TODAY High schools to get new names - Canton Public Library

^« Observer & Eccentric/ THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2000
Suit challenges charter schools on freedom of information
BY M m HALOTT
BomkTown Nmsnmci
mmtlulWhomrc,
1. Does the state Freedom of
Information Act apply to charter
ftchools when the operation of
fie school has been turned over
Iq a private management cbmpawy?
That's the question posed in a
lawsuit headed to the Michigan
Pourt of Appeals Tuesday, May
2. Okemos attorney Bill Young
said he has just received notification
that he is scheduled then
Co present oral arguments to the
(ourt in a lawsuit he filed last
year on behalf of Michigan Education
Association consultant
Ron Bacon against the Walter
French Academy in Lansing.
' And it comes just after a survey
has shown most charter
schools in the state aren't giving
out information to such requests.
* In 1998, Bacon asked the
Academy for a list of the names
teachers and their salaries*
The request was turned down
because the school is operated by
a private management firm. The
(eona Group, which operates 21
Schools in Michigan and more in
Arizona.
Under Michigan's FOI law,
public schools would have to
release the information. Since
"public school academies," socalled
charter schools, receive
public money from the state to
pay for operations, they, too,
2000
mercury
villager
Rap. Gerald Law
must comply with the FOI.
But when public schools contract
with private sector businesses
that does not make the
business' records subject to the
FOI. And since Walter French
has contracted with Leona
Group to operate the entire
school, including hiring teachers
and running the administration,
those records are in the hands of
the private sector business.
The difference, according to
state Rep. Gerald Law, R-Plymouth,
is that everything, the
entire operation and all the public
funding, is being turned over
• if K was a public school, wo could aoo thoir
salaries ami bonsffts. At chartor schools, the
teachers actually work for the for-profit corporation
and we don't see those records. Seventy to
90 percent of charter schools have private management
companies/
Rep. Gerald Law
to the management firm. Law
agrees that when a government
contracts a small portion of its
operation to a private-sector
firm, that firm's records shouldn't
be made public.
"But at charter schools, all the
public dollars are turned over to
the private company. If it was a
public school, we could see their
salaries and benefits. At charter
schools, the teachers actually
work for the for-profit corporation
and we don't see those
records. Seventy to 90 percent of
charter schools have private
management companies," Law
said.
That lack of information from
charter schools run by management
companies is exactly why
Law has opposed expansions in
the number of charter schools in
the state.
Attorney Young goes a bit fur-
ther in his lawsuit.
"We are arguing that they are
really running a public body.
The Leona Group is a public
body in that it receives public
'money, makes decisions about
how that money will be spent,
including hiring and firing and
setting a budget," Young said.
"We felt it met all the tests for
what a public body is."
Officials from the Leona Group
did not respond to phone
inquiries. But briefs filed by the
company in the court case show
its argument ia that the case
seeks to make public bodies out
of private companies, wherever
governments have privatized
some functions.
But Young said the lawsuit
will not likely be settled soon.
The main question before the
Court of Appeals is a technicality
about whether the case was filed
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in the correct court. And once
judges do get to the main issue,
both aidea have indicated they
will take the case to the
Supreme Court.
The argument over whether
the FOI applies ia not an unusual
one. A survey, published
March 26 by Booth Newspaper*,
showed that more than half of
charter schools, 53 percent,
rejected requests for information
or answered only partially. By
contrast, 95 percent of public
schools responded to FOI
requests.
Filing FOI requests for information,
such as the names of
teachers and their salaries, with
all 176 charter schools in opera-
. tion in Michigan, Booth found
only 82 schools gave out the
information. Ninety-four
responded incompletely, were
late turning over the informal
tion, or gave no information at
all. Of those charter schools, 86
are operated by private management
firms, Booth concluded.
By way of comparison, 87 publie
school districts got similar
information requests, to which
83 responded with complete
information.
Charter schools receive about
$6,000 per student per year in
funding from the state government.
In return for that state
money, those schools cannot
charge tuition. Some 50,000 students
presently attend charter
schools.
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Madonna University in Livonia
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Consul of Italy, Dr. Gianluca
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