One predominantly black Raleigh charter school got a reprieve today while another is still hanging in the wind.
The state Board of Education voted today to give PreEminent Charter a three-year renewal to see if scores improve. But the board delayed taking action on Torchlight Academy until they get some additional information.
Torchlight could still wind up not having its charter renewed, which would basically mean the school would close at the end of this school year.
As noted in today's article by Lynn Bonner, both schools have mounted an intensive lobbying campaign.
One difference though is that PreEminent's lobbying has been a bit more politically connected than Torchlight. PreEminent is run by National Heritage Academies, which operates charter schools around the country.
National Heritage provided a PR firm and a lobbyist for PreEminent. At a state board committee meeting last month, Glenn Jernigan spoke on behalf of PreEminent.
Jernigan, who is a lobbyist for a number of groups, told state board members that he he could relate to how hard a job they have because he's served in the General Assembly and the Hunt Administration.
[In the interests of public disclosure, Liz Riley, the wife of News & Observer Senior Editor Steve Riley, is the attorney for PreEminent.)
Also today, Quest Academy and Raleigh Charter High both got 10-year renewals.
Comments
Why PreEminent and not Torchlight Academy?
Wed, 02/25/2009 - 14:29 — tlpowellWith a child attending Torchlight Academy I felt it was paramount that I attend the State Board meeting last month and I was shocked and dismayed that the Board delayed making a decision on Torchlight's charter. Instead they chose to renew PreEminent's charter, a school with test scores that are consistently worse than Torchlight's and with the support of National Heritage Academies they have no excuse for these subpar results. Clearly, politics is more important to these 'educators' than the best interests of children that have been failed by the traditional public school system.