Alternative to Vouchers: Improve Access Quality Charters

I wrote a few days ago about my concerns with the likely school voucher system proposal in Tennessee this legislative session.  Vouchers are meant to increase school choice for low-income students and give them an alternative to traditional neighborhood schools.  I truly believe that we should pursue evidence based policies that promote school choice and empower parents to select the best option available for their students.  But first we must make sure the evidence indicates the policy will truly achieve its desired aims.

When viewed in this light, vouchers simply to not provide the quality required to justify their expenditure.  The voucher program proposed for Tennessee would spend half of what individual districts spend on a per pupil basis, which would fall somewhere between $4,200 and $5,400 depending on the district.  But evidence from existing voucher programs across the country suggests that students would likely fair about the same in a voucher program as they do in traditional public schools, making it a poor use of public money.

I propose an alternative.  If our elected leaders truly want to grow the overall number of quality school choice options here in Tennessee, they should do so by encouraging the growth and the quality of our existing charter school network (full disclosure: I teach in a Tennessee charter school).

Charter schools are public schools operated by independent non-profit governing bodies.  In Tennessee, those schools are also held responsible for the same academic standards as traditional public schools.  Once approved, the charter must meet its goals during a predetermined time period or be shut down. Charters have the benefit of being able to operate with more freedoms than traditional schools.  They can try different intervention systems for struggling students, use unique strategies to build school culture and are given greater flexibility in personnel policies.

Charters in Tennessee also have a good track record of providing quality options to parents looking for an alternative to their neighborhood school.  According to the Standford CREDO study which examines charter quality across the country, Tennessee charters serve a population at a lower academic starting point than students in traditional schools, especially compared to charters in many states across the country.  And even though students in charters start further behind, charter schools in TN have demonstrated statistically positive results, providing their students with 86 extra days of reading learning and 72 days of math beyond the state average.

For those looking for a fiscal argument, charter schools also cost school districts less than traditional schools on a per pupil basis, especially here in Shelby County.  Per pupil spending for charters maxes out for the district at $7,518.  By contrast, pre-merger Shelby County Schools spent $9,318 per pupil and MCS $11,250 per pupil.  While this is more than the proposed voucher program, the quality we get out of charters is definitely worth the extra expenditure

Our legislators could pursue several policies to enhance the quality and size of our quality charter school network in Tennessee.  First, they can raise the bar for new charter applicants across the state and ensure only high quality charter operators open new schools in Tennessee.  Second, they should make it easier to close down charters that are underperforming to ensure that only the best stay open.  For these two policies, they might look to the ASD, which has a very rigorous charter recruitment, application and matching process.

I do want to add the caveat that I do not believe that charter schools represent THE solution to what ails American public schools.  We should continue to work to improve our traditional public school system as well as expand school choice options because this is where the vast majority of our students will go for the forseeable future.  We should also not devote resources to school choice at the expense of traditional public schools.  However, charters can serve as laboratories for testing different methods of educating students that can then be implemented in the wider school population.  And they also serve to provide parents of students stuck in failing schools with a quality alternative.  Both charters and traditional schools can continue to develop in partnership to ensure that all students can attend the right school for them.

So, if our state leaders are searching for a way to expand school choice, let’s work to grow and develop what’s already working here in Tennessee.  Let’s devote the resources otherwise to be used for ineffective voucher programs to enhancing the quality and capacity of our already strong charter network.

For more information on Tennessee charters, check out this report by SCORE, “Charters at a Glance.”

By Jon Alfuth

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