Monday, June 29, 2009

Thoughts on a Charter School Law for Kentucky

I'm just spit-ballin' here. But based on the National Alliance on Public Charter Schools recent recommendations titled, "A New Model Law For Supporting The Growth Of High-Quality Public Charter Schools," I tried to imagine a law that fits Kentucky's reluctance toward charter schools while satisfying federal expectations and preserving what it means to be a charter school. It also serves as a reminder of the multiple ways a school council is not a charter school. While this list is not the product of sufficient research, and I reserve the right to change my mind later on some of this, I hope it might become a conversation starter in the right circles.

1) The growth of public charter schools in the state should be closely monitored by the General Assembly to assure that all constitutional requirements are satisfied and that a reasonable amount of growth in the number of charter schools is set for any given year.

2) Public charter schools may include new start-ups and public school conver­sions where requested by the school council. The General Assembly will study the efficacy and specific purposes for which virtual schools may be appropriate prior to issuing any charters for virtual schools.

3) Charter schools may be authorized only by application to the Kentucky Education Cabinet except for any legislatively chartered schools as the General assembly may choose to create. There will be no limit on the number of charter schools one provider may establish in the state except for those limitations as the General Assembly may impose on the number of new charter schools in a given year.

4) Anyone holding a charter for schooling in Kentucky shall submit to a reporting program designed by the General Assembly based on objective data, and overseen by the Kentucky Education Cabinet, which will, in turn, assure that all chartering entities receive the appropriate amount of state funding and assure public accountability for all such expenditures.

5) A transparent charter application, review, and decision-making process will be developed by the General Assembly including compre­hensive academic, operational, governance, and performance application requirements, with such applications reviewed and acted upon by the Education cabinet.

6) Comprehensive public charter school monitoring and data collection processes will be developed by the General Assembly to assure that all charter holders can verify public charter school compliance with applicable law and their performance-based contracts.

7) The General Assembly will draft clear processes for renewal, nonrenewal, and revocation decisions, including school closure and dissolution procedures to be used by all charter holders.

8) Performance-based charter contracts will be required, with such contracts created as separate post-application documents between charter holders and the Kentucky Education Cabinet, detailing academic performance expectations, opera­tional performance expectations, and charter holder rights and responsibilities.

9) The General Assembly will draft legislation specifying the parameters of fiscally and legally autonomous schools, including the creation of independent public charter school boards possessing most of the powers granted to other traditional public school district boards.

10) The General Assembly will draft legislation that provides for clear student recruitment, enrollment and lottery procedures, which must be followed by all public charter schools.

11) The General Assembly will draft legislation that provides automatic exemptions from many state laws, except for those covering health, safety, civil rights, student achievement assessment and accountability, employee criminal history checks, open meetings, freedom of information requirements, and generally accepted accounting principles.

12) Public charter schools will be exempt from any outside collective bargaining agreements, while not interfering with laws and other appli­cable rules protecting the rights of employees to organize and be free from discrimination.

13) Educational service providers will be allowed providing there is a clear performance contract between the independent public charter school board and the service provider and there are no conflicts of interest between the two entities.

14) Multi-school charter contracts and multi-charter contract boards will be permitted such that an independent public charter school board may oversee multiple schools linked under a single charter contract or may hold multiple charter contracts.

15) The General Assembly will study extra-curricular and interscholastic activities eligibility and access to determine (a) under what conditions public charter school students and employees are eligible for state- and district-sponsored interscholastic leagues, competitions, awards, scholarships, and recognition programs (b) if, and to what extent, public charter schools will be required to provide extra-curricular and interscholastic athletic activities (c) or if, charter school students will have access to those activities at traditional public schools for a fee via mutual agreement.

16) The General Assembly will draft legislation clarifying the identification of special education responsibilities, including determination of the local education agency (LEA) responsible for such services and how and where such services are to be funded (especially for low-incidence/high cost cases).

17) The General Assembly will draft legislation providing equitable operational funding and equal access to all state and federal categorical funding, flowing to the charter school in a timely fashion and in the same proportional amount as district schools following eligibility criteria consistent with all other public schools.

18) The General Assembly will draft legislation providing equitable access to capital funding and facilities, including multiple provisions such as: a per-pupil facility allowance (equal to statewide average per-pupil capital costs); facility grant and revolving loan programs; a charter school bonding authority (or access to all relevant state tax-exempt bonding authorities available to all other public schools); the right of first refusal to purchase or lease at or below fair market value a closed or unused public school facility or property; and clarity that no state or local entity may impose any facility-related requirements that are stricter than those applied to traditional public schools.

19) The General Assembly will draft legislation providing access to relevant employee retirement systems, with the option to participate in a similar manner to all other public schools.

20) The General Assembly will study transportation issues related to those public charter school students who qualify for the federal free and reduced lunch program.

No comments: