The foundation of public education rests in the fact that all children deserve an equal chance at learning.
It?s part of the American Dream, a key link in the social mobility ladder and fundamental to the survival of any republic.
But in recent years the Baltimore City Public School System has treated some students worse than others by funding one group, those attending charter schools, at half the level of the rest.
The state?s highest court ended that malicious practice this week. It ruled 7-2 that schoolboards must live up to state Board of Education guidelines calling for equal spending for charter school students.
Charter schools are public schools that operate independently of the system. They are held to the same federal and state standards as other public schools, but administrators at them have more autonomy in how they choose curriculum, teach it and in how they allocate money.
The city raised the amount of money charter students would receive next year. But it still left a gap. This Court of Appeals ruling means charter schools now have an equal chance to compete with other public schools to provide the best education for students throughout the state and particularly in Baltimore City, where more students attend charter schools than in the rest of the state combined. Next year about 5,400 Baltimore students will attend 22 charter schools.
The point of allowing charters is to give parents and students more choice about which environment best suits a child?s development. A report released earlier this year by the BCPSS shows that many charter schools have promise. Some have done extremely well, like KIPP Ujima Village Academy, a charter middle school whose students best the rest of the state?s seventh and eighth graders in math. And the report shows they may be recruiting new students into the system.
The only hitch with the ruling is that it upheld the state Board of Education?s right to set guidelines and the need to follow them. If the SBE changes its interpretation of “commensurate,” charters could lose money. For that reason, the SBE must not bow to pressure from state lawmakers and others opposed to charter schools to amend its guidelines.
Those charters that succeed offer a great opportunity to serve as models for how all public schools operate. They deserve a fighting chance. Only those who care more for protecting their jobs than educating students oppose them.
