Charters and the incoming presidential administration
Education writers seem keen to look to the future these days. For example, Matt Barnum recently looked at the strong possibility—as he sees it—that more federal Covid support money could be coming to schools when the new Congress convenes. He speculates that charters might be at the end of the list for additional support, but describes why charter advocates might have reason for optimism.
Charters and philanthropy
A recent opinion piece from the Philanthropy Roundtable seemed to echo Barnum’s concerns regarding federal funding for charters, but found its own optimism in the simple and demonstrable fact of charter school quality. “Even though public charter schools don’t benefit from the amount of cash flowing into public schools,” the piece concluded, “they still manage not only to teach their students, but also, in many cases, to provide better educational and behavioral outcomes than their traditional public-school peers.” For these reasons, they urged philanthropists to reconsider charter schools as worthy of support going forward.
The view from the Hoosier State
Two years ago, Indianapolis Public Schools successfully passed a referendum which boosted their funding substantially. Despite the tight partnership between a group of Indy charter schools and the district, those charters were largely locked out of the windfall. That disparity, along with the long-standing funding gaps for charters across Indiana, has caught the attention of the state legislature. Chalkbeat speculates that momentum is growing for a boost in charter funding…as long as other state budget priorities don’t end up taking precedence.
Back here at home
Columbus City Schools announced this week its intention to shift to a hybrid learning model—with some caveats—on February 1. The state’s largest district has been operating a fully-remote learning model since March of 2020. There are still a lot of details to be worked out, not least of which is transportation, which has been used solely by students in charter and private schools for nearly a year. Sounds like a lot of negotiating is ahead.
