MCPSA Releases 2013 Legislative Priorities on Opening Day of Session
The Missouri Charter Public School Association (MCPSA) has released their legislative priorities for the 2013 session. The session kicked off today, January 9, 2013 with speeches by the leaders of both the House and Senate.
“This session’s priorities for MCPSA will seek to build on the passage of SB 576 from last session, which expanded where charter schools can locate in the state and increased accountability on Missouri’s charter schools,” stated MCPSA Executive Director Dr. Douglas Thaman. ”Our main focus during the 2013 session will be appointments and funding for the Missouri Charter Public School Commission created in the bill.”
Revisiting issues regarding facility access for charter schools and retirement plan options will also be priorities. These were priorities for the Association that have been discussed in previous sessions, but have yet to cross the finish line in the State Capitol.
“Our membership is still fighting for equal access to facilities paid for by public dollars for public education,” Thaman continued. ”Progress has been made on this front in both St. Louis and Kansas City, but more needs to be done to safeguard charter schools from prejudice in this process.”
Charter school administrators and staff are required to participate in the local district’s retirement plan and do not have options to participate in the state’s PSRS/PEERS system or create their own contribution plans, such as a 401K. The lack of portability between these systems is also causing experienced, quality teachers from outside of St. Louis and Kansas City, to bypass working in charter schools.
“Experienced, quality teachers from outside of the St. Louis and Kansas City districts have expressed interest in many openings in charter schools but are not accepting offers due to concerns about how it effects their current retirement plans,” Thaman said.
With term limits creating dramatic turnover this session, MCPSA is hopeful to use these issues to build relationships with new members and further educate returning members on the issues facing Missouri’s charter school community.
“In addition to direct lobbying, we will seek to bring legislators to St. Louis and Kansas City to tour charter schools and provide regular communication to them to present a wide view of Missouri’s charter school sector,” stated Thaman.
MCPSA Applauds Governor Nixon’s Signing of SB 576
The Missouri Charter Public School Association applauds Governor Nixon’s signing of SB 576, the major charter school legislation passed during the 2012 General Assembly.
“This legislation will provide more families across the state access to quality charter schools held accountable to high standards of academic performance and operational management,” stated MCPSA Executive Director Dr. Douglas Thaman. “We are grateful for Governor Nixon signing the bill.
In his State of the State address last January, Governor Nixon called on the legislature to send to his desk “a comprehensive charter school accountability bill that holds all charter schools – and their sponsors – to high standards of academic achievement and financial integrity.”
SB 576 requires sponsors and schools to sign a performance contract that is the basis for measuring the schools’ performance. SB 576 also answered the Governor’s call by requiring intervention by a charter school sponsor if the school is identified by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education as a persistently lowest achieving school, has a high school program that fails to maintain a 70% graduation rate or is chronically underperforming the district’s Annual Performance Report score.
This legislation also greatly increases transparency in a charter school’s agreements with outside management companies and requires a formal evaluation of charter school sponsors every three years by the State Board of Education.
“SB 576 will also expand access to charter schools for Missouri students in a manner recognizing that families in unaccredited and provisionally accredited districts are seeking alternative public education options,” added Thaman, “while only vesting sponsorship authority with the locally elected school boards in fully accredited districts.”
SB 576 passed the State Senate by a wide, bi- partisan vote of 31-2 and the State House by a similar bi- partisan margin of 99-54. The law will go into effect on August 28, 2012.
MCPSA Letter to the Editor – Governor Nixon Should Sign SB 576
Published in the St. Louis Post- Dispatch on May 31, 2012
In his State of the State address last January, Governor Nixon called on the legislature to send to his desk “a comprehensive charter school accountability bill that holds all charter schools – and their sponsors – to high standards of academic achievement and financial integrity.”
SB 576 answers this call by requiring sponsors and schools to sign a performance contract that is the basis for measuring the schools’ performance. SB 576 also answers the Governor’s call by requiring intervention by a charter school sponsor if the school is identified by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education as a persistently lowest achieving school, has a high school program that fails to maintain a 70% graduation rate or is chronically underperforming the district’s Annual Performance Report score.
This legislation also greatly increases transparency in a charter school’s agreements with outside management companies and requires a formal evaluation of charter school sponsors every three years by the State Board of Education.
SB 576 also expands access to charter schools for Missouri students in a manner recognizing that families in unaccredited and provisionally accredited districts are seeking alternative public education options, while only vesting sponsorship authority with the locally elected school boards in fully accredited districts.
SB 576 passed the State Senate by a wide, bi- partisan vote of 31-2 and the State House by a similar bi- partisan margin of 99-54. Governor Nixon should sign SB 576 into law.
