Clarion Ledger - February 9, 2010

Charter schools are publicly funded, but operate outside some of the rules and regulations for traditional schools.

Legislation that would allow for start-up charter schools or for converting failing schools to charters is alive in the Senate after at least 14 bills addressing charter schools have died in the House.

Senate Education Chairman Videt Carmichael. R-Meridian, co-authored Senate Bill 2293, which recently passed out of committee.

A charter school law passed in 1997, but described as one of the nation’s weakest, has expired.

Only one school was created under that law - the Hayes Cooper Center in Merigold - and it’s now a magnet school.

Charter school bills since have failed for reasons that include fear of resegregation and loss of money in public sand several states. Charter schools remain a viable alternative, under certain conditions, and should be reauthorized by the Legislature. It an an experiment that should continue.

Lawmakers should not bow to pressure from the education establishment, but should give charter schools a chance to work while safeguarding the state’s public school system from neglect or political manipulation.

Ensuring they meet state and federal regulations and quality standards while not detracting from public education or its funding remains a critical issue. That can and should be accomplished.

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