Dayton Feels The Heat From Charter Schools
In the blighted West Side of this city, Residence Park Primary School is now just a distant memory. However, inside the faded brick building that used to house it, a new school has emerged. A vibrant banner hangs across the front of the building, declaring its transformation into a charter school named "WOW! World of Wonder Accelerated Learning Community School." The hallways and classrooms of the school reflect the excitement captured in the banner. A warm and inviting atmosphere fills this place, where greetings often come in the form of hugs. Even the daily two-hour literacy block becomes a cozy time for children to snuggle up next to a teacher or sprawl out on the carpet with a book.
World of Wonder is one of twelve charter schools that have opened in this economically struggling Rust Belt city in the past three years. At the same time, eight regular public schools have shut down. The resulting competition for students is putting a strain on the Dayton public school system. Currently, fifteen percent of the district’s school-age population, which amounts to 3,700 children, attend charter schools. As a result, the district’s budget is being drained by $19 million this year in state funding that follows these children, out of a total budget of $250 million.
This loss is particularly significant in a district that is also losing students to private schools, a privately funded school voucher program, declining birthrates, and middle-class families moving away. Since 1981, enrollment has dropped by 33 percent to 20,500 students this year.
Dayton’s experience reflects the challenges that urban districts face when coexisting with charter schools. Charter schools are public schools that operate with more freedom from district regulations. With the number of charters increasing nationwide, with 2,400 schools enrolling 580,000 students, the dynamics of this coexistence become increasingly important. How should districts respond to the loss of funding as alternative schools multiply? Can the loss of students trigger positive changes within the school system, as proponents of school choice argue? And will these changes be enough to retain families in district schools?
In a district burdened by poverty and low achievement, Dayton’s response to charter schools is an ongoing narrative that is slowly shifting towards a more positive tone. Instead of viewing charter schools as threats or dismissing their significance, district leaders now recognize that students’ migration to charter schools reveals the failures of the traditional public schools. This acknowledgment compels them to make improvements. A newly unified district administration has launched initiatives to elevate student achievement in Dayton, which ranks among the lowest in Ohio. The hope is that these efforts will help rebuild the student population.
"We are aware that in order to remain competitive, we must demonstrate our ability to educate children," said Jerrie L. Bascome McGill, a soft-spoken veteran of the Dayton schools who now serves as superintendent. "I cannot deny that charter schools have pushed us to improve. However, it is only fitting and necessary that we do so."
The impact of charter school growth varies depending on factors such as the size and population trends of a district. Additionally, whether or not a district sponsors charter schools influences its perspective. Some districts view charter schools as a threat and invest significant time and energy into opposing them. In contrast, other districts embrace charter schools as catalysts for change. These differing approaches can be observed in various large urban districts where charter school activity is concentrated.
Fiscal Drain
Before the first charter school opened in Dayton in 1999, there was a lot of discussion and debate about the topic in the district. Some leaders believed that the district should run its own charters to prevent students from leaving. However, this idea did not gain support from the school board or the community. According to officials, reactions to the idea ranged from curiosity to outright dislike, with some blaming the charters for the district’s problems. Bonnie Smith, a long-time teacher and principal in Dayton, left her district job to run the Dayton Academy, a charter K-7 school, after facing opposition.
Currently, the district sponsors only one charter school, the World of Wonder, but it does not operate it. This means that the district does not receive any state aid for the students attending the charter school. Smith recalls being told by district administrators that her charter school would fail and that she would not have enough students. She even had a board member tell her that they would have a job for her once they shut down her charter school. However, these predictions about charters were proven wrong. In fact, the success of charter schools in Dayton has had a significant impact on the district.
The decline in enrollment, partly due to charter schools, has led to significant cutbacks in the district’s administrative, custodial, and support staff. The teaching force has also been reduced through attrition. Additionally, eleven school buildings in the district are currently empty, resulting in high maintenance costs. The decline in enrollment has also put a strain on school transportation, as the district is required to transport all students, public or private, within its boundaries. This requires the district to deploy a large number of buses, and scheduling transportation has become a challenge due to the varying schedules of charters and private schools.
