Caroline Roemer-Shirley, Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools executive director, visited Lake Area charter schools and community leaders Tuesday to talk about education reform and other issues.

The LAPCS, a nonprofit organization that promotes public charter schools, is in the midst of an annual tour to inform people about education improvement and the charter school movement.

Roemer-Shirley said charter schools in Louisiana are growing, especially outside of New Orleans. She said the state now has 138 charters, which is up from 115 a year ago. Lake Charles is home to three charter schools.

“We are seeing more interest and demand from both parents and educators on the idea of having choices,” Roemer-Shirley said. “That’s a key point to charter schools. With a traditional district, your ZIP code becomes your destiny as it relates to your school assignment.”

Roemer-Shirley said charter schools break away from that assignment mentality and move into one where schools compete not only for students but also for teachers. She said that mentality doesn’t necessarily lead to greatness, excellence or higher quality, but it does lead to competition in which educators must produce a product that interests parents and teachers.

“We think that’s the difference about choice,” Roemer-Shirley said. “We talk about autonomy and the ability to make decisions as close to the student and the classrooms as possible, rather than being done from a superintendent and a traditional school board.”

But she said charter schools must have accountability standards in place to succeed.

Roemer-Shirley said she applauds the Calcasieu Parish School Board for running a B-letter-grade district and for being better than most school districts in the state. But she said the district still has 15 schools with D or F letter grades, which isn’t acceptable.

Roemer-Shirley said she wants districts like Calcasieu’s to see charter schools as another tool to add to their portfolio to better serve families and teachers. “What I hope is mostly that charters continue to succeed academically and otherwise,” she said. “The idea is to create the best charter schools in the country.”(American Press Archives)