Charter school controversy runs rampant throughout APS following the Alamogordo Center of Commerce “Charter School 101 – Community Partner Reveal” event on December 7th, as reported by Alamogordo Sentinel. It’s time to clear up the mess created, perhaps by APS Superintendent Pam Renteria. Although she attended, if she made any reports to staff, they did not suppress false information later created by ill-informed sensationalists.
Many positive community comments and suggestions have been received by Alamogordo Sentinel, and parts of the publicized editorial debates are interesting. Unfortunately, much of the reported diatribe remains off-target. For example, one ‘editorial’ quoting “well-placed community sources” [a/k/a extensive excerpts taken from an Alamogordo Sentinel article] moved into editorializing the need for “debating . . . enhancement to the programs of Alamogordo High School,” even taking discussions off the rail by eluding to those not trusting “the APS leadership . . . believ[ing] the school should be outside of the school system.” Followed by feigned support presenting contrived opinions based upon antiquated life experiences from their Medieval California period.
School Choice in New Mexico – New Mexico’s school statutes are unique
Note that New Mexico’s school statutes are unique. All public schools, including public charter schools, are authorized by and receive their administrative control or direction from the Public Education Commission (PED). Parents have a choice as to which public schools, including charter schools, their children attend; charter schools are just one more choice. For many, a better choice.
So, what is a charter school?
Simply put, every New Mexico charter school is another public school with open enrollment. They differ in that they provide enhanced options for accountability and autonomy. Each charter school is accountable to its own governmental body, a governing council, which can be nimbler than a school board because they have fewer external influences and are focused on managing their own policies. For example, the governing council has autonomy over the student experience. It affords streamlined decision-making and communication between an administration and teachers, defined curriculum and standards, where parents help choose what it looks like in the classroom.
Charter school policies primarily set what is going on at their school, the interaction between teachers and students, their curriculum, and how teachers get evaluated. Teachers can be evaluated differently; they can be evaluated on what they do, not on the state’s general assessment method. The 1999 Charter Schools Act [22-8B-1 to 22-8B-15 NMSA 1978] enables individual schools to restructure their educational curriculum to encourage the use of different and innovative teaching methods that are based on reliable research and effective practices or have been replicated successfully in schools with diverse characteristics; to allow the development of different and innovative forms of measuring student learning and achievement; to address the needs of all students, including those determined to be at risk; to create new professional opportunities for teachers, including the opportunity to be responsible for the learning program at the school site; to improve student achievement; to provide parents and students with an educational alternative to create new, innovative and more flexible ways of educating children within the public school system; to encourage parental and community involvement in the public school system; to develop and use site-based budgeting; and to hold charter schools accountable for meeting state board minimum educational standards and fiscal requirements.
The New Mexico Statutes, Chapter 22 [NM Stat § 22-8B-4 (2021)] states:
A. A charter school shall be subject to all federal and state laws and constitutional provisions prohibiting discrimination based on disability…
B. A charter school shall be governed by a governing body . . . [with] at least five members.
C. A charter school shall be responsible for:
(1) its own operation, including preparation of a budget, subject to audits . . . and
(2) contracting for services and personnel matters.
T. A charter school shall comply with all applicable state and federal laws and rules for special education services.
According to New Mexico law, if the number of applicants to a charter school exceeds the available space, the school must use a lottery process to select students (22-8B-4.1 NMSA (1978)).
What Does Alamogordo Stand to Gain?
Hear Ye, Hear Ye. A charter school in Alamogordo is a public school, administratively managed by PED, overseen by a governing council, NOT THE DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD, directed by the school leader NOT THE APS SUPERINTENDENT, who also runs the day-to-day operations [a/k/a principal]. Persons with issues need only bring them up with the school leader or elevate concerns to the governing council. Unlike a school board, the governing council must communicate with parents about what occurs in the classrooms.
Some people might question why the Alamogordo Public School District has not made it clear that all charter schools in New Mexico are public schools and that all students in the district have equal access. Instead of welcoming the opportunities provided by charter schools, is APS more likely to criticize their benefits?
