District gets charter creative

Superintendent Craig Baker explained the district is working with the state to understand all changes that would occur if Central were converted since changing the school’s classification would also change the district to a charter district. Gathering the information has taken longer than originally anticipated. On Friday, Baker added the change may not occur for another year to ensure the right amount of research is done but that there clearly was an interest from both the community and the Board of Trustees.   

Funding for school districts is complicated. California uses two methods: Revenue limit, or paid per student in the classroom, and basic aid, which is property tax-funded. Charter schools are funded like revenue limit districts, however the formula for per pupil spending is figured out differently. Instead of being granted the state-approved per pupil allocation, charter schools receive an average of the per pupil spending in the state — that amount includes districts with higher revenue so the amount of funding increases.

This was one of the original thoughts behind converting other San Carlos schools.

It seems simple enough, but whether a change would generate more revenue is in question given how drastically the economy has changed. Baker noted the average has dropped drastically in recent years. Savings may not make a change worthwhile.

California became the second state to allow charter schools in 1992, behind Minnesota. Originally, a 100-school limit was placed on such schools. San Carlos became the first to open a charter school with the San Carlos Charter Learning Center, which was granted a charter in 1994 and opened its doors to 85 students the following year.

Currently, six out of the district’s seven schools are charter schools.

Alice Miller, director of knowledge management for the California Charter Schools Association, explained the Central community was against the change at the time.

Changing to a charter district would not change the appearances of the district, said Miller. However, it technically changes to whom the district answers. Charter districts are run by the state Board of Education. In practice, Miller explained, the governance looks very similar to the way things are run now. There is simply the opportunity for the state to question actions, budgets or other decisions, she said.

Charter schools are public schools but can run with a more relaxed version of the education code. For example, a traditional public school must spend a certain number of minutes doing physical education while a charter school doesn’t have the strict restriction. While the teachers who teach math, English and science must be credentialed at both schools, art teachers and elective teachers at charter schools do not. This gives those schools a little more flexibility in curriculum.

There are two types of charter schools, independent and dependent. The Learning Center works independently, which means the district gives the school the money in a lump sum and the school takes over from there. It works out how the money is used as well as the educational plan from that point. The independent schools run like traditional public schools while taking advantage of the relaxed rules.

San Carlos’ five other charter schools are dependent schools, a switch made in the ’90s giving more flexibility in state regulations and a bit more funding. Within these schools, however, things are run like a traditional school and the teachers are unionized.

Heather Murtagh can be reached by e-mail: heather@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 105.