Charter schools in Colorado have come a long way since the first one opened its doors in 1993.
As these semi-autonomous public schools have grown in popularity, some rough spots in the system have become apparent.
Specifically, we’re talking about the less-than-perfect process governing the start-up of charters, and the unwinding of troubled charter schools.
Colorado House Speaker Terrance Carroll, D-Denver, has introduced a trio of bills that would ease some of the difficulties that charters and the entities that oversee them have encountered.
These are laudable bills, and we’re glad the speaker is making an effort to address the issue this session, his last before he leaves office.
It’s important to note these bills are supported by the Colorado League of Charter Schools, the non-profit membership organization dedicated to supporting the state’s 160 charter schools.
Two of the bills would set the wheels in motion to create an overarching set of standards for charter schools and the entities that authorize and oversee them.
The idea behind House Bill 1343 is to adopt nationally recognized best practices for charter school operations, including executive compensation, nepotism, and conflicts of interest in governance.
House Bill 1344 would set standards for the entities, mainly school boards, that decide whether to approve charter applications and have responsibility for overseeing their operations.
The third bill, House Bill 1345, allows for takeovers of charters in emergency situations. The commissioner of education could designate a caretaker for the charter in cases of bankruptcy or situations that pose health or safety threats to students or staff at the school.
In reading 1345, it seems it was inspired by troubling situations at the Cesar Chavez School Network and Brighton Collegiate High School.
Carroll confirmed that, and said those situations pointed out the need for statutory authority to take control of troubled charters.
The Chavez network, which operates two schools in Pueblo, two in Colorado Springs, and an online school, has been inundated with questions about its finances, testing practices and management. The Brighton school has been besieged by sex scandals involving teachers and students, the most notorious being the case of Carrie McCandless, the civics teacher who engaged in sexual contact with a 17-year-old male student.
The emergency powers bill would set an orderly process, including responses from the charter school, by which an outside entity could be appointed to run the troubled charter.
Colorado has been a nationwide leader in establishing charter schools. The ideas embodied in these three bills would pave the way for the next phase of development by supporting best practices and allowing for a more expeditious weeding out of the bad actors.
