Colorado districts challenge law allowing creation of charter school without local school board approval

Three Colorado school districts are challenging a state law that allows the state Charter School Institute (CSI) to create a charter school without seeking approval of the local school board in the district where the school will be located. The institute could even authorize a charter school that had been denied by the school board. The school districts argue that the law creating CSI "unequivocally violates the state constitution by usurping the authority of the local school board." Although the Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB) has not joined the suit, it is monitoring the case. "Our state constitution calls for locally elected school boards to govern school districts," says Jane Urschel, CASB’s associate executive director. Although several other states, such as Michigan, New Mexico, and North Carolina, have similar chartering institutions, Ms. Urschel points out that their state constitutions might not have such clear language as Colorado’s upholding the principle of local control of public education. "Some say local control is a myth," she says. "It is not entirely a myth in Colorado."

Meanwhile, the Florida School Boards Association (FSBA) plans to file a lawsuit to block a new law that allows the state to create an appointed commission to authorize charter schools and authorize other entities to create more charter schools. State money will flow directly to the charter schools. FSBA contends the new law violates a provision in the state constitution that says only school boards can create public schools. Currently all charter schools in Florida must be approved by a local school board, and the district retains a portion of state funds for administration. "We think it's blatantly unconstitutional the way (the law) is written, and, if the commission does exist, it's going to have to exist as a separate school board," says FSBA executive director Wayne Blanton. "They've set up a separate school system, something that we've never had in the state before" he says. "There have always been public and private school systems, but never a semi-public or semi-private one. This is a gray area that is going to have to be resolved." The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Ron Greenstein (D-Coconut Creek), responds, "This was to allow for more choices. Anytime you shake up the status quo, you always rattle institutional educators."

Wyoming charter school advocates want to end local board control, too. The Wyoming Charter Schools Initiative (WCSI), with the support of state senator Kit Jennings (R-Casper), wants to overhaul current law that provides that local school boards approve charter applications within their district. Their proposal would create a single state entity to approve charter schools. Katherine Shelby, executive director of WCSI and a private education advocate long associated with the Colorado charter school movement, contends that a single entity would provide a uniform and standardized process for submitting and approving charter schools. Sen. Jennings says he has received a number of complaints from parents who’ve tried and failed to get charter schools going in their communities. Those arguments don’t wash with Paige Fenton Hughes, superintendent of Fremont County School District 1, which denied a charter school application this summer. "I would say that local boards are not fearful of charter schools at all," he says. "I would also say that we are not misinformed. Because we are very well informed, we believe that a charter school in Fremont 1 is not in the best interests of our students." State representative Jeff Wasserburger (R-Gillette), who co-chairs the Joint Education Interim Committee, notes the state has always put a high value on local control of schools. Thanks to a 2001 Wyoming Supreme Court ruling, he adds, the state has an obligation to build a new school building for each new school-and that includes charter schools. Even with huge budget surpluses, "I’m not sure we can afford to build new buildings for charter schools," he says.