House Votes to Lift Cap on Charter Schools

The Michigan House voted 58-49 to pass Senate Bill 618 on Wednesday night, which would end the cap on the state's charter schools.

"Every Michigan student deserves to receive a quality education of their own parents' choosing," , said in a November news release. "This legislation empowers parents to have the options needed to keep their children out of failing schools."

Superintendent Michael Simeck disagreed with that take on the legislation in in October after the Senate approved the bill.

"For-profit charters do worse academically than traditional public schools, spend less money on instruction, and sort and select students," he wrote. "The Senate-approved bill (see attached PDF) is a one-size-fits-all 'cure' for urban schools’ ills that will drain resources from high-performing community schools across our state."

As of Wednesday night, 93 percent of respondents to an informal Berkley Patch poll (below) said there should be a limit on the number of charter schools in Michigan.

"I have seen NO data that shows Charter schools are that much better than public," Berkley resident Chris Olson commented Wednesday night on the Berkley Patch Facebook page. "This bill is all about profit for many of the companies that run the charters. It is also about weakening public employees unions. Lansing is again cutting off its nose to spite its face."

The Michigan Education Association has openly opposed the bill, calling it "another attempt to destroy public education and divert public taxpayer dollars to private, for-profit companies."

According to the Michigan Association of Public School Academies, there are 232 charter schools in Michigan and more than two-thirds of the schools have waiting lists.

There are no charter schools in Berkley or Huntington Woods.

The House bill differs from the version passed by the Senate, but the chambers could agree on changes and move to a final vote on the legislation as early as Thursday, the Huffington Post Detroit reported Wednesday night.