A Status Report on Charter Schools in New Mexico

Abstract

Though still in the earliest stages, New Mexico's charter appear to offer a viable educational alternative, the authors point out. They provide schools of choice that are within the means of parents who could not afford private or parochial schools. For many students and families, charter offer the promise of a high- quality education while remaining within the public school system. THE CHARTER school movement began in New Mexico in 1993 with legislation that gave rise to five conversion charter schools. These remained largely under the umbrella of their sponsoring districts, and, although attempts were made at innovation and change, these were charter in name only. Of the original five schools, only two have retained their charter status. The current charter school initiative in New Mexico began in 1999 after a new charter school law was enacted. New charter are required to apply for charter status from the district in which they are located. Limited start-up monies are available to new charter schools, the amount depending on an annual funding allocation from the state legislature. Guidance and technical assistance for the application process are provided by the state department of education. At the end of the 2000-01 school year, 11 charter were in full operation in the state -- two of the original conversion and nine start-up schools. Charter in New Mexico enrolled more than 1,350 students that year and employed more than 200 certified teachers and support staff members. After a full year of operation, the newly designed charter have provided some preliminary indicators of varying degrees of success. These indicators are, for the most part, consistent with trends found in studies of charter across the nation. National findings suggest that progress in New Mexico is comparable to that of initiatives in other parts of the country. The Nature of Charter School Work The work at charter is labor-intensive. There is more to starting and running a charter school than is apparent to most founders, whether they are community members or former classroom teachers. Nothing is in place at the start-up of a charter school, and what must be created has taken decades to evolve in public schools. In the first year, charter must meet all the regulations and requirements that the state department of education has established for all schools/districts in the state. The curriculum must be defined, developed, and aligned with state standards. Suitable school facilities must be procured and made ready for students. Classroom furniture, equipment, textbooks, and instructional materials and supplies must be purchased. School policies and operational procedures must be established and put into place, and networks must be developed to communicate effectively with parents and the community. The demands of the start-up effort are often daunting to charter school officials, governance representatives, and faculty members, and, as a result, a few have already chosen to leave their charter schools. The application for charter school status is only a preliminary plan for a school. The details of putting that plan into action are numerous and time-consuming and influence the success or failure of the school. We recommend that initial charters in New Mexico be granted for a period of six years (rather than the current five), in order to allow an extra year prior to opening for addressing all the issues, mandates, and planning that currently consume the time and energy of charter school staff members, parents, and communities during the school's first year in operation. Curriculum and Instruction New Mexico's charter are committed to developing curricula that align with the state's performance standards and benchmarks. The process of designing and implementing the curriculum that had been envisioned in the charter application is a slow and arduous one. …