Compulsory Education: Open-Enrollment Charter Schools In Arkansas

Capitalizing on Compulsory Education: Open-Enrollment Charter Schools in Arkansas Since Arkansas’s first Compulsory Education Law passed in 1909, every child in the state has been entitled to and required to receive a free, public education (Manley). While many parents send their children to public schools, other students attend schools in the private sector, including parochial, preparatory, and, most controversially, charter schools. The open-enrollment charter system in Arkansas creates an environment which promotes a lack of public accountability for charter schools that receive these funds, damages the quality of education through discretionary expulsion of unfavorable or disadvantaged students, (Burris para. 1-3) and encourages competition

1). There are two types of public charter schools in Arkansas: open-enrollment charters and public conversion charters. Conversion charters are public schools that convert to charter schools in order to escape many of the regulations that apply to public schools, but can only admit students within the district’s boundaries (Arkansas State Board of Education para. 3). An open-enrollment charter, however, may be run by, “a governmental entity, an institution of higher learning, or a tax-exempt non-sectarian organization” (Arkansas State Board of Education para. 4). Open-enrollment charter institutions receive state and federal money like public schools, but can also receive funds from private organizations and corporations. Although these open-enrollment charter schools benefit from government money, they do not have to follow the same regulations or quality of education standards; they are allowed to hire uncertified teachers, not required to offer special education services, and allowed to privatize food, custodial, and transportation services, all of which are paid for in public schools by public funding (Social

The organization demands that charter schools’ governance be under the same scrutiny as public schools while they receive federal and state funding, and that charter schools, specifically open enrollment charters, must not take any resources from public schools (NEA 4). They also insist that charter schools offer equal access to their facilities and resources, without discriminating against students based on socioeconomic standing, disability, or ethnicity, and demand that, while being publically funded, charter schools are held to the same standards of academic excellence as public institutions (NEA 5). The National Education Association reports 90% public support for charter schools’ fiscal transparency, 88% public support for regular audits, 89% support for requiring these institutions to meet public schools’ hiring qualifications, and 49% support for legislation to prohibit open-enrollment charters from “using practices that result in pushing out children who they perceive as not a good fit for their school” (NEA 6). These demands must be met legislatively; charter laws must be revised as to meet these