Charter school value – they CAN help/work with public schools, too

Publication1

There hasn’t been a lot of coverage of examples of charter schools working together with traditional schools to boost the performance of both, but examples are out there.

For example, in 2010 Education Week reported, “Charters and Public Schools Team Up in Texas” (subscription?). Aside from the collaboration in the Rio Grande area of Texas, the article talks about other charter-traditional collaborations in New Haven, Connecticut and Washington, DC.

Several years later, EdWeek reported on another collaboration effort starting in Florida.

More recently, there was a report about “In Denver, Charters and District Team Up on Special Education.”

Education Week isn’t the only place collaboration is being reported, either. The Washington Post just ran “District’s charter and traditional school principals to work together to solve problems.” Here the Post discusses another, rather unusual cooperative effort getting under way at Georgetown University where principals from both charter and traditional public schools will work together in a Masters’ Degree program designed to help each learn from the other. The Post says, “The principals will learn how to better develop teacher talent, change school culture and respond to crisis situations,” adding, “Participants will take 14 courses at Georgetown and will spend time in their peers’ schools, observing and brainstorming ideas for dealing with challenges.”

The Center for Reinventing Public Education is actually studying such collaborations.

The center lists some of the potential benefits as:

For Charter Schools

• Improved access to facilities, funding, and student enrollment

• Reduced political tensions

• Greater exposure to district expertise

• Expanded reach and impact beyond school walls

For School Districts:

• Partnering in the work of ensuring high-quality schools in all neighborhoods

• Sharing costs, including recruitment and transportation• Gaining access to innovative professional development and curriculum

For the Community:

• More high-quality school options available for students

• Better services for English language learners and special education students

• Streamlined school information and enrollment systems

So, while proponents and opponents of charter schools for Kentucky argue vigorously about bringing these innovative schools of choice to Kentucky, the reality is that once charters have been introduced elsewhere, the fighting hasn’t always continued. In fact, it looks like even the traditional public schools are starting to benefit, too.