Gubernatorial Candidates Weigh In On Charter Schools

Republicans running for governor want to get rid of restrictions on how many charter schools Tennessee can have, and who can enroll in them.

Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey argues charters can provide badly needed competition for traditional public schools.

“If I’m the only auction company in northeast Tennessee, I can provide a lousy product and charge whatever I want, and that’s what’s going on in our inner cities right now. If you look a Davidson County, if you look at Shelby County, we have some terrible schools. So that’s the reason I’m a proponent of charter schools, to provide some competition.”

Under current law, no more than 90 charter schools are allowed in the state. The law also limits enrollment to students attending under-performing schools, those making bad grades, or who are from low-income families.

Democratic candidates have called for a more cautious approach, saying the state shouldn’t expand charters further until it knows more about their effects.

MORE FROM OTHER HOPEFULS IN THE GUBERNATORIAL RACE:

Democrats:

Former state house majority leader Kim McMillan’s campaign offered the following:

“I believe public charter schools can offer unique opportunities for educational and personal growth but we must have a system of checks and balances and limitations so as not to take away from the support and funding of our traditional public school system. The original charter school bill and the subsequent revisions were a collaborative effort to explore ways to increase educational opportunities for Tennessee students with special interests and needs while allowing for supervision of growth and accountability of success of the public charter school model. As Governor, I will support the current law and would not seek to change it unless it is proven to be unsuccessful.”

Jackson businessman Mike McWherter wrote:

“In general I support the concept of charter schools. But while I do support current law, I think it’s important that, in the interest of ensuring all students are receiving a quality education, that we step back and measure the success of existing charter schools before we press ahead to expand with more.”

Jim Kyle, the Democratic leader in the state senate, called charters a positive innovator and a “measuring stick against public schools,” but argued charter schools sap funds from traditional schools by sloughing them with administrative chores.

“One of the reasons they’re able to be as creative as they are is because our school systems still have to do all the administrative work for the charter schools. All the charter school folks do is teach.”

Examples Kyle gave for administrative work included reports for No Child Left Behind and personnel, as well as withholding social security taxes.

“All the work you see done for children in public schools that is not classroom related, our school systems are still doing those for our charter schools.”

Kyle argued for that reason the state should tread cautiously when it comes to charter schools.

Republicans:

In addition to Ramsey (story above), Memphis District Attorney Bill Gibbons says he’d like to lift the cap on charter schools.

And Chattanooga Congressman Zach Wamp wrote:

“Charter school options should be expanded to allow innovations in all systems, not just those systems that currently qualify with more than 14,000 students or have historically failing schools.
“I also support looking at all options for online learning, including changing the law that restricts online charter schools to allow for statewide online initiatives, as long as quality and cost concerns are met and rural districts are not hurt by the changes.
“While I applaud the legislature’s recent moves to allow more charter schools in our state, more needs to be done. If there are educational success models that work, even at lower costs, then we should encourage and allow them in Tennessee.”

Rounding out the Republican field is Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam, whose campaign provided the following:

“Mayor Haslam strongly supports charter schools because innovation and choice are vital components of a successful education system. He released his education platform in October, and the plan calls for the development of a statewide charter school incubator to support the creation of high quality local charter schools. He also opposes restrictions such as the cap on the number of charter schools allowed in the state and restrictions on who can enroll in charter schools, and as governor he will advocate for their removal.”

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