2005 House Bill 4078 (Eliminate charter school cap )

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Introduced by Rep. Brian Palmer (R) on January 27, 2005, to eliminate the 150-school cap on the number of charter schools (public school academies) that can be authorized by universities, and impose new regulations and disclosure requirements on charter schools and on the education management companies with which they may contract. The bill would also allow a community college (including Bay Mills Community College) to charter public school academies in Detroit, and allow charter school enrollment priorities in limited circumstances. It contains other provisions related to certain labor agreements and borrowing by charter schools, and a requirement that if the school ceases operations all its assets but none of its liabilities revert to the state. Finally, the bill leaves intact the ability of Bay Mills Community College to create an unlimited number of charters. Bay Mills technically serves Indian students across the state, so can establish charters anywhere in the state (except Detroit).
- Referred to the House Education Committee on January 27, 2005.

Most Recent Comments

1) weigh in the demographic [by Anonymous Citizen on December 14, 2005]
Before saying that charter schools are failing, you have to weigh in the very demographic that is being pulled into PSA's. Many of those are children who have already been failed in the public system and truely are potential 'children left behind'. Drop-outs, home-schooled students, academically struggling students, handicapped students, etc. Many of these students might lower the effectiveness stats of the public schools as well, if they were included in their accountablity stats.
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2) Typical [by Anonymous Citizen on February 14, 2005]
Typical busybody response. You know what's best! Not parents! According to you, parents are dunces. Gee, why don't you personally run all schools? Then they'd be perfect, right?

Parents, schmarents. They just wander around and bump into walls, they have no clue what's best for their kids! They're selfish for trying to put their kids in the best school - of their choice. Why would a parent want such a thing?

I have an idea. Force kids and parents to stay in schools that are failing, and give more money to failed school districts so they can fail even harder.

Oh wait, that's already happening.
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3) Charters do not offer real choice. [by Anonymous Citizen on February 9, 2005]
>"Parents should have the power, not know it all busybodies."<

Well, I'm one of those know-it-all busybodies, as you call them, who no longer has a kid in school. But I still get to foot the bill.

Parents should have the power? School choice is exercised far more in the name of parental convenience than in the name of excellence in educational opportunity for the kid. That makes modern day parents seem like self-centered dunces when it comes to this stuff. Why expand the power of selfish dunces?

Since I get to foot the bill, I'll continue to shoot off my mouth and let fly the typing fingers to express my belief that charter schools offer no real choice and are nothing but an unnecessary and ill-considered drain on educational funds in Michigan. A failure in delivering the innovation that we were promised. A failure in offering real choice -- which is the essence of market competition. Expanding the cap to encourage more failure is a lousy idea.

I would endorse a bill requiring charters to create true specialized "magnet" programs that really do meet student needs better and offer real choice. That would seem like a sound investment of the educational money I kick into the system every year.

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