NAACP whereas against charter & private schools.
The NAACP’s resolution will not be made final until
board members meet mid-October.
Calling for Moratorium on Charter School Expansion and
Strengthening of Oversight in Governance and Practice
(bottom of page)
WHEREAS , charter schools have been a rapidly growing sector of the
education
system,
increasingly
targeting low-income areas and
communities of color; and
WHEREAS , charter schools with privately appointed boards do not
represent the public yet make decisions about how public funds are spent ;
and
WHEREAS , charter schools have contributed to the increased
segregation rather than diverse integration of our public school system;
and
WHEREAS , research and reports have documented disproportionately
high use of punitive and exclusionary disci pline in addition to differential
enrollment practices that violate protections of student rights for public
schooling; and
WHEREAS , research and civil rights organizations have documented
violations of parent and children's rights, conflicts of interest, fiscal
mismanagement, and psychologically harmful environments within several
rapidly proliferating charter management organizations; and
WHEREAS , analyses of annual missing charter funds have been
estimated at nearly half a billion dollars nationally; and
WHEREAS , researchers have warned that charter school expansions in
low-income communities mirror predatory lending practices that led to
the sub-prime mortgage disaster, putting schools and communities
impacted by these practices at great risk of loss and harm; and
WHEREAS, current policies force district campuses to accommodate
colocations of charter schools, resulting in shortages of resources and
space and increasing tension and conflict within school communities;and
WHEREAS , weak oversight of charter schools puts students and
communities at risk of harm, public funds at risk of being wasted, and
further erodes local control of public education; and
WHEREAS, the NAACP shares the concerns of the Journey for Justice
Alliance, an alliance of 38 organizations of Black and Brown parents and
students in 23 states, which has joined with 175 other national local
grassroots community, youth, and civil rights organizations calling for a
moratorium on the Federal Charter schools program, which has pumped
over $3 billion into new charter schools, many of which have already
closed or have failed the students drawn to them by the illusive promise of
quality.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED , that the NAACP reaffirms its 2014
Resolution, “School Privatization Threat to Public Education,” in which the
NAACP opposes the privatization of public schools and/or public subsidizing
or funding of for-profit or charter schools; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED , that the NAACP will continue to advocate
against any state or Federal legislation which commits or diverts public
funding, allows tax breaks, or establishes preferential advantages to
forprofit, private and/or charter schools; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NAACP will continue to advocate
against any state or Federal legislation which commits or diverts public
funding, allows tax breaks or establishes preferential advantages to
for profit, private and/or charter schools; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NAACP calls for full funding and
support of high quality free public education for all children; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NAACP calls upon units to seek to pass
legislation at the State and Local levels that will ensure that parents have
access to Charter School Advisory Boards and that Charter Schools be
required to provide schooling for students that are dismissed from school for
disciplinary reasons; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NAACP will seek legislation to
strengthen the investigative powers of those bodies that oversee charter
school fraud, corruption, waste, etc.; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, as a tool to help address exclusionary
student disciplinary policies and
practices of publicly funded charter
schools, NAACP units should: a) review the U.S. Department of Justice-U.S.
Department of Education joint guidelines on school climate and student
discipline www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-departments-educationand-
justice-release-school-discipline-guidance-package-enhance-schoolclimate-
and-improve-school-discipline-policiespractices; b) encourage charter
school administrators to apply that guidance to its student disciplinary
practice; and c) work with parents of charter school students in appropriate
cases to file complaints with the Office of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of
Education, to challenge unwarranted exclusionary practices (e.g.,
suspensions and expulsions); and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED , that the NAACP hereby supports a
moratorium on the proliferation of privately managed charter schools;
and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED , that the NAACP opposes bills that would
weaken the investigative powers of any legislative body from uncovering
charter school fraud, corruption, and/or waste; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED , that the NAACP supports legislation AND
EXECUTIVE ACTIONS that would strengthen local governance and
transparency of charter schools and, in so doing, affirms to protect
students and families from exploitative governance practices.
