BASIS under federal investigation

[Anonymous]

This concept that BASIS has to function like a school system is so fascinating to me. last year we were seriously considering moving our child to BASIS (and other schools) and I recall (perhaps incorrectly?) a constant message that "BASIS is not a school for every child. It may not be a good fit for every child."

we were rather put off by that message and was one of the reasons we decided not to try BASIS. It didn't occur to me that the message was not only offputting, but also possibly indicitive of illegal actions by BASIS. Maybe I'm reading too much into such a statement?

Does anyone else recall BASIS folks saying stuff like that? Maybe I have it mixed up with another school? It all starts to blur . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about the other charters?
We transferred from another "well-regarded" charter.
My child had an IEP but nothing was implemented and two whole years were completely wasted.
How come no one investigated that?
At BASIS, he learned more in a few weeks than the past two years.
There were bumps and difficulties, and we had to change his English teacher, but overall it was a much better experience.

Did you report it? If not, you can't really complain. The authorities can't fix what they don't know about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Then Basis should be a private school. As long as they take tax payer money, they have to comply with IDEA legislation.
Also, if a school has no real intent to reach every child, they shouldn't put that out there as a selling point.

+1 million. Basis is not so special that it is above federal law. Period, end of story.

[Anonymous]

Very interesting about the charter = system under IDEA. It makes sense actually - if the charter is sucking off funds from DCPS then is can't just refuse to do IEPs because that would destabilize funding streams, assuming that the per-pupil money they get is averaged to include IEPs/IDEA students.

But I wonder if this is good for students? Obviously if there are too many charters refusing to provide "fair and adequate public educations" then access becomes a real issue. But are charter schools really equipped to give the best education to students with extensive special needs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Very interesting about the charter = system under IDEA. It makes sense actually - if the charter is sucking off funds from DCPS then is can't just refuse to do IEPs because that would destabilize funding streams, assuming that the per-pupil money they get is averaged to include IEPs/IDEA students.

But I wonder if this is good for students? Obviously if there are too many charters refusing to provide "fair and adequate public educations" then access becomes a real issue. But are charter schools really equipped to give the best education to students with extensive special needs?

DCPS is not equipped to meet the needs of many special needs children as well and pays to send them to private schools. So really what is your point? Unfortunately, I think it is totally unrealistic and inefficient for every single school, whether public or charter, to meet the needs of every single student. Therefore, I think the laws governing special education should be revised in order to reflect these hard realities.

BASIS has a good plan of action to resolve any issues in the meantime. If you read the report from the charter school board it sounds like it was mostly a paper trail problem.

[Anonymous]

Charter schools have to fund students at private SN schools just like DCPS if they cannot provide a "Free Appropriate Public Education" (FAPE) under IDEA and they do. Charters cannot simply kick out students to DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very interesting about the charter = system under IDEA. It makes sense actually - if the charter is sucking off funds from DCPS then is can't just refuse to do IEPs because that would destabilize funding streams, assuming that the per-pupil money they get is averaged to include IEPs/IDEA students.

But I wonder if this is good for students? Obviously if there are too many charters refusing to provide "fair and adequate public educations" then access becomes a real issue. But are charter schools really equipped to give the best education to students with extensive special needs?

DCPS is not equipped to meet the needs of many special needs children as well and pays to send them to private schools. So really what is your point? Unfortunately, I think it is totally unrealistic and inefficient for every single school, whether public or charter, to meet the needs of every single student. Therefore, I think the laws governing special education should be revised in order to reflect these hard realities.

BASIS has a good plan of action to resolve any issues in the meantime. If you read the report from the charter school board it sounds like it was mostly a paper trail problem.

Yeah but if they can't even keep the paperwork in order, it certainly brings into question how well they implement IEP plans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about the other charters?
We transferred from another "well-regarded" charter.
My child had an IEP but nothing was implemented and two whole years were completely wasted.
How come no one investigated that?
At BASIS, he learned more in a few weeks than the past two years.
There were bumps and difficulties, and we had to change his English teacher, but overall it was a much better experience.

The truth is half the schools in the city should be investigated. Many charter, Two Rivers among them, skirt, evade and do everything they can to undermine the IEP process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very interesting about the charter = system under IDEA. It makes sense actually - if the charter is sucking off funds from DCPS then is can't just refuse to do IEPs because that would destabilize funding streams, assuming that the per-pupil money they get is averaged to include IEPs/IDEA students.

But I wonder if this is good for students? Obviously if there are too many charters refusing to provide "fair and adequate public educations" then access becomes a real issue. But are charter schools really equipped to give the best education to students with extensive special needs?

DCPS is not equipped to meet the needs of many special needs children as well and pays to send them to private schools. So really what is your point? Unfortunately, I think it is totally unrealistic and inefficient for [b]every single school, whether public or charter, to meet the needs of every single student. [/b]Therefore, I think the laws governing special education should be revised in order to reflect these hard realities.

BASIS has a good plan of action to resolve any issues in the meantime. If you read the report from the charter school board it sounds like it was mostly a paper trail problem.

