Charter schools rejected but not dead

Rapid City proposal on the table

By Bill Harlan, Journal staff | Wednesday, February 06, 2008

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PIERRE -- A group of Rapid Citians will continue the fight for a Native American-led charter school in Rapid City despite a setback Tuesday in the state Legislature.

"We'll look for private funding," state Sen. Tom Katus, D-Rapid City, said after the Senate Education Committee killed SB194. The bill would have allowed charter schools throughout South Dakota, and it would have helped the state qualify for federal grants.

Katus said he might try to revive the measure Thursday as a pilot program for Rapid City.

Katus told the education committee a charter school could help solve one of Rapid City's most persistent education problems: high drop-out rates for Native American students.

The graduation rate for all high school students in Rapid City is 78 percent, Katus said. Two years ago, the rate for Native American students was 51 percent. "This last year, it was an atrocious 37 percent," he said.

Rapid City Superintendent of Schools Peter Wharton challenged those statistics Tuesday afternoon during an interview.

Native American students often move back and forth between Rapid City and reservations, Wharton said, and some students return to alternative programs to earn diplomas. "We have some figures now that show some favorable improvement, if they hold," Wharton said. (They were not ready for release, he said.)

Robert Cook of Summerset, however, offered the Senate Education Committee statistics he developed himself.

Cook is president-elect of the National Indian Education Association. He taught on three reservations in South Dakota and in Rapid City. He testified by telephone at Tuesday's hearing.

As part of a research project, Cook followed 103 students who transitioned from North Middle School in Rapid City to Central High School in 2003.

At the end of 2004, only 60 students remained in school, Cook said. By the end of 2005, only 35 remained. Only 11 of the original 103 graduated "on time and on track" in 2007, he said.

Whatever the exact numbers, dropout rates for Native Americans are much higher than for other students -- in Rapid City and nationwide.

The charter school, unveiled as a proposal last year, would be open to all Rapid City students, but a majority would probably be Lakota. The school would include courses in Native American culture, and the teaching style would be more familiar to Native American students.

Supporters say those factors would increase graduation rates.

"I would love to be one of the first administrators in a charter school in Rapid City," Cook told the committee.

Cook worked in the Lakolkiciyapi Program, funded by a Bush Foundation Grant, which still helps at-risk students transition to Rapid City Central. The program reduces dropout rates, Cook said, by recognizing diverse learning styles and emphasizing Lakota culture. "The students felt a sense of belonging," he said.

Wharton, however, warned that a charter school could not be effective without reliable funding.

Katus told the committee that 29 of the 40 states that allow charter schools have received federal grants to help set up and run the schools. The grants average about $3 million, he said and states get an additional $150,000 for administration.

"That's new money to the state," Katus said.

Laurette Pourier of Rapid City also testified for the bill.

Pourier is director of the Society for the Advancement of Native Interests- Today, or SANI-T, a Rapid City-based nonprofit advocacy group.

Pourier said her group receives about two calls a month from Native American parents complaining about how their kids are treated in Rapid City schools. She talked about one girl in particular. "She experience vulgar name calling, and she was spat on as she walked to school." Three white boys were given suspensions, Pourier said, but the girl quit school.

Pourier said many dropouts were really "push-outs" who didn't feel welcome or even safe in school.

Wharton said he couldn't comment on anonymous allegations, but he insisted the school district responded quickly to complaints. "We've never looked the other way," he said.

Joe Nathan of Minneapolis, a nationally recognized expert on charter schools, who testified by phone Tuesday, said charter schools are successful throughout the country and that their numbers are growing. There was one charter school in the country in 1992. Today, there are more than 4,000, he said, with a million students.

But most South Dakota school boards oppose charter schools.

Dick Tieszen, a lobbyist for the Sioux Falls School District and for the Associated School Boards of South Dakota, testified against the bill.

Tieszen said SB194 would let charter schools operate outside the standards required of other schools -- for teacher qualifications, for example. Charter schools also could turn away students with behavioral problems or disabilities. "This bill would inappropriately transfer the burden of educating these children to public schools," he said.

Katus pointed out that charter schools would also be public schools. "Charter schools are not for private education, they are not-home schooling, and they don't promote segregation," he said.

Still, the education committee voted 6-1 to send the bill to the 36th legislative day, which, in a 35-day session, kills it.

Senate Majority Leader Dave Knudson of Sioux Falls, who is on the committee and who has worked on a number of major education bills, said, "The financial side of this is definitely not worked out."

But senators who voted against the bill also acknowledged the dropout rate for Native American students in Rapid City was a serious problem.

"The numbers ARE shocking," Sen. Bob Gray, R-Pierre, said.

State Sen. Ken McNenny, R-Sturgis, encouraged Katus and the Rapid City group to keep working on solutions. "The students are the ones that are losing out," McNenny said. "Whether it's charter schools or something else, we need to make a concerted effort to get to those students."

Wharton said his district had a number of programs to reduce the dropout rate. "To say a charter school will solve the dropout problem is a stretch," he said.

Sen. Nesselhuf, D-Vermillion, who cast the lone vote supporting the charter-school bill, said, "When I look at Robert Cook's testimony and I see the statistics he shows, I find it very difficult to believe that if this were a group of Norwegians we wouldn't have declared an emergency."

Contact Bill Harlan at 394-8424 or at bill.harlan@rapidcityjournal.com