Republican bill calls for a board of political appointees to authorize charter schools

Senate Bill 22 not only de-emphasizes local control, but also creates changes in how teachers are certified and removes caps from the numbers of students who may enroll in virtual schools. A companion bill is also pending in the state Assembly.

Opponents say the proposed changes would not only eliminate local control in favor of a new, politically motivated bureaucracy but would also siphon general aid away from all of Wisconsin's 424 public school districts in favor of charters. But backers say it will remove current barriers that prevent charter schools from realizing their full potential.

"This bill would get rid of the charter school lite culture we currently have in Wisconsin and allow these schools' full potential for autonomy, flexibility and innovation to be fully realized," says John Gee, executive director of the Wisconsin Association for Charter Schools.

According to Gee, school boards have in some cases created charter schools that don't really provide any innovation. Instead, he says, they take state funds and operate in conventional ways that don't provide the advantages to education that are necessary to reform schools and improve student outcomes in Wisconsin.

Dan Rossmiller of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards disagrees and says his organization opposes the bill for philosophical and financial reasons.

"First of all, it's bad public policy, from our perspective. We don't think the school district of Peshtigo, for example, should have some board in Madison of political appointees determining if they should have a charter school in their community that has no accountability to elected local officials," he says.

Individuals or groups interested in starting a charter school in a community would, under the new law, be able to get authorization for the proposed school through a new, independent Charter School Authorizing Board, rather than through their local school board or one of four other authorizing organizations in the state. Each elected official could appoint up to two members of his or her political party to the panel.

This board would have the power to authorize independent charter schools, even in communities where the locally elected school board opposed such a school. Every charter school under contract with the authorizing board would be required to pay an annual fee to the board.

Charter schools across the country and in Wisconsin began to emerge about 20 years ago as part of a strategy for education reform. Forty states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, currently have some kind of charter legislation but the rules vary widely from state to state. Wisconsin currently has 206 charter schools scattered across the state, with 28 more slated to open in the 2011-2012 school year.

In general, Wisconsin law regarding charters has emphasized local control at the individual school district level. About 80 percent of Wisconsin's charter schools are authorized through their local school boards, with oversight provided at the local level.

Around 30 schools, primarily in the Milwaukee area, operate under the jurisdiction of four other state-authorized organizations, including the City of Milwaukee, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, UW-Parkside and the Milwaukee Area Technical College.

Around the country, charter schools operate outside of many of the normal rules and regulations for conventional public schools, including things like hours of operation and school calendar and curriculum. They aim to provide an option for students and families who aren't finding the education they want or need in traditional public schools.

Currently serving about 37,000 students, Wisconsin's charter schools come in a variety of forms, from schools that emphasize education for gifted students to those that work with troubled students at risk of dropping out. There are technology schools, arts and music schools, schools with an environmental focus and schools, like Madison's Nuestro Mundo, that emphasize language immersion. By law, all are intended to be laboratories to explore a variety of education ideas and models.

Data from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction seems to contradict Gee's claim that Wisconsin doesn't have a supportive culture for the development of charter schools. "With 206 charter schools across the state, we're seventh in the nation in the number of charter schools overall," says Patrick Gasper, spokesman for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

Gasper notes that Wisconsin charters have been fortunate in avoiding financial scandals that have plagued some independent charter operations in places like Minnesota and Arizona. "We've had excellent accountability for our charter schools through local oversight."

One of the provisions in Darling's bill would reduce the certification requirements for teachers in charter schools. The bill would create a charter school teaching license that allows teachers to teach multiple subjects in their schools. Teachers would need to demonstrate competence in their subject areas, but there would be several ways of doing that, including relevant work experience. Supporters say such a provision broadens the pool of instructors but opponents say it will mean less qualified teachers in the classroom.

Darling's bill would also remove the cap on virtual charter school enrollment, which is currently set at 5,250 students.

Some virtual charter schools, like Middleton-Cross Plains' 21st Century School, are operated through the local district primarily on behalf of local students. But others, currently authorized through a local district but serving hundreds of students who come from other districts, use the establishment of a virtual charter school as a source of cash. It's a financial advantage to the destination district because enrolling students bring over $7,000 in public funding apiece. This type of virtual school is often operated by for-profit companies that hire staff, provide curriculum and coordinate learning.

Critics of Darling's bill are afraid that if the cap comes off small districts, in particular, could suffer if significant numbers of students enroll in virtual schools and take their state aid with them.

The bill also would eliminate a cap on the amount of state aid provided to charter schools. This likely means less state aid for all districts to share.

The WASB's Rossmiller says school districts that have no charter schools will be forced to help subsidize charters in other communities through these losses in general state aid for schools. And, with the proposed new Charter School Authorizing Board not accountable to any local elected officials, there will be nowhere to turn to protest.

"With the state in a budget crisis, this is not the time to be dividing scarce public resources and tax dollars to other entities that operate outside the traditional democratic process," he says.