Will More Charters Mean Less Accountability For CPS Students?

By Kevin Robinson in News on Jan 30, 2014 8:30PM

Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis, seen at a rally protesting school closings in March. (Photo credit: Aaron Cynic/Chicagoist)

Chicago Teachers Union president Karen Lewis said Wednesday that she fears the expansion of charter schools in Chicago could lead to tax dollars being used to fund the teaching of controversial ideas. Charter schools are privately operated schools that are approved and funded by the public board of education. Charter operators have to get approved by the Chicago Board of Education before they can receive funding and begin accepting students in Chicago.

A peculiarity of the law, however, allows operators that have been denied a charter by CPS to apply to the state for a charter, in essence operating within Chicago but outside of the city's school district (District 299, by the way).

Lewis spoke specifically about the Illinois Charter School Commission, which grants charters to operators regardless of what determination Chicago's board of education has made. Lewis noted that although the charter is granted by the state the funding comes from the local authority, with "absolutely no oversight." Jeanne Nowaczewski, executive director of the Illinois Charter School Commission, confirmed this arrangement to DNAInfo Chicago, saying that "whoever approves the school becomes the authorizer," even though property tax dollars that are earmarked for public education in Chicago are used to pay for the operations of charter schools granted by the state.

Citing a recent report by Slate that charter schools in both Texas and Arkansas teach creationism as part of the curriculum, Lewis said she worries that "they would not be responsible to anyone, and they could teach whatever they want... They could teach creationism." While it might not seem surprising that Texas and Arkansas have approved creationism as part of the official curriculum in their charter schools, a number of other states, including Ohio, Wisconsin, Indiana and the District of Columbia have approved creationism as part of the curriculum in schools that receive tax-payer funded scholarships or vouchers.

Nowaczewski told DNAInfo Chicago that "the commission utilizes an accountability system," which she called "extremely rigorous." Creationism, she added, would not be part of an authorized curriculum. Regardless, the state's charter commission has been the subject of scrutiny lately. A Sun-Times investigation last month detailed the relationship between Muhammed Fethullah Gülen, a reclusive Turkish imam and Illinois state House Speaker Mike Madigan. Gülen's chain of charter schools, Concepts, has benefited from the state charter commission, despite CPS turning down their applications.