A quick search for “charters” on the Internet will produce hundreds of Web sites for individual schools and dozens on school reform.  It will also produce hundreds of sites detailing how and where to charter a sailboat.

Sometimes I can’t help myself, and I click on the sailing sites and imagine that this was the information I was really searching for.  I love the idea of sailing, but soon reality hits me and I realize that like charter schools, sailboats are expensive and difficult to pilot.  Finding the training to learn to sail is difficult, docking is challenging, and repairing one can be challenging when something goes wrong.

Upon reflection, charter schools in Arizona operated more like pontoon boats during the first few years of Arizona charter legislation. I have a pontoon boat.  They are relatively affordable, very easy to beach anywhere, fun to drive, and roomy enough so that everyone can come along and find a seat.  No real training is necessary, and honestly, a little Duck tape and a screwdriver can repair almost anything that might happen on a calm trip.

Not to discount the challenges the early charter leaders in Arizona faced—because the water was never calm for them—but during the first few years of charter authorization, SAIS and NCLB didn’t exist and charter contracts were relatively easy to secure.  Most of the applicants received both charters and Public Charter School Program grants, and the market was open to new educational options.  The Board for Charter Schools, school districts, and the Arizona State Board of Education authorized schools statewide.  If a school got into trouble, the authorizers tried to help as their roles were ambiguous.  It was unclear if they were to regulate schools or provide resources and support for them.  As issues were confronted, accountability measures were implemented.

The boat was being built as it left the dock.  Granted, a few sank and a few barely left the dock.  Yet today, the captains of the schools that are still floating are considered mentors and role models.  Their stories are funny, ironic, sad, and inspiring.

Winds of Change

Several years ago, developing and managing a charter school became a lot more like owning a sailboat.  Large educational management organizations can navigate at this level, but few educators, parent groups, or interested individuals have the resources.  They sit on the beach watching the action now if they are not currently authorized charter holders.  Can a gifted teacher in an underperforming, high-poverty-level school district open a charter today?

Districts are now severely limited in authorizing charter schools, and the State Board of Education no longer accepts charter applications.

Last week I attended a Prospective Charter School Applicant Workshop conducted by the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools.  Forty-three people attended this Charter Board workshop, and it was just one of four offered.

One of the presenters compared obtaining a charter school contract in Arizona today to opening a McDonald’s franchise, possibly one of the most expensive franchise options in the world.  The meeting was humorous, informative, and a little sad.

I was surrounded by teachers, principals, business leaders, and community leaders.  All were interested and focused on meeting the needs of students (with the possible exception of a few school district attendees who kept forgetting that charters are public schools).

Few attendees will move to the next level, though.  Last year the Charter Board authorized only 13 charters schools.  A few of these schools won’t open on time, and a few will never open.  In comparison, 42 charters were authorized in California last year (30 opened on time) and 11 will open in the next two years.  Thirty more charters are expected to be authorized in May.

Are California’s students more in need of educational choices than Arizona’s?  Is the lake so full here that potential developers must be discouraged if they are not backed by educational management organizations?  Are the student achievement improvements motivated by NCLB eliminating the need for educational choice options?  Legislation is pending to add universities as charter authorizers in Arizona.  Is this the wind needed to fill the sails of new charter developers?

These are weighty questions to consider.  Maybe it’s time to chart a new course and start a discussion as a community as we continue to navigate the charter school waters.


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Please send your comments to these questions to jgaitens@cox.net.

Jill Gaitens is a cohort 3 graduate student in ASU West’s Leadership for Educational Entrepreneurs Program.  She has been a charter teacher, administrator, and grant writer for a large EMO in California and several successful Arizona cCharter sSchools.  She is currently a free lance grant, technical, and feature article writer, the wife of a retired Marine who is now a Marine Corps JROTC instructor, and LEE student while raising three young boys, two dogs, a rather obnoxious cat, and three hermit crabs in Mesa, Arizona. You may emailreach her via email at jgaitens@cox.net, or look for her riding the waves with her family at Lake Pleasant or Saguaro Lake (although she occasionally hides in the coves at Canyon Lake when the fishing is good). She can be reached at jgaitens@cox.net.