Charter School Gets Your Tax Dollars, No Oversight

Why would anyone think that the Board of Education would exert any oversight over the tax dollars that have been handed over to a private school?  The Board of Education doesn't even exert oversight over the $2.2 billion dollars in their budget.  So it comes as no surprise that the one and only Charter School in the county has been able to take tax dollars and set up a school as originally planned.  

Recall that the plan from the beginning, as laid out in the charter school's request to the State Board, was that the charter school would take students from their current neighborhood.  But, the State Board denied the Charter School's request to be able to pick their students from a local pool.  But, it happened anyway. The students at this public Charter school are predominately from one area.  

And the lottery process for this PUBLIC Charter School?  It was held in secret.  The announced date for the lottery was not used and the actual lottery was held on a different date. Sound familiar?  The PUBLIC has a RIGHT to attend the lottery for a public charter school in Maryland.  But, by holding the lottery in secret, no one from the public was able to attend and observe.  Surprised? 

Note that the MCPS staff quoted in the Gazette article below neglects to mention that the PUBLIC has a right to observe the lottery for a public charter school in Maryland.  

Gazette: School board member questions charter school scrutiny

Enrollment lottery received no county oversight

...The school was required under board policy to have the lottery before the start of its first school year in August after receiving more applicants than could be enrolled; the school received 254 applications for 70 spots.
No one from the school system attended when the school staged the lottery, and the school system did not monitor the process, according to Lori-Christina Webb, executive director in the Office of Deputy Superintendent of Schools. 

Berthiaume was surprised to hear this, given the concern she and other school board members had that the lottery would be operate in a fair manner.
“I don’t know why we wouldn’t have overseen the operation to see that they were being compliant,” Berthiaume said. “We have not taken anything on trust before. I don’t know why we would take [the operation of the lottery] on trust.” 

Webb said the school system left the responsibility of marketing and enrolling students to the school itself... 

...The charter school is run by Crossway Community, a nonprofit organization that, since 1990, has served low-income women and children and operated a Montessori school. Most of the children at the Montessori school came from the families they were serving. 

When applying to create a charter school at their location, 3015 Upton Drive, Kensington, the organization was adamant that they continue to serve the same low-income population. 

Maryland State Board of Education policies state charter schools must be open to all students in the county, and no students may be given priority unless a waiver is approved. 

The state board denied two waivers from Crossway Community that asked to be able to give priority to low-income families and the families they served...
...Board member Michael Durso said in an email that, when looking at the enrollment numbers at the school, the “the disproportionate numbers from a particular [ZIP] does create questions.” 

Of the 3- and 4-year-old students enrolled at the school, about 90 percent are from six ZIP codes in Kensington, Silver Spring or Colesville. Of those, about 24.3 percent are from 20895, the ZIP code the school is located in.
Of the students who applied to the school, about 75.6 percent were from those six ZIP codes, and about 14.6 percent were from 20895. 

About 45.9 percent of students who applied from Kensington were enrolled, whereas about 20 to 39 percent of students who applied from the other most popular ZIP codes were enrolled...