The Echo

In 1995, before the ink was dry on the governor's signature on the charter schools law, I signed on to help create Delaware's first charter school. At that time, we didn't expect charter schools to be "the answer" to all of our challenges in public education, but we did see the promise of charter schools as one of the best opportunities to make a dramatic improvement in Delaware's public education landscape.

The results of the charter school movement in Delaware are significant. Charters rank at the top academically at all grade levels. They have been the first to tackle new frontiers in curriculum, teacher incentive pay, site-based management, extended school years, facilities construction, financial autonomy, parent engagement, student uniforms and much more.

There are thousands of students on charter school waiting lists. Almost 80 percent of Delawareans favor charter schools (according to a University of Delaware poll) even though only 9 percent of the student population attends them. Yet progress hasn't been easy, due to an uneven playing field when it comes to the way public charter schools are funded.

The Delaware Charter School Network stands for excellence. But there are times when meeting the high standards we've set for ourselves can be difficult, due to the financial challenges that charters face compared to our district counterparts.

A recent News Journal article rightly highlighted the financial pressures constricting Delaware school districts in the wake of multimillion-dollar state cuts for education. Absent, however, was any mention of the even more acute financial woes of Delaware's 22 public charter schools. We support our public school districts and believe funding adequacy is an issue that must be addressed for all of our schools. But we are one system of public schools, not two. For charter schools, the issue of funding equity is just as important.

In the 2009 report, A New Model Law for Supporting the Growth of High-Quality Public Charter Schools, equitable operational funding and access to capital funding are cited as two "Essential Components of a Strong Public Charter School Law."

And according to Delaware Department of Education data, public charter schools receive nearly 23 percent less per student than traditional district schools, even after excluding the 10 district-operated schools throughout the state that primarily serve resource-intensive, high-needs students.

Several factors can explain this disparity, but the result of this gap is an unfair penalty on charter school students and educators. For example, while Stubbs Elementary, in the Christina School District, might receive $11,437 for Lisa, Prestige Academy -- a mere 10 blocks away -- receives $9,331 for her brother. That translates to less funding available for teacher salaries and much-needed instructional resources.

One of the main reasons for this gap is that charters have neither the ability to raise revenue through referendums nor state funding for major capital costs, such as building upgrades. Public charter schools are forced to pay from 7 to 20 percent of their operating budgets for facilities. Imagine the compounded impact recent state budget cuts have on schools with fewer available dollars to begin with.

Another concern is the formula that districts use to transfer local property tax revenue to charter schools. The guiding principle is "the money follows the child." But districts are permitted to exclude certain categories of local funds before the transfers are made. These deductions are not transparent and often fluctuate dramatically, thereby complicating charter schools budget planning. For example, my charter school budgeted an increase in local funds because our largest feeder district passed a multimillion-dollar operating referendum the previous year. We were shocked to learn that our share of that district's local funds actually decreased substantially.

Further complicating the matter is that the formula for transferring these funds is based not on actual revenues but on district expenditures from the previous year. There is no way for charter schools to "catch up."

Last spring, passage of House Bill 205 represented an important first step toward growing and sustaining high-quality charter schools in the state. We also have resources to draw from to make even more progress. For example, The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools has a menu of best practices for supporting public charter schools' facility needs.

It is my hope that Delaware's General Assembly takes the next big steps in charter legislation: changing policy conditions to give all public school students an equal chance at success regardless of where they go to school. Such policies will encourage high-performing charters to expand, and they will encourage great charters to come into the state.

Sixteen years ago, policy decisions were made as safeguards in the event that charters didn't pan out. Well, we did pan out. Charter schools are here to stay.