by Erik Huey

In response to Pat Hickey's recent op-ed on charter schools, please allow me to rebut a few items... with facts.

First, let me direct your attention to the Washington Post, where education reporter Valerie Strauss points out the backlash against charter schools:

This country is nearly 30 years into an experiment with charter schools, which are publicly financed but privately operated, sometimes by for-profit companies. Supporters first described charters as competitive vehicles to push traditional public schools to reform. Over time, that narrative changed and charters were wrapped into the zeitgeist of "choice" for families whose children wanted alternatives to troubled district schools.

Charters are one of the reasons why teachers in Los Angeles recently walked the picket lines. It is a reason why teachers in Oakland are raising their voices. And in Virginia. And in Denver. Here in Southern Nevada, the issue is just as convoluted as ever, with no easy solution.

Pat Hickey, who heads the Charter School Association of Nevada, recently wrote:

Charter schools are different, and many Nevadans don't understand them. Some think they are private schools that don't serve all students. That simply isn't true. Charters are tuition-free public schools that provide high-quality innovative instruction to meet students' diverse needs.

I know Mr. Hickey wasn't intentionally trying to insult the intelligence of our citizenry but permit me, if I may, to briefly opine: We completely understand them...more than you know, sir.

• We know that lotteries keep some students out.
• We know that special education kids are not given the services they need.
• We know that discrimination, including racial discrimination, runs rampant within some charters.
• We know that some charters are quick to suspend or expel behavior students.
• We know that some charters that haven't proven themselves have shut their doors, leaving students out in the cold.
• We know that in upper North Las Vegas, charters are eating into the bottom line of adjacent or nearby CCSD schools.
• We know that charter teachers and staff are not unionized and can be let go (and have) without recourse or due process.
• We know that student achievement is a concern, and graduation rates among some charters are an even bigger concern.
• And with all that, and then some, we know that some charters are taking public money, and acting like private schools.

...and that's just a start.

Hickey:

We should not abandon our local district schools. We do have a responsibility to address their unique needs, as your call for a "weighted funding formula" will attempt to do. Yet public charter schools are also a cost-effective part of the education solution. Bipartisan legislation passed in 1997 to enable charter schools to experiment in providing a public school option. Now, in 2019, charter schools are a tested and proven approach that should inspire us to explore partnerships, not turf battles, on how to share best practices with underperforming Nevada schools.

But indeed it has become a turf battle. When Review-Journal columnist Victor Joecks waxes poetic about charters yet simultaneously attacks public education regularly, that's a turf battle. Lines in the sand are already being drawn, and it's hurting more than helping.

If public education were properly funded in Nevada, there would be no need for charters. If public education were properly funded nationwide, there would be no need for charters. In fact, the Clark County School District has an excellent array of award-winning magnet offerings that parents can select from and that the community can be proud of.

But until that happens, until we see a larger cry for accountability, we will continue to see this play out nationwide. And here in Nevada, where the state has allowed unchecked charters to operate with little oversight, things will not change anytime soon unless there is a public outcry.

Erik Huey is a retired CCSD teacher and a former journalist who resides in North Las Vegas. Huey is the editor and publisher of the blog, Clark County School Watch (clarkcountyschoolwatch.wordpress.com).