APPLIED SCIENCE: Roseland Accelerated Middle School officials stand by their policy requiring students and parents to fill out several forms while enrolling in their schools.
As charter school opponents struggle to stem the tide of support for educational choice, they’re scrutinizing school application forms in search of “exclusionary” language.
The American Civil Liberties Union says the application process for some California charters is illegal, alleging that one in five has biased admissions policies. The group’s allies in the media have also piled on.
But while the Los Angeles Times and the ACLU are criticizing what they call an onerous system that keeps some students from attending public charter schools, administrators point to continued growth as evidence the allegations are off base, and highlight innovative programs that make the application process even more transparent.
“We never deny and have never denied a student’s admission to our program based on health history, academic progress, socio-economic status, learning needs, immigration status, parent literacy or ability to provide support to the school,” said Amy Jones-Kerr, superintendent of Roseland School District in Santa Rosa, California, a target of the Times. “Our enrollment process is very purposeful and well thought out. We know our population very well, and we know exactly what they need to be successful in reaching our district vision, which is college graduation.”
That process seems to be working.
In the Roseland District, 94 percent of graduates are attending two-year or four-year universities, compared with a 51 percent national average. And this is in a district where 92 percent of students qualify for free and reduced lunch and 85 percent are second-language learners and the first in their family to go to college, according to Jones-Kerr.
So what’s all the fuss about?
A recent Times editorial slammed Roseland Accelerated Middle School for having an “intimidating” enrollment process, alleging the “couple dozen pages” of forms are just too complicated for some students and parents, and thus serve to exclude them.
Among the requirements the Times cited as too much to handle: A ‘Getting to Know You’ section that requires applicants to write five short essays, and short responses on topics such as “the qualities and strengths that I will bring to school.”
The newspaper also complained that parents are required to “write seven little essays of their own and then fill out the child’s medical history, including medications,” and that kids have to turn in a three-page autobiography.
“As a district, we view the enrollment process as a tool to teach our students responsibility, accountability and professionalism,” Jones-Kerr said, while noting that both students and parents meet with staff — most of whom are bilingual — to help them understand and fill out the enrollment forms.
“Our enrollment process helps us get to know our students from the moment they express interest,” said Jones-Kerr. “This piece is purposeful, with the intent to better get to know our future students and how we can best serve them. We believe very strongly that forming relationships with our students and knowing them on a personal level is key to their academic success.”
Having made that disclaimer, Jones-Kerr then noted the school accepts students regardless of their ability to fill out the enrollment forms, and that attendance rates have grown to the point the district has expanded, indicating the forms must not be all that onerous.
“Our enrollment process is purposeful and legal, and what we are doing with our charter is working,” said Jones-Kerr.
She said after the attack from the Times, she had lawyers review the enrollment documents and were told the school was doing nothing wrong. While the school might tinker with the language, Roseland intends to keep the process largely as is.
As well they might, since charter schools that don’t have lengthy admissions forms have also been accused by teachers unions and other school choice critics of cherry-picking students.
Sleeping on sidewalks
Around the country, schools are experimenting with alternatives, both to better serve students and parents and perhaps to stifle the unjustified cries of favoritism.
In recent years, the concept of a universal form allowing parents to select the top several schools they would like to have their child attend has streamlined the process in New Orleans, Denver and other cities.
At one point in Washington, D.C., there were as many as 100 public charter schools for which a parent could fill out application forms, but there was no centralized place to obtain information on all possible options, which included an additional 100 traditional public schools.
“Both sectors recognized it as a problem for parents,” said Cat Peretti, executive director of My School DC, the city’s common application and lottery for public schools, which is in its fourth year of operation.
In the district, a student may apply for any traditional public or public charter school. If there are more applicants than available seats at a particular school, the seats go to students by random lottery.
ONE FORM: Supporters of a universal application process say it makes applying for traditional public schools and public charter schools easier for parents, students and schools.
“Before the common lottery, families had to navigate disparate applications and timelines to exercise school choice,” said Peretti. “A parent was expected to visit each school or each school’s website. Parents slept on sidewalks for the best chance at a first-come, first-served waitlist. Some students would enroll in multiple schools while others had no seat.”
Under the new system, the number of applicants and matches has grown each year since My School DC began.
One problem created in a process where students can obtain and hold a seat in a school of choice is a single student can have several seats at different schools held, while other students remain on a wait list.
“I think it’s pretty well known that students have been given more and less favor in systems based on the kinds of rules and processes schools can put in place,” Betheny Gross, senior analyst and research director at the Center on Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington-Bothell, told Watchdog.org.
Gross says a small number of charter schools make it more difficult to access applications or open house information in an attempt to court certain students. According to Gross, even school choice proponents view this as an unfair practice and it has led some cities such as Denver, which once had 60 separate school choice lotteries, to create a universal application process that cuts down on administrative burden and makes the process easier to audit.
Gross said that while it is a cause for concern and problems have sometimes cropped up, there is by no means rampant gamesmanship occurring when it comes to enrollment processes for charter schools. She also pointed out that “some research has shown that charters do not, on average, have very different student populations than their neighboring district schools.”
Gross also said the “mystery shopper” program in D.C., where individuals pose as parents of students with special needs to call local charter schools seeking information about enrollment for their child, has revealed that while most charter schools act appropriately there are “a small number of schools that need to revisit the language they use when communicating with these families.”
“A lot of times the criticism is levied on charter schools, but there is evidence this happens in district schools as well,” Gross said.
Going back in time
Vanessa Descalzi, senior manager of communications for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, said an open and accessible enrollment process is vital for charter schools.
“All charter schools are responsible for having equitable and accessible enrollment processes — to do anything less is contrary to the mission of charter schools to provide public, free, and high-quality education to all students,” said Descalzi. “Charter school authorizers should take any actions that inhibit equitable enrollment seriously.”
She pointed to schools across the country that are engaging in innovative outreach practices — including asking schools to send information to wait-listed families about other schools.
In California, where the ACLU is suing charters over their application processes, some districts and charters collaborate on getting information on enrollment options to entire cities. Descalzi cited San Diego Unified, which puts all charter schools in its enrollment options catalog that is sent to all families in the district.
Innovation and options are key, and reflect the spirit of the school choice movement.
So, while endorsing transparency, Jeanne Allen, founder & CEO of the Center for Education Reform, warned against being too prescriptive when it comes to charter school applications.
“The beauty of the charter model is freedom,” said Allen. “CER would contend that compliance does not necessarily equate to highly effective outcomes. The reason charters excel is their autonomy to make decisions and veer off from the institution, focusing specifically on the best interest of their particular community’s student population.”
That includes, she said, “the right to own their own recruitment process.”
“If we start giving blanket rules to charter schools, we’re going back in time,” Allen said.