Sandoval urges charter school panel to expand parent choices

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Brian Sandoval called for members of a new board overseeing charter school education to provide more choices for parents and children who deserve the right to select the type of education that meets their personal needs.

At the inaugural meeting of the Nevada Public Charter School Authority on Friday, Sandoval said members will ensure that the state's 15 charter schools meet all state academic standards and lead to creation of more and better charter schools.

Because of the approval of a Sandoval-backed bill last year, the Charter School Authority was established to sponsor and oversee charter schools, which are considered public schools in Nevada. They receive the same amount per pupil in state support as do other public schools.

Before creation of the Charter School Authority, local school districts, state universities and colleges and the state Board of Education sponsored and oversaw charter schools.

Criticism had been raised that local districts and the Board of Education did not want to establish more charter schools that would take funds that otherwise would have gone to public schools.

Since 2007, 31 applications to create charter schools have been denied, and 16 were approved. Not all of those opened.

In a brief presentation to the board, Sandoval said creation of more and more charter schools is another of the "ships in the water" that Nevada needs to improve its recesssion-ravaged economy.

"We must provide the best education for children," he added. "Charter schools provide parents and children with choice and the type of education that best meets their needs."

The 15 existing charter schools will be switched to sponsorship of the Charter School Authority, whose seven members were appointed by Sandoval and legislators.

At the meeting, Authority Executive Director Steve Canavero said the charter schools now have 10,500 students, about 4.8 percent of the total public school population.

Nationally about 5 percent of students are enrolled in charter schools.

But Canavero presented the board with some sobering statistics -- particularly those showing the number of Caucasian students attending charter schools is far greater than their percentage of the total school population, while Hispanic and African-American students are underrepresented.

One of the key points made when the state law allowing charter schools passed in 1997 was that minority students would be able to acquire better educations.

The charter school student ethnicity report for 2010-11 showed about 65 percent of charter school students are white, compared with 40 percent in public schools.

Hispanics make up about 40 percent of the public school population but about 18 percent of the charter school population.

Black students make up about 10 percent of the state public school population but 8 percent of the charter school total.

Canavero also said that 26 percent of the charter school population would qualify for free or reduced lunches, compared with 41 percent of the overall public school population, an indication that students from wealthy families are more likely to attend charter schools.

During the meeting, members elected Kathleen Conaboy, who has been a legislative lobbyist for the McDonald Carano Wilson law firm, as the authority's president, and Elissa Wahl, active in the home-school movement, as vice president. Wahl is co-author of "Christian Unschooling: Growing Your Children in the Freedom of Christ."

Conaboy had nominated Robert McCord, a longtime Clark County educator, as president. She said she wanted to avoid any conflict of interest because she has represented the Nevada Virtual Charter School.

But other members said that they were not concerned about a possible conflict and that her government experience was invaluable. She then was elected unanimously.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900.

Trending topics:

• Brian Sandoval
• charter school
• Nevada Public Charter School Au

Comments

Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.

1. Paul Devlin Feb. 11, 2012 | 9:28 a.m. Report Abuse

   Mindfulwhim.... Sierra Nevada Charter IS a Washoe County School District sponsored school. The schools mentioned in this article are STATE sponsored charter schools - not those sponsored by school districts. Your child WAS in public education when they attended there. If your child was gifted, they could have attended the school specifically for gifted students located on the campus of UNR in Reno. The gifted school is a state charter - and the only one in the state. Looks to me like you were just in the wrong educational placement- and not in a bad charter school. Charter schools, like all schools, have the ability to be very good, or very bad. The article points out that multiple schools were just not sound enough to be approved. State Charter Schools is the third largest "school district" in the state. They are all good to outstanding- and yet I know that occasionally a student does not get the educational choice they want. While that is sad, and should be addressed, the charter school movement is growing and is a real ray of hope in the public educational system. There are schools in Las Vegas that are free and the quality is par with very expensive private schools. Schools like Silver State High School in Henderson (which offers student college credit), is exceptionally good. Beacon Academy of Nevada in Las Vegas (which offers totally free personal therapy, counseling and life coaching to students AND PARENTS), made AYP last year and has over 650 students. It's outstanding. The Agassi Charter School (a district sponsored charter), which serves a great deal of minority students has won national awards. It is irresponsible to think that any of these schools is not accountable- they are to the fullest. They are our greatest hope for the future.

2. mindfulwhim Feb. 10, 2012 | 10:33 p.m. Report Abuse

   Charter schools are completley unaccountable to citizens. My child attended Sierra Nevada Academy Charter School in Reno. My child received "C" grades from his teacher. When I found the the school district could not do anything to support my inquiry into the matter because "charter schools are only loosely sponsored by the school district" I withdrew my child and put him in public school. Upon entry to the public school system, my child was tested as "highly gifted" at the 99.9 percentile, and immediately placed in the gifted program. In addition, the Sierra Nevada Academy Charter School lost my child's immunization records. If charter schools are a choice, they are a terrible choice.

3. Oscar.Jones Feb. 10, 2012 | 10:08 p.m. Report Abuse

   The "Caucasian" Students enrolled in the Charter Schools to get away from the underperforming Black and Hispanic students that pull down a Schools standards, and increase the likelyhood of Gangs and Guns, Knives and Drugs popping up at school. There seems to be this agenda from the Minority Pandering Politicians, to put problem students in EVERY school, to even out the Diversity. All they are doing is preventing more serious, more driven students to be pulled down to the Underperforming Standards so ALL students can HAVE a Diploma.

4. BLMoretti Feb. 10, 2012 | 8:54 p.m. Report Abuse

   My son goes to a private school for children who learn differently. they applied for a charter and were denied. Every day there are parents looking for education for their children with learning issues, they hit a wall with the public schools and a charter for those children would be a life saver and help the public schools as well.

5. gbigs Feb. 10, 2012 | 8:47 p.m. Report Abuse

   brian. there is not a school choice if a student is forced into a public school where unions exist. real choice means CHOICE, not some systemic convenience you choose to ignore.

6. Brian Feb. 10, 2012 | 8:41 p.m. Report Abuse

   gbigs, there is already school choice. There are many magnet schools in this district for parents and student to chose their school. And there is no union at all in this state for public schools employees. But ignorance is bliss, right?

7. gbigs Feb. 10, 2012 | 8:02 p.m. Report Abuse

   school choice, esp vouchers are the ONLY way to recover the disaster in public schools. breaking up union power over schools is the only way keep bad teachers and schools from damaging kids. kudos to sandoval on this one.