Salisbury School Board President Blasts Charter Schools

Salisbury Township School Board President read the following statement before he voted against the Arts Academy Charter School at the Feb. 9 school board meeting.

"This is my 13th year as of this past December serving on the In those 13 years, I have never voted for anything that I believed was not in the best interest of public education in general and this school district, its students and taxpayers, in particular.

"Tonight we're being asked to approve a charter to create a new school. We are charged with this decision by the state, not for educational reasons, but for a geographic one. Because the we must decide on the charter application and serve as the state's proxy in overseeing this new school, despite the fact that one --- one student within our district's borders--- has expressed interest in a middle school emphasizing the arts in its curriculum. Tonight I will be voting no on this item and I wish to explain my vote.

1. Financing.

"We are being asked to approve a new school for a particular special interest at a time when we and all other public school districts in this state continue to face unprecedented funding challenges resulting not only from the current state of the overall economy, but also and equally from legislative action and executive policy emanating from Harrisburg.

"As we struggle to maintain our district's programs, provide needed student support to achieve annual yearly progress as mandated by Pennsylvania's applications of NCLB (No Child Left Behind) and examine our budget year after year, seeking every possible cut while ensuring we do not shortchange the students in our charge, we are expected to support the opening of a new school because a group wants to focus more of middle school students' time on a narrower, more specialized curriculum.

"This at a time when the state is telling us in public ed not only what should be taught, but how much of it should be taught and when it should be taught so that students are prepared to take state PSSA tests at the time the state decides these things should be tested. And the state gives us more and more standards that we have to adhere to.

"Everytime a student goes to a charter school or a cyber charter, no less than $11,000 leaves this district and in some cases for special education students, over $23,000. While at the same time we direct our administration to continue the struggle to find the necessary cuts and expenditures to, in part, compensate for these lost subsidies.

"In the , all reimbursements to public school districts for charter school funding has been eliminated (we are now in our second year of that). Yet, charter schools face no effect of this. They continue to receive funding through school district coffers just like they have since the charter school law was passed in 1997. So the economy doesn't affect them, the state budget doesn't affect them. But we are expected to do more and more with less and less.

2. Curriculum.

"Since this application was submitted, I have asked on a number of occasions for specific, clear information comparing our middle school education to that proposed by the charter school. Other than being told there will be three periods a day devoted to various arts and four periods to regular subjects, I still don't feel I have a solid answer.

"I do know that one of the arts being included in this curriculum is ice skating. As public schools struggle to maintain essential programs and required school curricula and maintain educationally sound class sizes, I cannot defend using taxpayer funds to teach students ice skating. To me, it is not the responsibility of the taxpayers to fund very narrow special interests such as this.

"Additionally, I question both the wisdom and the need for such a specialized approach to education at the tender age of the fifth grade.

3. Admissions.

"The presentation by the charter school board spoke to a "modified audition" for admission to the school. While legally within its rights, I have great difficulty with the notion of public schools having admission requirements. I am concerned about this school being able to target talent and recruit students from other schools and having much less than an open process over time.

4. Our district's oversight obligations.

"There are various responsibilities placed upon us by the state in terms of monitoring and overseeing this new school, which are clearly defined in the charter. How are we supposed to cover the costs associated with these accountabilities? We need our administration to focus on the schools we are running and the students we are educating---not other school operations that happen to reside within our borders and don't have Salisbury students in them.

"So, in summary, while I appreciate the professionalism with which the charter school board has approached this process, for the reasons cited above I must respectfully vote no. To operate this school, other public schools will likely be hurt and I cannot in good conscience vote for that."