by David Safier
As I've been saying recently, things are going to be hopping in the charter school arena during this school year. We're going to see more stories about charter schools as well as cries for changes, regulations and legislation. The big question is, where will those cries be coming from, and what will they be asking for?
Here's an early shot across the bow. The Arizona Charter Schools Association sent an email addressed to "Charter School Leaders" about a lawsuit it will be filing next week.
The email, which you can read by following the link at the end, is short on details. This is about as specific as it gets:
The email promises a website will be up soon with the details.
A bit of information about the Arizona Charter Schools Association is in order, to put its agenda, and the lawsuit, in context. ACSA is a non-governmental organization set up to support and assist the state's charter schools. I can't find any information on the website to say where its funding comes from, but based on what I know about these associations, most likely, lots of it comes from national organizations and foundations.
Judging from the people in charge, ACSA has a decidedly conservative slant. Here are 4 of the 8 members of its board of directors:
- Ken Bennett, AZ Secretary of State (Republican)
- Lisa Graham Keegan, Republican legislator who was a main sponsor of the 1994 charter schools legislation, then AZ Superintendent of Education who oversaw the birth of charter schools, and most recently McCain's educational advisor on his presidential campaign.
- Clint Bolick, head of Constitutional Litigation at the Goldwater Institute
- Jay Heiler, President of Great Hearts Academies, a group of AZ charter schools. In a 1992 article about Heiler being hired to help Gov. Fife Symington shape policies, the Phoenix New Times wrote, "In the early Eighties, Heiler was one in a series of students who took
over the [ASU] paper and used its editorial pages to push their conservative
bent-attacking liberal professors, homosexuals and others." In a 2003 issue of the AZ Republic, he listed his favorite columnists
as Peggy Noonan and Christopher Hitchens, and said "Forget it" when
asked if he had any favorite columnists in the political center.
Other members are Raena James, Principal of La Paloma Academy, and Eileen Sigmund, co-founder of BASIS Schools. The other two people are Susan Chan and Rick Ogston, who I don't know.
The association clearly has a conservative bent. That's important to know, since the types of changes it pushes for will likely be those that appeal to conservatives.
Here is the full email from the Arizona Charter Schools Association.
I am writing today to inform you of a historic civil rights lawsuit that is scheduled to be filed in Maricopa Superior Court next week. The lawsuit focuses on student equity within Arizona's system of education finance and will seek declaratory relief that the method for financing public education in public schools violates the Arizona Constitution. The plaintiffs are the parents of public school children (both charter and district) and they are filing on behalf of their children. Grant Woods, former Arizona Attorney General, and Tim Casey, a former partner with Snell & Wilmer and now at a smaller firm, will represent the Plaintiffs.
Arizona has over one million public school children who are not funded equitably. In the coming days a website will be available for those interested to see actual numbers/graphs that will explain the disparities in student funding. However, the purpose of this email is to ask for your support, which will be critical to our success. The talk of student equity is nothing new to you or policymakers, and many battles over the topic have occurred. Education policies that create disparities will continue to fester if we do not ask the Court to decide this threshold question: Should Arizona value its students equitably? Sitting back and waiting for the legislature's decision on how to fund students has proven the disparities continue to widen.
Here are some of the basic questions we have been asked and answers surrounding the lawsuit:
Why file a lawsuit instead of working through the legislative process?
Over 29 years old, Arizona's current system of school finance wrongly and illegally denies equal resources, equal educational opportunities, and a uniform public education to Arizona schoolchildren. We are well aware that filing a lawsuit may anger our very supporters at the Capitol; however, we are asking our legislature to work with us to solve this problem. If the legislature advances a policy that equitably funds students, the lawsuit can be stopped.
For two years, the Association has researched and reviewed a student equity lawsuit. The lawsuit was put on "active consideration" within that time as the Association Board and Advisory Council assessed whether charter student funding could be protected by simply educating our legislators – that is not the case.
Though the lawsuit may be seen as controversial, our Arizona Constitution mandates that funding public schools is a state responsibility and charges the legislature to maintain a "general and uniform" system of schools. Unfortunately, we see the student disparity gap widening as we look ahead to the FY2011 legislative session and its corresponding budget.
Who are the plaintiffs and what do they seek?
The Plaintiffs are parents of children enrolled in both district and charter schools throughout Arizona. They will seek a Court order declaring that the Arizona Constitution requires the State of Arizona to finance education in public schools in a nondiscriminatory manner.
Who are the defendants?
The State of Arizona, the State Board of Education, and Tom Horne (in his official capacity as the Superintendent of Public Instruction).
How is the Association involved?
The Association is an advocate for quality education and works on behalf of Arizona's 502 charter schools and 100,000+ students. The Association, along with private funders, has dedicated funding for the lawsuit to elevate this critical issue to the public policy agenda. The Association is committed to seeing that an equitable, quality education is provided for all public students in the state. Please note: only foundation dollars are being used to fund this lawsuit.
How will the lawsuit impact us/our school?
As a school, the filing of the lawsuit will not impact you. Schools are not suing, parents are the plaintiffs.
While our schools and the charter community are always top priorities for us, this lawsuit is a way to give ALL of Arizona's public school children better opportunities by focusing the attention of our policies directly on the student. More specifics will be provided when the lawsuit is filed, but for right now, we really value your opinion and would like to hear from you.
Please take a moment to let us know if you support or have concerns about the student equity lawsuit by emailing or calling 602.944.0644 X 307.
Sincerely,
The Arizona Charter Schools Association
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Don’t know how they expect people to call in supporting the lawsuit if they don’t give any details about the lawsuit. Hmmmmm. I’ll bet the traditional public school kids will end up with the short end of the stick. Wonder how they got some traditional district parents to go along with this lawsuit? Well, we’ll see.