The NAACP’s resolution will not be made final until
board members meet mid-October.
Calling for Moratorium on Charter School Expansion and
Strengthening of Oversight in Governance and Practice
(bottom of page)
WHEREAS , charter schools have been a rapidly growing sector of the
education
system,
increasingly
targeting low-income areas and
communities of color; and
WHEREAS , charter schools with privately appointed boards do not
represent the public yet make decisions about how public funds are spent ;
and
WHEREAS , charter schools have contributed to the increased
segregation rather than diverse integration of our public school system;
and
WHEREAS , research and reports have documented disproportionately
high use of punitive and exclusionary disci pline in addition to differential
enrollment practices that violate protections of student rights for public
schooling; and
WHEREAS , research and civil rights organizations have documented
violations of parent and children's rights, conflicts of interest, fiscal
mismanagement, and psychologically harmful environments within several
rapidly proliferating charter management organizations; and
WHEREAS , analyses of annual missing charter funds have been
estimated at nearly half a billion dollars nationally; and
WHEREAS , researchers have warned that charter school expansions in
low-income communities mirror predatory lending practices that led to
the sub-prime mortgage disaster, putting schools and communities
impacted by these practices at great risk of loss and harm; and
WHEREAS, current policies force district campuses to accommodate
colocations of charter schools, resulting in shortages of resources and
space and increasing tension and conflict within school communities;and
WHEREAS , weak oversight of charter schools puts students and
communities at risk of harm, public funds at risk of being wasted, and
further erodes local control of public education; and
WHEREAS, the NAACP shares the concerns of the Journey for Justice
Alliance, an alliance of 38 organizations of Black and Brown parents and
students in 23 states, which has joined with 175 other national local
grassroots community, youth, and civil rights organizations calling for a
moratorium on the Federal Charter schools program, which has pumped
over $3 billion into new charter schools, many of which have already
closed or have failed the students drawn to them by the illusive promise of
quality.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED , that the NAACP reaffirms its 2014
Resolution, “School Privatization Threat to Public Education,” in which the
NAACP opposes the privatization of public schools and/or public subsidizing
or funding of for-profit or charter schools; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED , that the NAACP will continue to advocate
against any state or Federal legislation which commits or diverts public
funding, allows tax breaks, or establishes preferential advantages to
forprofit, private and/or charter schools; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NAACP will continue to advocate
against any state or Federal legislation which commits or diverts public
funding, allows tax breaks or establishes preferential advantages to
for profit, private and/or charter schools; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NAACP calls for full funding and
support of high quality free public education for all children; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NAACP calls upon units to seek to pass
legislation at the State and Local levels that will ensure that parents have
access to Charter School Advisory Boards and that Charter Schools be
required to provide schooling for students that are dismissed from school for
disciplinary reasons; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NAACP will seek legislation to
strengthen the investigative powers of those bodies that oversee charter
school fraud, corruption, waste, etc.; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, as a tool to help address exclusionary
student disciplinary policies and
practices of publicly funded charter
schools, NAACP units should: a) review the U.S. Department of Justice-U.S.
Department of Education joint guidelines on school climate and student
discipline www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-departments-educationand-
justice-release-school-discipline-guidance-package-enhance-schoolclimate-
and-improve-school-discipline-policiespractices; b) encourage charter
school administrators to apply that guidance to its student disciplinary
practice; and c) work with parents of charter school students in appropriate
cases to file complaints with the Office of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of
Education, to challenge unwarranted exclusionary practices (e.g.,
suspensions and expulsions); and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED , that the NAACP hereby supports a
moratorium on the proliferation of privately managed charter schools;
and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED , that the NAACP opposes bills that would
weaken the investigative powers of any legislative body from uncovering
charter school fraud, corruption, and/or waste; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED , that the NAACP supports legislation AND
EXECUTIVE ACTIONS that would strengthen local governance and
transparency of charter schools and, in so doing, affirms to protect
students and families from exploitative governance practices.
