Charter School Legislation for 2012 Session Filed

The Missouri Charter Public School Association’s main piece of legislation has been filed for the 2012 session that began on January 4.  SB 576 increases the accountability of charter schools, and their sponsors, in the state and expand the locations where they may open.  SB 576 is sponsored by Senator Bill Stouffer and a similar House bill sponsored by Representative Tishaura Jones will be filed soon.

“These two bills have the potential to support and increase the quality of charter schools in St. Louis and Kansas City while opening access to charter schools for families in some other areas of the state,” said MCPSA Executive Director Douglas Thaman.

Measures increasing accountability include requiring a performance contract between the school and their sponsor.  This performance contract will be used as the basis for determining the performance of the charter school, including guiding decisions on renewal or non- renewal of the charter and closure of a school.

This legislation would also change the appeal process of the decision to close a school by a sponsor from a judicial appeal to an appeal to the State Board of Education.  This removes a potentially costly barrier to a sponsor deciding to close a poor performing charter school.  The legislation also requires additional planning in the areas of special education, parent grievance processes and procedures should the school close during the school’s initial chartering period.

Increased sponsor accountability is also a cornerstone of this legislation.  Under the proposed bills, sponsors would be evaluated every three years by the State Board of Education using standards of sponsorship.  New charter school sponsors would also have to be pre- approved by the State Board of Education under the proposed legislation.

These bills would also remove a disincentive for the State Board to exercise their authority under current law to revoke a sponsor’s right to sponsor schools.  Under current law, if the State Board takes this action under they assume sponsorship of the schools, something they have stated they do not have the capacity to manage.  The proposed pieces of legislation would move responsibility for schools whose sponsor has had their sponsorship rights revoked to the newly created Missouri Charter Public School Commission.

The Missouri Charter Public School Commission, created by this proposed legislation, would be a Gubernatorial appointed commission to sponsor charter schools in the state.  The Commission would be funded by the 1.5% piece of the funds received by their sponsored schools.  The Commission would have the same level of authority as any other current sponsor of charter schools.  Similar commissions are being implemented in states across the country to provide an intense focus on charter school authorizing and to streamline the authorizing process.

In addition to adding the Commission as a sponsor, the proposed legislation also would allow for private universities in Kansas City to be sponsors.  Private universities in St. Louis may sponsor charter schools under current law.  Certain two- year vocational or technical schools, and certain non- profits, would also be added as potential charter school sponsors under these two bills.

Another cornerstone of the proposed legislation is the expansion of the areas where charter schools could open.  Both bills would allow charter schools to open in any district that has been declared unaccredited or provisionally accredited by the State Board of Education.  Also, any accredited school district in the state would be allowed to sponsor a charter school within their district boundaries.  Nationally, school boards are some of the top authorizers of charter schools.  Currently, charter schools may operate only in the St. Louis and Kansas City Public School Districts.

The final cornerstone of MCPSA’s main pieces of legislation for the 2012 session is to increase the access of closed district buildings to those seeking to open, or expand a current, charter schools.  Language in this bill calls for charter schools to receive the right to lease or purchase a closed district building, at fair market value, prior to opening the building to other potential offers.  These buildings were built with public money for the purpose of public education.  Many residents in the neighborhoods where these closed buildings are located are seeking an educational use for the buildings.  This legislation seeks a middle ground to increase the access to the closed buildings, but realizes that the districts should be fairly compensated for those buildings.

“We believe that the parents who have entrusted Missouri’s charter public schools with the future of their children deserve nothing short of the quality education promised to them when they enrolled their child in a charter school.”  We look forward to working with our schools, parents and sponsors, as well as a coalition of stakeholder groups, to move this legislation forward,” added Thaman.

MCPSA to Screen The Experiment at the State Capitol for National School Choice Week

The Missouri Charter Public School Association will host a free screening of the new education documentary The Experiment on January 24 at 6:30pm in the rotunda of the State Capitol.  This powerful documentary highlights the recovery of New Orleans schools after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina by prominently featuring the city’s charter school community.

A panel discussion of the film, featuring the film’s director Ben Lemoine, will follow the screening and will tie the film to reforms being discussed in Missouri during the 2012 legislative session.  Also participating in the panel will be MCPSA Executive Director Douglas Thaman, State Representative Tishaura Jones and others to be announced.

To RSVP for the screening click here.

MCPSA Promotes Increased Access to Charter Schools to Help Students in Troubled Districts

At a recent hearing of the Joint Interim Committee on School Accreditation the Missouri Charter Public School Association (MCPSA) promoted increased access to charter schools to help students in troubled districts.  The MCPSA testified on two key ways that charter public schools can help in the Committee’s quest to find a solution to the Turner v. Clayton lawsuit.

The initial way to help students in these districts is to increase access to quality charter public schools in the areas where they are currently allowed to operate.  One way that this can be done is by increasing who can sponsor a charter public school.  Creating a state charter school commission to increase the capacity for high quality schools to find a sponsor will help schools in the initial vetting process and help the quality charter applicants become operational faster.  Non-profits should also be allowed to sponsor charter schools to increase the pool of specialty charter schools available to students.  Wouldn’t it be great if the St. Louis Science Center had the ability to open a science -focused school?  This is just one example of the type of innovation possible if these entities were allowed to sponsor schools.

Another way to expand access to charter public schools in the districts where they are currently allowed is to increase access to closed district buildings.  These buildings were paid for with public funds meant to go toward public education. Finding a building is one of the greatest impediments to opening a charter school.  The ability to lease or purchase a closed district building, ready for use as a school, would bring more schools online to serve the needs of students who are now likely traveling outside of their neighborhoods to their school.  We are beginning to see a thaw in the policies of the St. Louis Public Schools and the Kansas City Missouri School District in discussing leasing options with charter schools.  This is a welcome step in the right direction.

The second main avenue for charter public schools to help students in struggling districts is to allow for expansion of the geographic cap on charters.  First, charter public schools should be allowed to open in all unaccredited districts.  While this currently would only add Riverview Gardens to the areas of St. Louis and Kansas City as areas in which charter schools  could reside, some districts are on hold in DESE reviews of their accreditation and are trending downward.  Charter schools should also be allowed to operate in provisionally accredited districts.  These districts are struggling as well and need an option in place if the unfortunate point of becoming unaccredited is reached.  The legislature should also expand chartering authority to school boards statewide.  This would give districts an option if they have certain schools within the district that are pulling the district toward provisionally accredited or unaccredited status.

MCPSA strongly believes that increased access to quality charter public schools will provide options for students in unaccredited and provisionally accredited districts that the Committee is charged with studying.  The Committee will hold additional hearings in St. Louis and Kansas City ion the coming months.  We look forward to continue the drive for quality charter public school options for Missouri’s students.