From Carolina Journal’s David Bass comes this legislative recap of efforts to give parents more of a say in their child’s education. Bottom line: The system wins again. (emphasis is mine)
School reformers had hoped the legislature’s Democratic leadership would ease the state-imposed 100-school cap on charter schools, which are public schools that have more freedom to set curricula and hire and compensate staff than traditional district schools. Instead, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 704 allowing local school boards to incorporate charter-like elements into low-performing traditional public schools.
A Republican-sponsored amendment that would have allowed top-tier charter schools to open a new school without it counting against the cap was rejected.
Gov. Bev Perdue, a Democrat, had requested the measure in advance of the June 1 application deadline for a second round of federal Race to the Top Grants, allocated partly on the basis of a state’s friendliness to charter schools. The state was a finalist but failed to secure any funds in a first round of grants.
SB 704 garnered the support of the N.C. Association of Educators, the state’s largest teacher union, and easily passed the House and Senate. Brian Lewis, the association’s government relations manager, said his group helped shape the bill and signed off on the final version.
At the heart of this is fear of competition. And who loses when competition is thwarted? The students of course.
