In case you missed it, this week EducationNC published an opinion piece by Doug Price. Price teaches at Voyager Academy in Durham and was recently named the 2019 North Carolina Burroughs Wellcome Fund Charter School Teacher of the Year. He has worked extensively with Hope Street Group, Kenan Fellows, and the NC Public School Forum, and he is currently working on a PhD in Educational Leadership.
Charter school policy in North Carolina has been a hot topic since 2011, when the newly elected Republican supermajority moved quickly to eliminate the cap limiting the number that could operate in the state. Since then, unfettered charter growth has led to a number of problems impacting both children who attend charter schools and those who don’t.
In the EdNC article, Doug calls for the following major changes to charter school policy in North Carolina:
- Reinstate the charter cap
- Stop associating charter schools with vouchers and online charter schools
- Challenge the claim that wide-open competition leads to better outcomes. Data shows that’s not the case.
- Return to the intent of the original charter legislation–which called for innovative approaches to education–and create pathways for collaboration so those practices can help students in traditional public schools.
It’s refreshing to hear this perspective from someone who not only works in a charter school, but is as respected and knowledgeable about education policy as Doug Price. Here’s hoping the legislators who are responsible for crafting those policies are listening.