But no one is asking every single school to meet the needs of every single student. Every single PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM has to do this. The fact that there are many "school systems" that consist of only one school is somewhat inconsequential. Folks who want to start a charter know this going into the game. When they apply for a charter, they understand that these are the rules. BASIS knew that it would have to provide a "free and appropriate education" to any student who applied through the lottery and was selected. If a blind student drew number one in the lottery and decided to go to BASIS, then the school is under a legal obligation to provide appropriate services and accommodations either at BASIS or at another school with whom they make arrangements. If a blind student lives in the neighborhood near Stoddert ES, then the child may possibly attend Stoddert. But the IEP team could determine that the child's needs would best be met at another DCPS school where services could be delivered. If that happens, then DCPS has met its obligation to provide a free and appropriate education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the other charters?
We transferred from another "well-regarded" charter.
My child had an IEP but nothing was implemented and two whole years were completely wasted.
How come no one investigated that?
At BASIS, he learned more in a few weeks than the past two years.
There were bumps and difficulties, and we had to change his English teacher, but overall it was a much better experience.

The truth is half the schools in the city should be investigated. Many charter, Two Rivers among them, skirt, evade and do everything they can to undermine the IEP process.

If you have problems with TR "undermining the IEP process" report them to the PCSB. Looks like PCSB takes complaints seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

But no one is asking every single school to meet the needs of every single student. Every single PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM has to do this. The fact that there are many "school systems" that consist of only one school is somewhat inconsequential. Folks who want to start a charter know this going into the game. When they apply for a charter, they understand that these are the rules. BASIS knew that it would have to provide a "free and appropriate education" to any student who applied through the lottery and was selected. If a blind student drew number one in the lottery and decided to go to BASIS, then the school is under a legal obligation to provide appropriate services and accommodations either at BASIS or at another school with whom they make arrangements. If a blind student lives in the neighborhood near Stoddert ES, then the child may possibly attend Stoddert. But the IEP team could determine that the child's needs would best be met at another DCPS school where services could be delivered. If that happens, then DCPS has met its obligation to provide a free and appropriate education.

Then perhaps the law should be changed to reflect the reality that individual charter schools are not school systems. It is ludicrous IMO to equate an actual school district with often billion dollar budgets with individual charter schools with much smaller budgets. This is also a reason to enforce the DC laws which call for equal funding between charter schools and public schools which currently are not enforced at all.

[Anonymous]

As long as charter schools are public schools, they have to follow IDEA like EVERY other public school. Like pp said, IDEA is federal law and no way, no how are they going to be exempt b/c of the size of their school system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As long as charter schools are public schools, they have to follow IDEA like EVERY other public school. Like pp said, IDEA is federal law and no way, no how are they going to be exempt b/c of the size of their school system.

I am not suggesting they do not follow IDEA. I am suggesting the law should be changed IMO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As long as charter schools are public schools, they have to follow IDEA like EVERY other public school. Like pp said, IDEA is federal law and no way, no how are they going to be exempt b/c of the size of their school system.

I am not suggesting they do not follow IDEA. I am suggesting the law should be changed IMO.

How exactly? All public schools have to follow IDEA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

But no one is asking every single school to meet the needs of every single student. Every single PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM has to do this. The fact that there are many "school systems" that consist of only one school is somewhat inconsequential. Folks who want to start a charter know this going into the game. When they apply for a charter, they understand that these are the rules. BASIS knew that it would have to provide a "free and appropriate education" to any student who applied through the lottery and was selected. If a blind student drew number one in the lottery and decided to go to BASIS, then the school is under a legal obligation to provide appropriate services and accommodations either at BASIS or at another school with whom they make arrangements. If a blind student lives in the neighborhood near Stoddert ES, then the child may possibly attend Stoddert. But the IEP team could determine that the child's needs would best be met at another DCPS school where services could be delivered. If that happens, then DCPS has met its obligation to provide a free and appropriate education.

Then perhaps the law should be changed to reflect the reality that individual charter schools are not school systems. It is ludicrous IMO to equate an actual school district with often billion dollar budgets with individual charter schools with much smaller budgets. This is also a reason to enforce the DC laws which call for equal funding between charter schools and public schools which currently are not enforced at all.

Look, it's not like charters aren't getting benefits from this set-up. In fact, it's quite the contrary. For example, charters can close their admissions when the lottery is over and funding for each student is provided. No one enters after they decide. BUT if a kid moves into the neighborhood at any point in the year DCPS has to provide a space for that student in that neighborhood school. NO charter has to take a kid mid year. That's a huge issue for a teacher and school to deal with.

And if a charter decides to kick a kid out for absences, they can do so. That kid is out of the school AND the system. BUT DCPS cannot just kick a kid out of their system. A kid may be kicked out of a particular school, but the system is still responsible for finding another school. The bar is pretty high to expel a kid from an entire system.

And don't forget, charters enjoy a great deal of autonomy in their hiring. NO dealings with the union, with their resources and equipment and with the curriculum choices are just a few advantages. Charters can decide to pay their teachers whatever they want. They can fire at will. So while it may seem "ludicrous" to hold charter to the same standards as a larger school system, note that charters enjoy MANY benefits that the leaders within the schools of a large school system do not have.

What's ludicrous" is to provide public funding for charters to run themselves however they see fit and NOT hold them accountable to the same obligations that public schools have around special education. You do not get public money, autonomy and then get to cherry pick which students you'd like to educate.