Are Charter Schools a More Cost-Effective Solution to Closing the Achievement Gap?

Montgomery County Taxpayers League Meeting
www.mctaxpayersleague.org

Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - 7:00 - 9:00 pm
5th Floor Conference Room, Council Office Building
100 Maryland Avenue, Rockville, MD 20850

                                                                       

Topic:   " Are Charter Schools a More Cost-Effective Solution to Closing the Achievement Gap?"

Speaker: 

Jeanne Allen, Founder, Center for Education Reform

Here are the questions sent to the speaker in advance of our meeting:

1.  What is the mission and what are the overall goals of public charter schools?  How do they differ from the mission and goals of regular public schools.

2.  Are the salaries and benefits (health and retirement) of public charter school teachers the same as those of their counterparts in public schools?  If not, how challenging is it to hire highly qualified teachers in public charter schools? 

3.  Should public charter schools be authorized by local school Boards?  Does this represent a conflict of interest for local school boards?  Should authorization be granted at the state level?

4. What is the oversight and accountability for charter schools?  Is a CPA audit required?

5. Currently, there are 47 public charter schools in Maryland, with a great number concentrated in districts with majorities of high risk kids: Baltimore City (31) and PG county (10).  How do public charter schools deal with the Achievement Gap?  Do you have any statistics on how public charter schools have fared in closing the achievement gap in these schools vs other public schools in the same neighborhoods. 

6. Can you list some of the reasons as to why there is such opposition to opening public charter schools in Montgomery County?