Any theory which is transformed into practice is likely to encounter issues which were not anticipated and must be dealt with, one-by-one. Recent litigation dealt with kindergarten in a charter school.
Under the Pennsylvania Charter School Law (CSL) the Legislature has authorized the existence of charter schools and has provided for funding by the public school district in which a charter school is located on a per student basis which relates to the per public school student cost within the district.
The Slippery Rock Area School District had set five years as a minimum age for students in its public kindergarten; and when a charter school in the District set four years as its minimum age for children in its kindergarten, the School District refused to fund any kindergarten student who was under the age of five.
The charter school challenged the policy, and in Slippery Rock Area School District v. Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that while the CSL gives the charter school “all powers necessary or desirable for carrying out its charter,” the School District should not be obligated to pay for educating students the District would not have to educate on its own. Essentially, the Court ruled that the charter school must abide by the financial policies of its school district, which was not required to reimburse the charter school for the four-year old students in its kindergarten.
As the charter schools’ experience grows, similar questions are inevitable, especially since these are privately owned-facilities which are financed, at least in part, by public funds. The charter schools have not been with us long enough to determine definitively (a) whether their students are receiving a superior education, and (b) whether their existence is causing the public schools to improve their standards. There is hardly a mission in our culture more vital than educating our young properly; the evidence is clear, and the need to improve our schools is urgent. This “experiment” bears watching.