PolicyReport

School of ChoiceHow state legislation affects Chicago families

by Collin Hitt

In 1997, Chicago International Charter School (CICS) opened its doors as part of a bold new experiment in public education. By allowing principals the freedom to manage, teachers the freedom to teach, and parents the freedom to choose, charter schools like Chicago International seek to end the cycle of failure in Chicago’s public schools.

Eleven years later, charter schools are no longer an experiment. They’re a proven success. Chicago is now home to 29 charter schools with more than 50 campuses, serving more than 10,000 students; and as Chicago Public Schools recently reported, charters are outperforming comparable public schools on four out of five measures of student performance.

The schools have also proven to be incredibly popular with parents. There are more than 12,000 families on waiting lists to enroll their children in one of Chicago’s charter schools, and in a recent poll, 25 percent of Illinois families specifically listed charter schools as their first choice in education.

On the surface, the sky seems to be the limit for the Chicago charter school movement. Unfortunately, charter schools face an arbitrary glass ceiling and will be unable to reach new heights unless state law is changed.

This fall, Amandla, a new charter school, will open on Chicago’s South Side. Due to current restrictions, Amandla will also be Chicago’s last new charter school. State law arbitrarily limits Chicago’s number of charter schools, and Amandla has received Chicago’s 30th and final charter.

For years, advocates of charter schools and parental choice have urged lawmakers to lift this cap. The General Assembly has been slow to act, and it is unlikely that the law will be changed in time for new charter schools to be approved to open in Chicago for the 2009-2010 school year.

In the meantime, however, hope is not completely lost for the thousands of Chicago families on waiting lists. State law allows many existing charter schools in Chicago—those that opened before 2003— to expand the number of campuses they operate, as long as they have the approval of Chicago Public Schools. CPS has proven eager to help some of the city’s best charter schools including CICS,

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University of Chicago Charter Schools, and ASPIRA to open new campuses and serve a greater number of Chicago families. Many, like Chicago International, have planned new campuses for these communities across Chicago: Grand Crossing, West Town, Marquette Park, and Washington Heights. Despite these schools’ successes, state lawmakers have sought to end this lifeline to Chicago families as well. Last year, a state representative introduced legislation to outlaw further growth of charter schools, maintaining that campus replication was an exploitation of a loophole in state law. Her fellow repre-sentatives, thankfully, disagreed and defeated the bill on the House floor. Again in 2008, however, similar legislation was introduced by a state representative whose district is home to a charter school campus, a campus that would have never opened had this legislation been law from the beginning.

The effort to block charters is an affront to the families who are literally lining up for the chance at a better education. Campus replication has been pivotal in allowing charter schools to meet the unique needs of Chicago’s communities.

Since 1997, when CICS Bucktown and CICS Longwood first opened their doors, Chicago International has opened nine new campuses serving more than 4,500 students. Perspectives Charter Schools now operates multiple campuses. Noble Street Charter School operates five campuses. ASPIRA, UNO, and the University of Chicago now operate four campuses each. None of this growth would have been possible had the proposed legislation been law since the beginning.

Today, 30 new campuses are set to open in Chicago over the next several years in order to serve more than 10,000 students1. Legislation that bans campus replication would undermine this planned growth and shortchange Chicago families. Parents and educators must urge lawmakers to halt attempts to harm efforts to improve public education through charter schools.

Moreover, parents and educators should urge lawmakers to allow Chicago’s charter school movement to reach its full potential. The arbitrary and restrictive cap of 30 on the number of charter schools permitted to open in Chicago is pitifully low. Unless

a greater number of charters are made available to Chicago, there will be no hope for the Knowledge is Power Program to build upon its successful KIPP Ascend Campus in Lawndale, or for schools such as Connections Academy to come to town, or for unique home-grown charter schools to open in the city’s neighborhoods. The waiting lists, meanwhile, will continue to grow, denying parents the opportunity to choose high-quality education for their children.

It is time for charter schools to play a larger role in public education. They will not be allowed to do so until changes are made to the current restrictive state law. Parents and educators must contact their lawmakers and tell them the time for change, the time for more charter schools and better choices, has come.

Collin Hitt is director of education policy studies

at the Illinois Policy Institute. He can be reached

at collin@illinoispolicyinstitute.org

1 Source: Illinois Network of Charter Schools

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