Charter schools see boom in signups

This is a key benefit of charter schools that is often overlooked because it's hard to measure: that they spur improvement in the regular schools!  Hard to see someone from the Detroit Public Schools saying (and doing) something like this in the absence of charters:

"We are trying to change how we do business," Oguntoyinbo said. "We are working twice, maybe three times harder than ever to prove public schools are the best options."

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Charter schools see boom in signups

Urban districts like Detroit feel pain from charters' 13% gain in enrollment in Michigan.

Doug Guthrie / The Detroit News

December 19, 2005

Fall enrollment in charter schools statewide reached a four-year high this year, with most of the gains coming from the state's urban districts, such as Detroit, Flint and Grand Rapids.

Charter enrollment statewide rose to 91,000 students, a 13 percent increase, according to figures released last week by the Michigan Association of Public School Academies.

In Detroit, where authorities predict the public school system may have lost up to 10,000 students since last school year, charter school enrollment surged 22.5 percent.

Charter school enrollment will likely surpass 100,000 next year, as parents increasingly perceive them as better serving the needs of their children, said Dan Quisenberry, president of the Association of Public School Academies.

Barbara Williams pulled her daughter, Euneka, out of the first grade in a Detroit school and placed her in a charter school four years ago after she grew frustrated with school administrators.

"The Detroit Public Schools were too large for me. They didn't know how to communicate with me or my daughter," Williams said. "They said they were trying to change and I saw them falling behind."

Parents see charter schools as safer, more personal and more connected with individual needs -- something the public schools should be copying, said Margaret Trimmer Hartley, spokeswoman for the state's largest teacher union, the Michigan Education Association.

Lekan Oguntoyinbo, spokesman for Detroit Public Schools, said academic standards are higher in Detroit's schools than in many charter schools. Teachers are better qualified and better paid, and students have greater academic, extracurricular and athletic opportunities, he said.

The district takes some of the blame for the perception that charter schools are better, Oguntoyinbo said.

"For many years, we did not do a good enough job of telling our story," Oguntoyinbo said. "A lot of parents don't know how much progress we have made."

Some charters in Detroit have gained more students despite poor academic performance. Joy Preparatory Academy performed worse than Detroit schools on the Michigan Educational Assessment Program tests. Yet the charter school doubled its enrollment this fall to 293 students.

Williams, whose 10-year-old daughter is fifth-grader at Joy Preparatory, said the charter school's academic standing hasn't hurt her daughter.

"All schools have issues, whether it's Detroit Public Schools, Catholic or Lutheran," Williams said. "What I like about this school is I think they really care about the kids. It's a smaller school. I have a rapport with every administrator in the building. I like that."

Kelly Updike, of the Leona Group, which manages several charter schools in Metro Detroit including Joy Preparatory, said a safe environment and family-friendly small schools with personalized instruction are what most parents say they are looking for.

"In our urban schools, the majority of children who come to us are a couple of grade levels below where they should be," Updike said. "It takes time to change that and some tests scores can't measure the many aspects required to serve the whole child."

Detroit is addressing the safety issue through more surveillance cameras in schools and programs aimed at student behavior, Oguntoyinbo said.

He said charter schools can be selective in admissions, while the public schools must take all students, including those with special needs and behavioral problems.

"We are trying to change how we do business," Oguntoyinbo said. "We are working twice, maybe three times harder than ever to prove public schools are the best options."