Wake sheriff, opponent face off

John Baker lashes out over closure of jail's charter school

RALEIGH -- Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison and his campaign opponent, John Baker, traded angry words Friday over the closing of a charter school based at the county jail.

The State Board of Education revoked the charter of John H. Baker Charter High School last week for failing to maintain accurate enrollment and financial records, as well as for other problems. Baker, for whom the school is named, accused Harrison of not doing enough to keep the school operating.

"It's being closed, and that tells me the present sheriff doesn't have any interest in public education," Baker said during a taping of Headline Saturday, a weekly public affairs program by the News & Observer and WRAL-TV.

The show will air at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

Harrison said the school wasn't his responsibility, had its own board of directors and was only a tenant of the jail in downtown Raleigh.

"If the board of directors don't keep up their work, it's like any other school, the state's going to come in and take care of business," Harrison said. "And that's what they did."

In remarks after the taping, Baker said everything that takes places in the jail is the responsibility of the sheriff. Baker was sheriff for 24 years until Harrison defeated him in 2002.

Much of the debate about the school focused on the sheriff's role in educating jail inmates.

Charter schools receive the same financial support, per student, as do other public schools but have greater flexibility in teacher hiring, instructional programs and the school calendar.

The jail school was cited as an example of innovation when it was recommended by the Wake school board as one of the county's first charter schools. The school, proposed by Baker, opened in 1997.

The school has until Tuesday to appeal the loss of its charter. School officials didn't return calls.

Baker, a Democrat, said during the broadcast that he wanted to provide an opportunity for the inmates to get an education as part of their rehabilitation.

Harrison said inmates can still get a GED from a program at the jail offered by Wake Technical Community College.

"We're going to continue doing anything we can to educate the people that's in there and who want to participate," said Harrison, a Republican and former state trooper. "You've got to remember it's a jail, not a prison."

That drew a heated response from Baker, who said the inmates are human beings who need to be treated like 'the rest of us.' "

"I'll reiterate that you're not interested in rehabilitation," Baker said. "The only thing you're interested in is locking them up."