No Teacher of the Year for You... If You Work for a Charter School

Charter schools excluded from Teacher of the Year
By Ron Barnett

Ed Kaczmarczyk is the Teacher of the Year for Greenville County Technical Charter High, but he will have no chance at competing for that honor at the district and state level.

That's because Greenville County School District officials interpret the state's charter school law to mean that charter school teachers are not eligible because charter schools are autonomous from the school district.

A Greenville County lawmaker has introduced legislation that would require the district to let Teachers of the Year at charter schools that are authorized by the district to participate in the competition, just as they do on other counties.

"The Greenville County School District may not deny a charter school, charter school teacher, or charter school student anything that is otherwise available to a public school, public school teacher, or public school student," the bill introduced by state Rep. Garry Smith, R-Simpsonville, states.

It mentions the Teacher of the Year competition as one of the specific areas in which charter school teachers should be treated the same as other teachers in the district.

"I know that this may seem to be insignificant to some," Greenville Tech Charter High Principal Fred Crawford said. "However, I believe when a school district decides to participate, it should not be allowed to exclude some public school teachers."

"It's unfortunate this (bill) may be the only path available for Greenville County School District charters."

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