Roger Gerber has spent years organizing and advocating for charter schools, so it’s no surprise that the issue is at the forefront of his campaign for N.C. Senate.
Gerber, the Republican candidate in District 18, wants to abolish the cap limiting the number of charter schools to 100 schools statewide, and while he doesn’t think it’s likely that he will defeat incumbent Sen. Bob Atwater, he hopes his candidacy will contribute to the statewide debate about charter schools. He says charter schools are often more effective than traditional public schools.
“If you take them all together they’re doing at least as well as public schools,” Gerber said. He added that existing charter schools need more funding, since they don’t receive the $1,000 per student in building funds that public schools get.
“They’re doing as well with $1,000 less per child,” he said. “I’d like to see charter schools get that extra $1,000 per child.”
Gerber, 60, a resident of Chatham County for 30 years, has made charter schools and education reform his main professional focus. He founded the League of Charter Schools, North Carolina’s charter school trade association, and he helped start five charter schools. He also serves as a board member for several schools.
But increasing the number of charter schools is not the only way Gerber wants to change the public education system. He said he would increase teacher salaries and give them pay raises on the basis of merit rather than tenure.
He is also concerned by the state’s testing program. He said students were given a reading test in May, but the results have still not been released.
“We need a nationally normed test,” Gerber said, noting that he thinks state education officials should be solely responsible for the tests that measure school success. “Testing has to be improved.”
But these reforms can and must be made without raising taxes, Gerber said. He believes that regardless of the financial crisis, lawmakers should not increase taxation.
“People have to be on a budget, and there’s no reason government doesn’t have to be on a budget too,” he said.
Gerber said the educational reforms he supports must be made from the N.C. General Assembly, and the lack of competition and turnover in the legislature is preventing changes from being made. He noted the gerrymandering of districts such as District 18 that all but ensure a victory for his Democratic opponent, as well as the significant financial disadvantage challengers face.
“The N.C. Senate is a body you’d see in Havana,” he said.
He said he’s opposed to the earmark spending that occurs in the legislature as lawmakers attempt to get money for projects within their districts.
“There’s a general philosophy that has to be altered,” Gerber said. “We just can’t keep using taxpayer dollars to buy votes.”
Gerber has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association.
