GAME-CHANGER: On-line Learning Demand EXCEEDS Current Capacity (Hummm!)

State Senate OKs charter school bill

Amid controversy, 5 other bills also pass

By LORI HIGGINS FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER

   The Michigan Senate passed six bills Thursday that give parents more options for their children’s education, including one that lifts restrictions on the number of cyber charter schools that can open and the number of students that can enroll in them.

   Other bills would provide expanded opportunities for private school students to take public school classes; for public schools to provide programs for private schools, and for public and private students to enroll in both high school and community college at the same time.

   The bills, part of a nine-bill package pushed by Republicans, now move on to the House for consideration. The package has courted controversy from the beginning because the crux of the legislation is about expanding charter schools in Michigan.

   Sen. Patrick Colbeck, R-Canton, said demand is driving the need to expand cyber charter school options. He said the two existing year-old cyber charter schools — where students in grades K-12 take all of their coursework online — have thousands of students on their waiting lists.

   “I think it’s going to be a game-changer for Michigan and our kids,” said Col-beck, who sponsored the cyber charter bill.

   But Sen. Hoon-Yung Hopgood, D-Taylor, who spoke out against the bill during debate, said the Legislature is moving too soon. He said the current restrictions were put in place with the intent that they be lifted if, after two years, the schools demonstrated success. The schools opened in 2010, meaning the two-year mark won’t be reached until this summer.

   “It’s really disappointing that we’re just going to blow the caps off these schools when we don’t have all the information on them,” Hopgood said.

   Colbeck’s bill — which narrowly passed with a 20-18 vote — is a companion to a bill that cleared the Senate Oct. 6 that would lift a cap on the number of charter schools universities can authorize; allow charters to open in high-performing districts, and allow community colleges to authorize charters outside their geographic boundaries. Two more bills are awaiting action in the Senate.

   As a whole, the bills “remove arbitrary obstacles that will allow parents, students, even educators to have greater options for solving our educational problems,” said Dan Quisenberry, president of the Michigan Association of Public School Academies, a charter advocacy group.

   The package has been criticized by many — even some who support charter school options for parents — who say the Legislature is moving to expand charter schools without any statewide quality controls in place to ensure that authorizers and charter school operators with poor track records aren’t allowed to open charters.

   “We’re supportive of expanding choice options for parents but strongly believe that there’s a good way to do that. More bad choices don’t help anyone,” said Dan Varner, executive director of Excellent Schools Detroit, a group pushing for quality schools in Detroit.