Initiative would pave way for charter schools

ANGOR – Less than two years after the State Board of Education approved a report suggesting that Maine experiment with charter schools, legislation has been proposed that would permit the alternative type of education to be developed on a limited basis.

Sponsored by Rep. Carol Weston, R-Montville, the legislation – which hasn’t yet been given an LD number – will receive a public hearing at 1 p.m. Tuesday, May 3, at the Cross State Office Building.

Charter schools are tuition-free and not affiliated with any religion. Although they fall under the umbrella of the state public school system, they are independently managed facilities for students who don’t fare well in traditional settings. The schools, which must be open to all students without admissions tests, may try different approaches to education and focus on performing arts, foreign language, math, or science and technology.

Reflecting the recommendations of the State Board of Education, the proposed bill would allow the creation of no more than 20 schools in 10 years. Each school would be subject to a major review at least once every five years.

According to Weston’s bill, charter schools could be started by a school district, a group of parents and teachers, or a nonprofit organization.

The schools would have a choice of chartering authorities and could be given a contract either by a local school board or a public college or university which then would provide oversight and monitoring.

Under the proposed bill, the current average per-pupil allocation for operating funds would follow each child to the public charter school, which means that no additional funds would be required from the state or from a town, said Judith Jones, chairman of the Maine Association for Public Charter Schools.

But some opponents say charter schools could draw scarce resources away from existing public schools. Others say creating more small schools flies in the face of the state’s emphasis on cost efficiency, regionalization and consolidation.

Charter schools would be subject to the Maine Learning Results and the federal No Child Left Behind Act. At least 50 percent of the teaching staff would have to be certified.

There are more than 3,000 chartered public schools around the country, according to Jones, who said Maine is one of the last nine states not to include them.

If the bill passes, the Maine Department of Education would be eligible to apply for funds from the federal government which awards large grants to new public charter schools and converted alternative education programs, she said.

Maine could receive up to $100,000 a year for three years for each school. No matching grants would be required from the state, which could keep 5 percent of the federal funds for its efforts on behalf of the program.

Similar measures have been defeated in the past, but Jones contends that, this time, “we have a good chance of getting this bill passed.”

Two dozen groups around the state have professed an interest in starting charter schools, including some that would like to see an alternative high school get off the ground, she said.

Charter schools could help improve the academic achievement of Maine students and provide new professional opportunities for teachers, according to Jones.

“There’s a huge diversity of learning needs among our kids, and those needs change over time,” she said. “We need different educational programs to meet that variety of needs. It’s a case where one standard system doesn’t fit all.”

Cheryl Saliwanchik-Brown of Bangor has been waiting for a bill such as this since at least 1998 when she decided to pull her daughters out of the Bangor school system and home school them. They had “different learning styles” and she felt they would be better served in a nontraditional setting, she said.

“Parents should have a choice. Unless we live in a district which offers school choice, we have no choice about where to educate our children. I just think that’s wrong somehow.”

For more information, go to http://www.mainecharterschools.org.