Officials ask to lift charter school cap

The 1993 law allowing charter schools limited the number of charters that can be granted by universities to 150. The state now has 50,000 students in 173 charter schools, including 150 granted by universities and 23 granted by public school systems and other entities.

Dan Quisenberry, president of the Michigan Association of Public School Academies, said it was fair for the Legislature to put the cap in place six years ago because charter schools were an experiment. The schools use public money but allow administrators to develop their own curriculum.

But Quisenberry said there are more than 100 applicants hoping to get charters, most relying on universities to grant them.

"The experiment is over, the results are in, the data's there and charter schools are passing with flying colors," he said. "The future of these schools are at risk because the Legislature hasn't taken the cap off."

Joining Quisenberry were nearly 40 children from two Lansing-0area charter schools. Fifth-grader Sierra Wood, 10, began attending the Capital Area Academy this year and said she likes it better than her old school, despite a uniform that "annoys me sometimes."

"Our teachers are more patient with us," she said. "I like the small classes, too."

Gov. John Engler called for the cap's removal in his State of the State address this year. House Speaker Chuck Perricone, R-Kalamazoo Township, also supports such a move but said he doesn't believe it would pass the House because many lawmakers are skeptical of charter schools.

As a compromise, Rep. Paul DeWeese (R-Williamston), has sponsored a bill to raise the cap to 225 by 2002. That bill passed the House Education Committee in May. DeWeese said yesterday he's hoping to see the bill come before the full House next week.

"I would be in favor of eliminating the cap, but I understand that other people are much more cautious about this," he said. "I think they're much more comfortable with this bill."

DeWeese said he has spent weeks talking to House Democrats and believes he has enough members willing to vote for the measure to pass it.

Arthur Carter, a former assistant superintendent in Detroit, said lawmakers should heed voters asking for more schooling choices.

"It's clear people are voting with their feet through applications to charter schools throughout the state," he said.

For Brendan Baic, a second-grader at Concord Academy in Petoskey, the reasons to like charter schools are simple.

"I love hot lunches like pizza and hot dogs. We are learning about ice melting into water in science," Baic wrote in a letter delivered yesterday to lawmakers.

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