Bond vote broke the charter school silence at CRCSD

Cedar Rapids’ second consecutive failed school bond, the loss of 622 students in a single year and the now revealed $9.5 million FY 2025 budget deficit are not just major setbacks. They are systemic symptoms. The real unchallenged symptom looming over the school board is the quiet and heretofore unchallenged rise of the charter school disruption that’s reshaping the CRCSD’s academic landscape.

The private sector business landscape is littered with businesses that failed to address the disruption of upstarts in their sectors. Charter school upstarts have marked potential to lead to a similar littered landscape in Iowa’s public school academic sector.

The Bond 2.0 loss isn’t just about tax fatigue or communication failures. It’s about a growing skepticism toward the Cedar Rapids public school system itself.

The charter school elephant in the CRCSD boardroom

The enrollment drop and deficit speak volumes. Yes, enrollment in Cedar Rapids public schools has dipped over the past 15 years. How many of the 622 siphoned students entered the Cedar Rapids’ Charter School System? District leadership has yet to tell us. In 2024, 112 students left the district to attend charter schools.

Families are clearly exploring alternatives. Private schools. Homeschooling. And yes, charter schools. While Iowa has fewer charter schools than other states, recent legislation has made it easier, arguably too easy, to establish them, and the rhetoric around “school choice” is gaining considerable traction in Cedar Rapids and other communities.

When voters rejected Bond 2.0, meant to improve our public schools, they didn’t just vote against a tax increase. They signaled doubt in our school system’s future. That doubt is the charter school elephant for CRCSD.

The charter school challenge

The CRCSD school board’s challenge isn’t just to pass Bond 3.0. It’s to understand what needs to be done to counter the mounting disruption of charter Schools. A competitive strategy must be developed and implemented as an core component of the board’s announced vision and strategy reset. Once implemented, a predictable revenue stream can be achieved. The end result will be rebuilding student, parent and teacher trust in a CRCSD education and career.

Voters want transparency, accountability, and a clear vision for how CRCSD will compete. Without that, every bond proposal will feel like a gamble. And every bond rejection will push more families and teachers toward alternatives.

What comes next?

The board must confront charter school questions head on: Why did 622 students leave the district and where did they go, resulting in a gaping $5 million gap in revenue? What role should our public-school education play in a community increasingly drawn to charter schools? How can our traditional public schools innovate to compete with charter schools without losing our soul?

Until these questions are addressed head on, the charter school elephant will keep growing. Bonds will keep failing. Students will keep leaving. Revenue will keep falling. Teachers will keep leaving. What comes next?

Richard T. Olson is president and founder of Personal Safety Corporation and has been a Hiawatha City Council member for 21 years.