Reader comments
Charter funding may get shake-up

They won't be saying this is reasonable because no one feels that way when you rob Peter to pay Paul. The State has the full ability to pay for equal funding yet they refuse to do so because they would rather harm one segment of public education.

This is what would eventually have happened had we been foolish to pass the Voucher legislation. We really need to vote in some decent upstanding types for legislators that won't constantly be attacking public education.

Charter Schools are public education.

This is the right approach, and I commend Rep. Bigelow on it. Good job!

Otherwise we manufacture an average funding from the state, giving some charters way more than the local district and some less than the district they are in. It ought to be reflective of what the locals have voted for their schools.

How is this different from a voucher?

"What's yours is mine, What's mine is mine"

That seems to be the attitude when ever the school districts think someone is about to touch their money. They don't want to compete. They like the monopoly they have had for years. Why is it never about good education....?

The legislature's first retaliation for the public's refusal to pass vouchers......

I like this idea.

I am a charter school supporter though they have been living in a slight vacuum for a while. Since they do not have to face the district for funding - the state has been making up the difference - they have been living in a slightly artificial world.

On the other side, since the school districts have not had to cough up the money that should follow the student, they have not had to face all of their policy decisions.

Let's face it, children are enrolled in charter schools for many reasons, to include policies deemed as insufficient by the districts. If we truly believe in reform, and letting the forces of public opinion lead us to higher ground, removing these artificial barriers will only help.

This will do more to help districts improve. I also believe that charters will no longer get a pass from community leaders. If charter schools are doing no better, and since 11 of them failed NCLB, possibly worse, they shouldn't be operating.

Let's remove the barriers to reality and see what happens. I am willing to bet only good comes from it.

Just an idea. Any thoughts?

Vouchers for charter schools. Why will this work for charter schools and not for private schools? This plan sounds like a fight waiting to happen. The charters will have to fight to get money and the districts will fight to give it to the administrators. One MORE way to remove competition from public schools. This will cause even good charter schools to shut down.

I cannot believe the rationale of someone that compares this issue to vouchers.

As it currently stands districts get to keep the entire property tax funding for the student that lives in their district, however, chooses to attend a charter school. The state then has to dip into its reserves to fund this lost property tax to the charter school the student has transferred to.

As charter schools continue to grow districts will have fewer students which mean smaller class sizes and more funding per student.

Sounds like the districts have this voucher thing figured out.

When legislators orginally created charter schools, the charter supporters said that they could provide education better and cheaper with ONLY the WPU. As the years have passed they've found out how difficult it is. Each year since, they've asked for more and more supplemental funding. Now they want the same funding provided to the districts through property taxes etc.

The legislature created this monster, they should be responsible to fund it with general fund dollars or have charter schools stick to their original promise. They should get only the WPU and have to come up with their own capital funds etc.

As a tax payer, I don't want to fund two systems. Especially an extra system that is not required to serve all students and is not faced with the same accountability standards being imposed on the State's public schools. Charter schools should not be able to skim off the top of district property taxes without approval of the voters.

Call Utah's school system what it is. Two separate systems. The question that needs to be answered is should they be funded the same. I think not.

Even as a public ed supporter, I have no gripe with some of the charter schools. The ones that bother me are those in Utah County and a few areas of SL county that are operated by elected officials -- many of them members of the legislature. There has to be a conflict of interests somewhere and it smells bad.

This seems like a great idea. Maybe if traditional high schools are forced to pay when they lose students to charter schools, they'll compete harder to keep their students. Likewise, Charter schools would have to compete harder to attract new students. This is like the anti-voucher. I love it.

I hate that legislators are running charter schools in Utah County or anywhere. Which schools are they? Who are the legislators? Let's get rid of them now!

Frustrated is right, the big selling point when charter schools were first introduced was that they would do it better for less money. Doesn't seem to be working for them. They have been increasing the level of funding for them every year since there inception. If there are problems with the public education system, lets fix them. Take the politics and the power struggles out of business of education. Lets get lawmakers business leaders, educators and parents to sit down and make the system work.

There is an old joke heard around the legislature - the old Congressman, speaking to the press, says, "We agree with the President on the problem, but we disagree on the solution... He wants US to raise taxes; we want HIM to." This issue of changing the charter funding formula is similar. Rep. Bigelow's job is to craft the STATE budget. Simply moving charter school funding items from the STATE budget to the district budget doesn't change what is spent, it just changes whose budget carries it. Rather than spread the cost over the entire system, Rep. Bigleow would place that cost more on the individual district with the bad fortune to lose students to charter schools. That will surely create more contention between districts and charters (like before). But, maybe it will cause better competition between them too. Personally, I doubt the districts will compete. More likely they'll just become more hostile and attack charter schools and parents (also like before).

This is just vouchers all over again.

Charter schools are going to be the downfall of our school system.

Open one up. Take money. Try it a few years before you realize the public schools actually do know what they are doing. Then close and leave the kids wondering what happened.

Some of my neighbors have had their kids in 3 different schools the last 3 years only to realize that the public ed neighborhood school is the best one around. Unfortunately they are coming back mid year so all of the classes are now overloaded with no money following the students back to the school.

We need to fund public ed only. No charter schools. No vouchers. But we need to fund it better than we are now and watch our kids and teacher accomplish more than we ever thought possible.

The legislation sounds like a good idea. And Steven, Charter Friend is right: charter schools ARE public schools. We're not robbing Peter to pay Paul, we're robbing Peter to pay Peter.

This bill and the issues it raises highlight a problem with education in Utah: "public education" only defines and defends one method of education with one form of funding and one set of educational values, to the exclusion of everyone else who thinks and feels differently enough choose a different method. The current circumstances are a reflection of those leading and influencing public education today.

It is time that our public education system support the education of Utah's children, period, instead of supporting the education of Utah's children only if their parents agree to follow the educational path that public education leaders feel is best. The philosophy of the current system contains a moral schizophrenia that needs to be reconciled before significant education reform can happen. The funding bill discussed in the article is based on the right principles and way of thinking about education. Unfortunately, that means it is met with opposition from public education leaders who see it as "undermining public education." Actually it just supports education.

I don't understand how people who are supposedly so passionate about education can be so ignorant of basic facts.

Charter schools ARE public schools. They are required to teach state mandated curriculum and take state accountability tests. Rep. Bigelow's solution may not be the best one, but let's not intentionally stir up the pot by complaining and spreading misinformation.

The focus should be on providing the best education for our students

The thing about charter schools is that they say everyone can attend;however,if you notice the board of the schools or whomever only picks the students from the wealthier neighborhoods. I don't think children from charter schools should be able participate in the public schools sports. You think your too good for public schools? Then your too good for the public schools sports. Form your own teams!!

Whether or not someone argued ten years ago that charters could operate more cheaply is not relevant today. First, the "we can do it cheaper" purpose is not found anywhere in Utah code. Second, children that attend Utah charter schools are Utah students also, as fully deserving of our best efforts as students attending district schools. And, third, it will soon become a legal question of "equity" or "equality." Courts have dealt with the same issue in other states and they will in Utah too if Utah charter school students are not funded equitably with district students. Finally, Utah's charter schools are part of the Utah Public School System just as much as are schools in the Jordan District. Do parents in the Granite District hate that the state funds schools in the Jordan District? Do people in Salt Lake County hate that the State funds education for children living in Sanpete County? Probably not. So, why all the hate for equitably funding Utah public schools operating under a charter rather than a district? I wonder if it has anything to do with "union shop" versus "non-union shop?"