Yahoo Finance Board of Ed renews charter contracts, as CTU threatens strikes at 2 schools
Ahead of a Chicago Board of Education vote Thursday on renewing contracts with 49 publicly funded charter schools, supporters, including parents, educators and advocates, rallied to demand longer renewal terms than the one to four years Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez recommended. The board later approved each proposed renewal agreement in a series of unanimous votes, with two abstentions.
Earlier, at the rally, charter parents and educators said the lack of a long-term outlook on the future of their students’ schools is disruptive to learning.
“We’ve followed CPS’ protocol for renewal, and we’ve proved that we deserve to be here for the long term. I shouldn’t have to worry about this,” said Myisha Shields, a parent of two kids attending Mansueto High School, one of 17 in the Noble Schools charter network. “As parents, we demand a strong renewal term so that we can feel secure and stable about our children’s education.”
The cumulative 49 charter school campuses up for renewal are run by 12 separate charter school operators and educate 28,000 CPS students, according to district Chief Portfolio Officer Alfonso Carmona.
The charter renewal decisions Thursday were the first made by board members appointed by Mayor Brandon Johnson who’ve expressed interest in holding underperforming charter schools more accountable. The votes came amid a debate regarding charter school accountability — and, according to Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates, the possibility of February strikes at two of the charter schools in question.
“I’m not here to fight any Black or brown mother’s attempts to make their life to be a little easier,” Davis Gates said, regarding charter school parents who last week delivered letters to Johnson and rallied outside CPS headquarters Thursday morning.
Rather, CTU members negotiate for fair pay and establish a “base line” in district schools, Davis Gates said.
“We have had to literally negotiate in our charters’ language for them to follow the law,” she said of special education services.
At Instituto Justice and Leadership Academy, a charter school in Pilsen receiving newcomer students, according to Davis Gates, CTU members are bargaining for bilingual services.
“We need to establish a base line and that base line has to be across the board: Any school you go in, in Chicago Public Schools, has to have music, art and world language teachers. You should have a fall and winter and spring sports programs; a band or orchestra,” she said.
Charter contracts for high-performing schools can be renewed for up to 10 years in Illinois, according to Andrew Broy, president of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools.
But only charter schools that meet or exceed financial and academic standards and operate at the highest levels of performance — in regard to discipline and the supports and services provided to diverse and English learners — are eligible for a maximum 10-year renewal, district Chief Portfolio Officer Carmona said at Thursday’s board meeting.
CPS adopted five years as a standard term last year, when officials presented the findings of audits showing shortcomings in schools’ academic and financial performance and supports and services provided to diverse and English language learners. Operators that don’t meet standards receive terms of less than five years, officials said. CPS’ nine-month review of renewal applications involves multiple site visits and an in-depth analysis of school data, officials said Thursday.
The district’s review this year showed mixed results, with notable growth in English and math proficiency among some charter schools — and ongoing issues in student experiences.
“I’m elated to see that schools are doing well academically and financially, but I want kids to enjoy going to school every day, where we see … a reduction in exclusionary discipline, an actual improvement in our services for Special Ed students,” board President Jianan Shi said.
Board Vice President Elizabeth Todd-Breland said “a higher level of scrutiny” should be applied to charters, as private entities receiving public funds.
According to Chicago International Charter Schools teacher Jen Conant, chair of CTU’s charter division, the shorter terms have been a step in the right direction, but the renewal process lacks teeth.
“A few years ago, charter operators were given seemingly automatic renewals for five to 10 years. ... It’s clear that this board and CPS are taking seriously their responsibility to provide oversight of charter schools,” she said of the shortened lengths. But, Conant added, “It seems like charter operators can be renewed for multiple years, even if they do not meet standards.”
Broy said short renewal terms put schools on an “administrative treadmill,” which makes it harder to meet objectives.
“Writing the application is very burdensome and detracts from the school’s focus on educating students,” he said.
In response to letters from charter school parents urging fair terms when the Board votes Thursday, the Johnson administration issued a statement that did not address charters specifically.
“The Johnson administration believes in investing in neighborhood schools so that all of Chicago’s families have the choice to send their children to fully-funded, well-resourced, and celebrated schools in their community,” the mayor’s office said in the statement. “As a former public schoolteacher, Mayor Johnson knows firsthand the harm that sustained disinvestment has on Chicago’s communities and youth. Furthermore, as the father of three CPS students, the Mayor is personally invested in ensuring the success of Chicago’s public school system.”
Among the board’s unanimous votes to renew each of the 12 charter contracts expiring in June, Todd-Breland abstained from voting on a three-year renewal contract with Art in Motion, a creative and performing arts school in the South Shore neighborhood, and board member Mary Fahey Hughes abstained from voting on the Chicago High School for the Arts’ two-year renewal.
