Other state school districts lose no money because the per pupil allocation received by the public charter would not be put back in the state education budget to be shared with them. Rather, the inner city district would receive the money and be required to spend 100% of the allocation educating the child and paying for their facilities. 4. Do charters have to comply with state and federal mandates? Yes. Public charters in the United States are not exempt from state and federal mandates, including testing and annual independent financial audits. 5. Are public charter schools required to hire certified teachers? Yes and no. The wording is deceiving. Some time ago the federal government established mandates requiring all teachers to be Highly Qualified (HQ). This means teachers must have a degree in the area they are teaching, plus meet a number of additional criteria in order to qualify as HQ. This applies to ALL schools, including public charters.

Because of the teacher shortage, Oklahoma schools hire many Alternatively Certified teachers. This means the teacher has a degree and is HQ, but did not attend a traditional college of education. 6. Can charter schools be selective of students? No. Oklahoma law requires public charters accept all students up to the cap established by the authorizer. The responsibility for ensuring this is the authorizer and the Oklahoma State Department of Education. If those wanting to enroll in a charter exceeds the authorizer cap, a lottery is required. Public charters typically have a higher than average poverty and minority rate than the district authorizer. ASTEC Charter Schools has from 95-98% poverty in any given year. ASTEC has 86% ESL (English Second Language) students and a 95% minority population. Though district students who attend a public charter live within the district boundary, logistically they are shown as transfers from the district into the charter. If a student decides to leave a public charter school, they must go through the state-mandated process of having their transfer reversed and approved by the authorizing district. 7. From what laws are public charters exempt? The public charter governing board is allowed to make some decisions locally. Teachers may or may not be a part of collective bargaining and most employees have contracts renewed annually. Public charters are required to provide health and retirement benefits for employees, but is not required to select the state health insurance or the state retirement system. The governing board of a public charter sets its own salary schedule, yet most charter schools in Oklahoma pay teachers and staff above the state minimum. A public charter may or may not have a librarian or a school nurse, but is required to provide documentation of having nearby alternatives available. Charters, like all schools in Oklahoma, are monitored by a Regional Accreditation Officer (RAO) from the Oklahoma State Department of Education. 8. What is the responsibility of the head of the school and what are they called? The title of the charter school leader and other administrators vary with the size of school and the decisions of their local governing board. A public charter in Oklahoma has to be legally registered with the IRS as a not-for-profit school. A notfor-profit founder is traditionally listed as the CEO on these documents. In smaller charter schools, the lead administrator may be considered the principal and the superintendent and have all the duties of those in these positions in a traditional public school. This is not unlike the principal/superintendent in a K-8 elementary school. Larger public charter schools may use any or all of the titles of CEO + Executive Director or Superintendent. The principal under a charter superintendent may be referred to as the Headmaster and the assistant principals may be called Deans. Regardless of the title, their responsibilities are the same. The head of a public charter has all the responsibilities of a superintendent of a district of that size, plus they are generally also tasked with writing grants and raising outside monies to supplement their much smaller budgets. 9. What is the difference between a public charter and a company-run for-profit charter? Public charters are educator-led schools who struggle financially. For-profit charter schools may file as non-profits but are operated by companies and are often franchises where the company receives a profit. Expenses associated with traditional school are reduced or eliminated. This may be done by reducing or eliminating the number of teachers, opting instead to use lower paid monitors, putting 80+ students in large box rooms behind computers, etc. Others get national backers interested in spending less on our schools and following an ultra-conservative agenda. !