March 5, 2003

New York Times

By MICHAEL WINERIP

GILBERT, Ariz.

LIFE at a charter school is always exciting, as Tracey Benson, a mom,

has learned. She has enrolled her children in three charters in four

years, and if there is one word she'd use to describe their

educational experience, it's turmoil. She pulled her three youngsters

out of their first charter in 2001. "It had the same problem lots of

charters have, teachers leaving in droves, teachers coming in>

droves," she says. "Not good for learning."

But wait. Wasn´t that supposed to be the beauty of

charters? No unions, no tenure. Here in Arizona, America´s most

charter-school-friendly state, a charter principal doesn't even need a

college degree. When it comes to charters, Arizona's motto is, "Let

the free market rule, baby."

Mrs. Benson withdrew her children from their second charter school

last Christmas. She has a sixth grader, Jordan, and a seventh grader,

Jacob. Their two classes were taught by three teachers, and suddenly

two of them were gone. "One was a great, experienced teacher," says

Mrs. Benson, "but made too much. They needed to cut costs. After that,

classes were unruly."

In January, she tried charter No. 3, the Benchmark :School,

in this middle-class Phoenix suburb. For three weeks, everything

seemed fine. Then the kids came home and said, "Mommy, at assembly

today they told us they´re closing our school in two weeks." A hundred

parents gathered at the school for a meeting. But the gate was locked.

And when they banged on the door, Kenneth Finnegan, the charter´s

business manager, would not open up. Instead, he called the

police.>

As Randy Payan, a parent, recalls, "The police said: `We

got a call from a man inside who fears for his life. The owner wants

you off the property.´ " Parents were shocked. "These are all good,

hard-working people – the lot was jammed with huge S.U.V.´s," says Mr.

Payan, a businessman who arrived in a new Toyota Sequoia.

The parents called Carey Pena of Channel 3 News, who rushed to the

scene. "It was such a cruel way for the school to handle it," says Ms.

Pena. "These were good people - crying kids, angry moms and dads." Mr.

Payan says, "We saw Finnegan come out and get into his S.U.V., but he

still wouldn´t talk to us." So they faced the camera and chanted:

"Talk to us, Finnegan! Talk to us, Finnegan!"

Practically overnight, Benchmark officials did a flip-flop and

announced that the school would stay open till the end of the year.

When charters first appeared, they were touted as the free-market

alternative to bad old public schools. Charters get public money for

each child they attract ($5,100 a head in Arizona ). To lure students,

charter leaders often derided the bad old public schools and promised

fast results, including sky-high test scores.

But like a lot of 1990´s market miracles, the charter

bubble has burst. In Arizona, which has 457 charters, one-sixth of the

nation's total, they have been labeled underperforming by the state at

nearly twice the rate (36

percent) as public schools (19 percent), according to Gene

V Glass, an Arizona State University professor.

Regulation is so loose that the state charter board is

often the last to know that a school is collapsing. The

state file on Benchmark, one of three schools run by a nonprofit

company, Life School College Preparatory, was full of red flags.

Last May, parents complained to the board that the

custodians had been fired and students were spending an

hour a day cleaning. In July, ABS, a company that provides business

services to charters, wrote that it was owed $655,403 and was

terminating its contract. In September, the state sent a notice to the

charter saying it had not received the school's financial reports for

2000 or 2001. A quick visit to Benchmark last fall would have revealed

that it was half-empty, down 200 students (at $5,100 a head, a

$1 million revenue shortfall).

So when did the state open an investigation? According to Kristen

Jordison, the charter board director, when a parent called in late >

January to say Benchmark was closing.

For his part, Mr. Finnegan, the charter business manager, puts blame

for the parking lot fiasco on a few parents who "lathered up the

group." He says the only problem is a shortfall of 400 students at the

company´s three schools, leading to revenue losses. "No one´s stealing >

money," he says. "The state audits everything. You couldn't steal if>

you wanted to. Well, you could - other charters have, but>

they were caught." He says he was hired in November to>

better position the charter in the marketplace. "We have no>

sports teams, no performing arts, no identity. It´s hard to

compete for kids."

The $655,403 claim by ABS management? Inflated and likely>

to wind up in court, says Mr. Finnegan. The missing>

financial reports? "The state lost them," he says. "But>

it's been taken care of."

He's axed much of Benchmark's staff, and combined grades. Mrs. >

Benson's fourth grader, Joshua, is now in a mixed>

fourth- and fifth-grade class.>

Don Ring served as principal, and cleaned the school, but

he, too, was axed. "Don said, ´I'll do whatever it takes to help,´ and

took it upon himself to mop the floors," says Mr. Finnegan. Must have

been hard to let him go? "Not really," says Mr. Finnegan. "There were

other issues."

This week the school gets its third principal in seven months. Mr.

Finnegan says parents must be understanding. "Some parents need to go >

back to school and take an accounting course," he says. "They´re upset

we're not putting education first. But we can't put education first>

without money."

Silly Mrs. Benson, still thinking about education. Joshua's new

combined class has been unruly, she says. "They're angry about losing

their teacher." Mr. Finnegan has told parents the school will reopen

this fall as a performing arts charter. But when parents asked for

details on the new curriculum, they got no answers. "They did tell us

they're going to change the school name," Mrs. Benson says. "So

people will think it´s someplace different."

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/05/education/05EDUC.html?ex=1048058947&ei=1&en=4e0827af1ab1654d