Despite the impact of charters on enrollment, some district employees remain skeptical about their competitive threat. For example, Stephanie Jopson, a teacher at a traditional public school in Dayton, is not concerned about charter schools as she believes they face the same problems as public schools. However, while charter school enrollment may be growing, they do have their own set of challenges. Surveys show that while parents may be satisfied with charter schools in Dayton, their academic performance as a whole lags behind that of regular public schools.
Although there are reports of students returning from charter schools to regular public schools, district leaders in Dayton are not complacent. They believe that they cannot relax until all families choose to stay in the district. The district’s leadership is focused on improving achievement in literacy and mathematics, as well as accountability, student behavior, and professional development. This united effort has set a new tone in the district.
Overall, there is a shift in mindset regarding charter schools in Dayton. Initially, there was enthusiasm for the alternative option, as the regular public schools were considered dysfunctional. However, there is now a realization that educating urban students in one of the poorest cities in the United States is challenging, whether in traditional public schools or charters. People are now coming together to create a viable education system that includes various options.
"We currently have urban districts that are already in a dire situation, and charter advocates are suggesting that we apply leeches," stated Tom Mooney, the president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers. "They continue to apply more leeches without considering the consequences. It’s an outdated solution that will drain the patient completely." The Ohio Federation of Teachers, along with a coalition of other school groups and the Ohio Education Association, are taking legal action against certain aspects of Ohio’s charter school law. They argue that the law violates a section of the state constitution which states that schools will be managed by local, elected boards of education. At the same time, state lawmakers in Columbus are discussing providing additional resources to charter schools and allowing entities other than the state or school districts to obtain charters to operate these schools. Prompted in part by a critical report from the state auditor in February, which highlighted Ohio’s weak oversight of charter schools, legislators are also looking at ways to clarify and strengthen the state’s role.
Amidst districts searching for appropriate responses to the increasing number of schooling options, some experts are skeptical that the competition-based approach to school improvement can result in long-lasting, meaningful progress. Frederick M. Hess, an assistant professor at the University of Virginia, recently conducted a study on three districts and their responses to charters and voucher programs. He believes that the private-sector model is not easily applicable to public-sector entities due to differing incentives between the two sectors. Hess explains that for-profit organizations are driven to pursue improvement relentlessly in order to gain market share, while school administrators are not rewarded for the same. He questions whether real competition is beneficial for schools, suggesting that administrators could be incentivized based on student attendance, but even that may not be advantageous.
Many charter school operators, like those at World of Wonder, believe that their schools can serve as a model for change in traditional public schools. However, some experts in the field doubt that public schools will learn from this example. Ted Kolderie, a senior fellow at the Center for Policy Studies, has been involved in the creation of charter school laws in multiple states. He questions whether traditional school systems are capable of anything beyond incremental change. Kolderie argues that in order to offer true choice, an entirely new system of alternative schools must be established, free from the constraints of the current system. He poses the question of whether school boards see themselves as merely running schools or as education boards providing education in diverse ways.
A visit to World of Wonder Accelerated Learning Community School, which caters to predominantly black and low-income students in grades K-4, clearly illustrates why many charter schools are becoming so popular.
When she became one of the few teachers at Residence Park to continue working after it became a charter school in 1999, Ms. Phibbs had the opportunity to loop right away and determine which grades she enjoys teaching the most. This year, she is teaching 3rd grade. The teachers and administrators collaborate as a team to make decisions regarding the school’s climate and direction. They meet weekly with their resident instructional coach, who provides lunch on paid time, to explore innovative educational strategies.
Ms. Phibbs expressed her belief that if a new idea is in the best interests of the students, the school will work to make it happen. She emphasized the incredible opportunities available to her and praised the administrators for believing in the teachers.
Supporters of the Dayton district’s schools argue that it is possible to create a positive environment in regular public schools, despite the district’s ongoing struggles with quality and credibility. At Franklin Montessori School, a non-charter public school in Dayton that caters to black and white children from low-income families on the East Side, Principal Judith O’Ryan is known for her directness and willingness to cut through bureaucratic obstacles to meet the needs of her staff and families. As a result, parents like Donna LaChance feel welcomed, children feel loved, and teachers feel energized by their work.
Ms. LaChance compares the success of a public school to that of a thriving business, emphasizing the importance of strong leadership, a clear vision, understanding the needs of the students, and a shift in mindset. She has four children attending Franklin and believes that public schools have the potential to achieve this with the right approach.