Dr. Douglas Thaman
Executive Director
Missouri Charter Public School Association
MCPSA Hails Passage of SB 576 by State Legislature
Today, by a vote of 99-54, the Missouri House of Representatives truly agreed to and finally passed SB 576. SB 576 passed the Missouri State Senate earlier in the legislative session by a vote of 31-2. This legislation increases the accountability of charter schools in the state while also expanding the locations where charter schools may operate outside of St. Louis and Kansas City.
“We believe it is important that all of Missouri’s families have an opportunity to choose the public educational option best for their children. This legislation will provide more families across the state access to quality charter schools held accountable to high standards of academic performance and operational management,” said MCPSA Executive Director Dr. Douglas Thaman.
The bill was sponsored by State Senator Bill Stouffer (R- Napton) and championed in the State House by Representatives Todd Richardson (R- Poplar Bluff), Tishaura Jones (D- St. Louis City) and Scott Dieckhaus (R- Washington). SB 576 is the first major legislation regarding charter schools in Missouri since the original charter school law was passed by the legislature in 1998.
SB 576 increases the accountability provisions for charter schools and their sponsors. Charter schools are now required to sign performance contracts with their sponsors as part of their charter and these contracts will weigh heavily in their renewal at the end of the charter term. This legislation also includes many other accountability measures that better define the roles and responsibilities of the State Board of Education, sponsors and individual schools in the Missouri’s charter public school community.
Under SB 576, charter school sponsors would also now be formally evaluated every three years by the State Board of Education, but could still be reviewed at anytime for cause. New sponsors of charter schools would also have to be approved by the State Board prior to sponsoring a school. Other provisions in the bill also require increased reporting by sponsors on the charter school’s academic performance, financial health and contractual agreements with management companies.
“Missouri’s charter school community welcomes the increased autonomy for increased accountability bargain that is at the heart of the charter school model,” said Thaman. “Missouri’s charter schools work tirelessly every day toward a high quality public education for students from very diverse backgrounds.”
In addition to increasing the accountability on Missouri’s charter public schools, SB 576 would allow charter schools to operate in any unaccredited district in the state as well as in districts that have been labeled provisionally accredited by the State Board of Education and subsequently have three years of provisionally accredited APR scores starting with the 2012-2013 school year. Sponsors of charter schools in provisionally accredited districts would have to be in good standing with newly adopted State Board of Education rules. Charter schools would have to be approved by the State Board of Education before opening in districts labeled provisionally accredited due to financial stress.
Charter schools would also be able to operate in any fully accredited school district in the state if the local district school board was the sponsor. Some school boards are considering charter schools as an option to give them more flexibility and allow for innovative instructional programs and site based control structures.
“We are seeing nationally that local school districts are some of the best authorizers and sponsors of charter schools,” Thaman continued. “We would like to see school boards in Missouri have this option for public education in their district.”
This new legislation also expands the potential sponsors for charter schools to some Missouri universities and colleges not allowed to sponsor charter schools under current law and creates the Missouri Charter Public School Commission. The Commission will operate under the same laws as all other charter school sponsors in the state and will only have authority over the schools under their sponsorship. Similar commissions are being created in other states to serve as a charter school sponsor due to the high demand for charter schools and quality sponsors.
SB 576 now goes to Governor Nixon where he has until July 14 to act on the legislation. If Governor Nixon signs the bill, the new laws would go into effect on August 28. In his State of the State address on January 17 the Governor called for the legislature to send him a bill that increased accountability on Missouri’s charter schools.
“We believe this bill heeds the Governor’s call for more accountability on Missouri’s charter public schools and we are hopeful that he will sign,” said Thaman.
Missouri Senate Passes Charter School Legislation
The Missouri Senate today passed Senate Bill 576, increasing the accountability on charter schools and expanding their reach into areas outside of St. Louis and Kansas City. This legislation is the first major charter school bill passed by the State Senate since the original charter school statute passed in 1998. The bill passed by a vote of 31-2.
The bill, sponsored by Senator Bill Stouffer, will allow charter schools to open in any district that has been labeled unaccredited by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and in districts labeled provisionally accredited for three years under certain conditions. In fully accredited districts, charter schools could open but only if sponsored by the local school board of the district. In these districts only 35% of the district’s enrollment could attend a charter school.
SB 576 goes a long way in increasing the accountability of charter schools and their sponsors. The bill requires a performance contract to be established between the sponsor and school and uses that contract as the basis for renewal and revocation decisions. The bill also requires increased reporting on academic and financial performance of the school. Sponsors would also be formally evaluated every three years by the Department under the changes in statute. For more on this bill see our original posting.
The bill will now go to the Missouri House for consideration.
