CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - Since North Carolina General Assembly lifted the cap on having just 100 charter schools in the state earlier this year, several have applied to get that status. 27 schools have sent in their applications. Six are in the Charlotte area.
Corvian Community School is one of the 27. It is a private school charging parents $400 a month in tuition. If Corvian is approved as a charter school, it would eliminate the tuition and get money from the state for each child the school enrolls.
"It would be huge for our school," Corvian Community School Founder Stacey Haskell said. "We would be able to grow. We would be able to add more students and serve more areas of our community and give students a real opportunity to grow."
Corvian Community School goes to the 2nd grade but would like to add a grade each year and eventually go to 12th grade. The argument still exists if charter schools are better than public schools. The debate continues - here are the numbers. 53% of the charter schools in NC have met the federal government's AYP goals while only 24% of public schools are making the grade in the eyes of the federal government. When it comes to the number of Schools of Excellence, 25% of charter schools have that distinction, public schools - 8% of them.
Some think more charters in the area will give some competition to public school districts. Some parents are looking for options.
"I have CMS, Cabarrus, and Iredell," Haskey said. "And I constantly get calls every week. I have nervous parents about their children in a classroom where their child's needs aren't being met."
The president of the NC Alliance for Public Charter Schools, Eddie Goodall, says charter schools aren't all perfect - some need help. But for the most part he says charter schools are the perfect option.
"You're going to have failures," Goodall said. "You are going to have schools that don't succeed and we want to in the future have academic standards and requirements of those schools so they are closed."
Goodall wants the state to step in and closely monitor charters so all are making the grade.
A 15 member panel will give final approval to the charter school applicants.
"I think they will issue charters to those who have a high probability of success," Goodall said.
Applicants should know if they are approved some time in February.
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