Trib on Superman and Illinois Schools

by Collin Hitt The Chicago Tribune wrote an editorial review of “Waiting for Superman.”  I’m probably quoting at too great a length below, but the editors outlined a reform platform in a remarkably efficient five paragraphs. “Waiting for Superman” has drawn a lot of blowback. Critics say the film unfairly casts teachers unions as the...

by Collin Hitt

The Chicago Tribune wrote an editorial review of “Waiting for Superman.”  I’m probably quoting at too great a length below, but the editors outlined a reform platform in a remarkably efficient five paragraphs.

“Waiting for Superman” has drawn a lot of blowback. Critics say the film unfairly casts teachers unions as the villains and that many charters don’t perform as well as public schools. Director Davis Guggenheim has said of his film: “It’s not ‘pro’ anything or ‘anti’ anything. It’s really: Why can’t we have enough great schools?”

Great question. Why doesn’t Illinois have a charter school for every kid who wants to go to one?

One reason: There’s still a cap on how many charter schools can operate in Illinois. Last year, Illinois lawmakers doubled the cap to 120 schools as part of the state’s Race to the Top bid. They should have abolished the cap.

Too many school boards and teachers unions still see charter schools as unwelcome competition. They operate outside the regular school rules. They receive tax revenues. Their teachers often don’t belong to a union. So the unions and the school boards continue to resist them. Even as Illinois raised the cap on charters, it put new restrictions on their independent operation.

Illinois hasn’t attracted as many high-quality charter operators as it should. The state ties funding for charters to a school district’s tuition rate, which is generally lower than what a school actually spends per student. Bottom line: many charters may receive as little as 75 percent of the per-pupil tax money that goes to regular public schools. Private funding helps make up some of the difference. But lawmakers need to change the rules so charters get the same public dollars as regular schools.

The state needs another way for charters to get approved. An independent state commission or a local community institution, such as a college, should get approval authority so reluctant local school boards can’t stall them. Let good charter schools flourish.

And beyond charters, it needs to give children more choices in education. The legislature should approve legislation that would give tuition vouchers to 30,000 students in Chicago’s worst-performing schools. That bill passed the Senate but was stuffed by the House earlier this year.