MONTGOMERY COUNTY school officials deny they have a bias against charter schools. They say that the only reason none exist in the county — even as they have become a popular staple of school choice nationwide — is because there have been no qualified applicants or worthwhile programs. A test of that contention comes this week with a highly anticipated decision by the Board of Education on whether to give the go-ahead to a proposal that has gone through rigorous review and won endorsements from Montgomery’s outgoing and incoming schools superintendents.
The school board is set to vote Monday on a bid from Crossway Community Inc. If approved, the nonprofit, which operates a well-regarded community and counseling center in a former elementary school in Kensington, would open a Montessori school in 2012 that would eventually serve 188 students in pre-kindergarten to third grade. This is the second attempt by Crossway to open the county’s first charter school. Its application last year was rejected by Montgomery. That decision drew an unusual rebuke from Maryland officials, who essentially accused the county of being anti-charter. Maryland law — unwisely to our mind — gives local school boards sole authority over the start-up of charters.
Crossway persevered, refining the application to deal with concerns of Montgomery officials. The result was approval from a panel of education, community and business representatives that hailed its “strong academic design.” As one of his last acts as superintendent, Jerry D. Weast recommended the school board approve the application, a decision seconded by newly installed Superintendent Joshua P. Starr. School board member Patricia O’Neill (Bethesda-Chevy Chase), who has voiced skepticism in the past, says there’s no valid reason to reject the application. The school would offer a program unavailable in the public schools, and there’s no question about Crossway’s ability to deliver. “It’s a quality program,” she told us.
But there is worry that the application won’t be approved. An earlier vote was delayed, and the board may be split. A behind-the-scenes lobbying effort is underway, with opponents raising the canard of charters siphoning resources from public schools (charters are public schools) or that the school would draw a privileged population (Crossway has a record of working with underserved populations). If the board ends up rejecting this proposal, it will have made pretty clear that its interest in charters is nothing but empty talk.
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