Experts: Charter schools hard work, but worth it

Danette Goulet

COSTA MESA -- Parents and community leaders who hope to open a charter

school in Costa Mesa will have their work cut out for them, say state and

district officials who have been through the process.

“A start-up charter school suffers the same growing pains as a small

business or private school,” said Margaret Laroe, a deputy superintendent

for the Capistrano Unified School District, which recently opened its

first charter school. “They of course have to recruit students and

teachers and they really aren’t as free as you’d think. I think it’s just

a tremendous amount of work,”

A charter school is a public school that is usually organized by a

local group of parents, teachers or community leaders. The specific goals

and operating procedures are detailed in an agreement, or “charter,” with

the local governing school board.

Charter schools are generally exempt from most laws and requirements

governing public school districts, but in California, they are required

to participate in statewide assessment tests.

Proponents of a Newport-Mesa charter school, which would be called the

Mesa Leadership Academy, are expected to put a proposal before the school

board in the next several weeks. The group has been working for several

years to start the school.

The dedication and commitment of parents and teachers is what makes

charter schools such a powerful tool. But when approving charters, school

boards need to be sure that the vision is thorough, said Marian Bergeson,

a Newport Beach resident and member of the state Board of Education.

“The strong rationale for charters is that if they are done

effectively, which is important, there is a total buy in from parents and

staff,” Bergeson said.

For that reason, she added, the “local home-grown element is

critical,” as opposed to when companies try to start up charter schools.

But even a local charter with tremendous support will be in trouble

down the road if there is not a meticulous plan behind it, Bergeson

warned.

And besides a good plan, a good deal of money is needed.

In San Juan Capistrano, getting the Journey Charter School up and

running was more difficult than anyone expected, said Laroe, who helped

write the charter there. And in this inaugural year, they expect to hit a

few more snafus.

“I would just say prepare to put in thousands and thousands of hour,

which is what these people did at our charter school, as well as a

significant investment,” she said.

Opening a traditional public school in Capistrano costs upward of $1

million, an amount a charter school may not have handy, Laroe said.

Managing the finances is often the most difficult task for people

trying to start a charter school, said Colin Miller, a consultant for the

California Department of Education. While they may have tremendous

creative vision, they can be lacking a bit of business savvy.

Location has been another tough issue for many of California’s 321

charter schools, Miller said. Unless a school district has extra space,

it is not required to provide a charter school with facilities.

In Newport-Mesa, there are options on where the school could go

because the district owns several properties it leases out, but it would

be difficult to wrest one of those away from leaseholders, such as

Coastline College.

“The biggest challenge is managing the business side of the school and

understanding that they are part of public school and do have a lot of

accountability in terms of financial aspects,” Miller said.

Regardless of the hurdles that stand between charter school advocates

and their dream school, the idea of taking over some of the control held

by the state is what has many calling the schools the wave of the future.

“It is an opportunity for people to try out ideas, and as the state

continues to micro-manage I can understand parents who don’t want to be

in such a rigid, dictated system,” Laroe said. “Maybe charter schools are

an outlet for those who want more local control.”