N.C. charter scrutiny getting tougher?

There's a new crew vetting the latest batch of N.C. charter applications,  and the early signs hint that they're tough judges.

Seventy-one boards applied to open charter schools in 2015-16.  Panels are currently reviewing those applications,  each of which can be more than 100 pages,  to recommend which should be interviewed by the new N.C. Charter School Advisory Board.

So far those subcommittees,  made up of advisory board members,  N.C. Office of Charter Schools staff and hired consultants,  have reviewed 24 applications and endorsed only eight, according to a tally kept by Eddie Goodall of the N.C. Public Charter Schools Association.  The advisory board,  made up mostly of charter school leaders,  will meet as a whole this spring to decide who actually gets an interview and which applications are recommended for approval by the N.C. Board of Education.

On Monday I listened in as a subcommittee reviewed two Charlotte applicants:  FOCUS Charter School and Heritage Learning Academy.

The FOCUS board wants to open a high school in west Charlotte's Severville neighborhood.  It would cater to students who have been incarcerated or failed ninth grade,  according to its application.  The school would have a STEAM theme  (science, technology, engineering, arts and math),  and groups of no more than 25 students would work together in 20-day instructional sessions.

Advisory board members Helen Nance, Paul Norcross and Mike McLaughlin and charter school staff Robin Kendall and Deanna Townsend-Smith said the group has an innovative approach for meeting a serious need.  Panelists praised the strong board and the positive attitude toward working with at-risk teens.

But they questioned the plan to mix what sounds like an alternative school with a STEAM program catering to the general population.  They voiced doubts about the staffing and the plans for 12th graders to finish at Central Piedmont Community College.  Several said the plan to open with 600 students in grade 9-11,  expanding to 800 in 9-12 the second year,  is too big for this kind of start-up.

In the end,  panelists said they hope this group will revamp its plan and bring it back next year,  but they didn't recommend that FOCUS get an interview this year.  "There are just too many questions,"  Kendall said.

The group was even more critical of the Heritage Learning Academy plan,  which was rated  "inadequate"  in many categories.  That board wants to open a K-12 school,  starting with about 150 elementary students the first year,  in southwest Charlotte.  The application said the school would relieve crowding in CMS' Berryhill and Reid Park K-8 schools.

The Heritage plan is based on the Charlotte Mason education model,  which the application describes as "developing the habit of narration"  and using  "relational education"  to develop each student's talents.

Subcommittee members said the application didn't explain the method clearly enough,  didn't articulate how it would be different from what students can get in CMS,  didn't describe the demographics of the students the school hopes to serve and didn't include specific,  measurable academic goals.  They voiced concerns that salaries budgeted seemed unrealistically low,  that the bylaws lacked a clear conflict-of-interest policy and that the board didn't bring enough financial know-how to run a school.

Not surprisingly,  the subcommittee didn't recommend an interview for Heritage, either.

How this plays out remains to be seen.  Last year's charter advisory panel got 70 applications,  eliminated 25 as incomplete,  interviewed 45 and recommended approval for 26.

Some charter critics had complained that the new advisory board,  appointed by the state legislature last fall,  might be too easy on applicants because it was so heavy on charter administrators and board members.  Instead,  those members seem to be trying to strike a balance between expanding access to charters while screening out applicants they believe aren't ready to pull of a venture they know is difficult.

"You've got charter school leaders who have excellent charter schools,"  Goodall said.  "They know what they're doing and it's pretty tough for an applicant."

Staying Ahead Carolina? What's that?

Ever been to a great party where no one seems to know the host? Saturday's panel on the future of public education felt a bit like that.

McIntyre

I made the rare choice to cover a weekend event based on the timeliness of the topic and the quality of the speakers. The focus was on choices, challenges and change in the Charlotte region,  landing at a tumultuous time when the 2014-15 school choice season is on the horizon.  Ellen McIntyre, dean of the UNC Charlotte College of Education, moderated a panel consisting of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Heath Morrison; state Rep. Rob Bryan, co-sponsor of the N.C. voucher bill and co-chair of a panel on teacher compensation; Eddie Goodall of the N.C. Public Charter Schools Association and Bill Anderson of MeckEd.

The turnout was big enough that the event was shifted from a 100-seat conference room to a bigger auditorium.  I saw many of the usual movers and shakers in the education scene,  plus new faces.

So I was feeling kind of dumb:  Why hadn't I heard of Staying Ahead Carolina, the host organization?

But when I mingled and chatted before the event, I couldn't find anyone else who was familiar with the group.  One person speculated that it was part of CarolinaCAN, a recently-created North Carolina spinoff of a national education reform group.  Someone else said it was  "a front for MeckEd."  Even McIntyre was confused.

Brown

None of the theories were correct.  Sabrina Brown,  who works in marketing,  started the social networking group seven years ago.  There was always a theme of learning more about Charlotte,  she said,  but at first it was mostly about meeting people, making contacts and exploring the city.  Staying Ahead started getting sponsorships to do forums on such topics as arts,  entertainment and health.  It now has more than 500 members and an advisory board,  Brown said,  and the education panel was its first foray into a wider community outreach.  Carolina STEM Academy,  a charter school that has been approved to open in 2014,  and Melange Health Solutions sponsored the Saturday forum.

The discussion was lively and informative enough that I didn't regret giving up a sunny Saturday morning.  I'll look forward to any other contributions Staying Ahead might make to the local scene.

No slowdown in Charlotte-area charter interest

I'm starting to sound like a broken record:  Mecklenburg County again dominates the state in charter-school interest,  based on letters of intent to seek charters for 2015-16.  The N.C. Office of Charter Schools got 170 letters by Friday's deadline,  and 43 were for Mecklenburg. Another 20 were for surrounding counties; charters can take students across county lines.

Next highest was Wake with 20,  then Durham and Guilford with 12 each.

That doesn't mean that many new schools will open,  of course.  This is just the first step in a long process.  Full applications are due Dec. 6.  They'll be reviewed by a charter school advisory board,  with the state Board of Education making the final decision about which will be approved for state,  local and federal money.  The state got 156 letters of intent for 2014 charters,  with 70 full applications that were eventually whittled to the 26 that just won approval. Eleven of those are in Mecklenburg and surrounding counties.

Students at Invest Collegiate, a charter that opened in uptown Charlotte in August

The big question is why the Charlotte region is spawning so much interest in charters,  which are alternative public schools run by independent boards.  Critics of CMS say it's dissatisfaction with district schools,  which still serve about 80 percent of the county's school-age children.  School board Chairman Mary McCray disagrees.  She noted that CMS already offers many of the themes that charter schools are touting,  from math-science magnets to credit-recovery programs for at-risk teens.

"They are basing their themes on us,"  McCray said.  "It's not like we're copying them."

Eddie Goodall of Union County,  a former state senator who now heads the N.C. Public Charter Schools Association,  theorizes that it boils down to risk and reward.  There are plenty of potential students in Charlotte and its suburbs,  while less densely populated areas pose a bigger risk of failing to draw enough students to survive.  Meanwhile,  counties that provide more for their local school district also channel a per-pupil share when students go to charters,  making the potential reward richer in Mecklenburg than in poorer rural counties.

Probably true  --  but it still doesn't explain why the densely populated Triangle area,  with all its higher education, high-tech and government resources,  isn't spawning a similar level of would-be school entrepreneurs.