NM charter schools that deliver deserve autonomy

It’s a New Mexico success, a charter school that has carved a niche out as one of our state’s highest-performing schools.

Despite that success, Cottonwood Classical Preparatory School’s relationship with the state Public Education Department Charter Schools Division has soured to the point where the school opted to not seek renewal of its state charter, citing a sometimes combative relationship with PED.

The school will continue to operate, but under a five-year charter with the Albuquerque Public Schools district.

The charter school’s decision, nevertheless, is bringing attention to how successful charter schools are being managed by PED’s charter schools division and whether rules need to be changed to give successful schools more autonomy.

“I do think the climate and tenor of the interactions has taken a turn downward,” Cottonwood Classical Executive Director Sam Obenshain says. “In spite of our success, the climate felt like they were trying to catch us doing something wrong.” State Education Secretary-designate Christopher Ruszkowski acknowledges Cottonwood Classical is a very successful school, but he adds the PED Charter Schools division is just doing its job and enforcing the statutes and requirements that are on the books.

That said, Ruszkowski says he would support changes to state law that would grant top charter schools more flexibility and autonomy than their lower-performing peers, a position backed by the New Mexico Coalition for Charter Schools.

This idea is worthy of consideration by state lawmakers and Gov. Susana Martinez. Top-performing charter schools like Cottonwood Classical do deserve greater autonomy because they’re getting results. That doesn’t mean we do away with safeguards that protect taxpayer dollars, but the state should do what it can to eliminate as much of the red tape as possible. And it should also mean that these schools are treated with the respect they’ve earned.

Cottonwood Classical offers the rigorous International Baccalaureate program and earned three A’s and one B over the past four years. Its graduates have been accepted to some of the most prestigious colleges in the country.

We need more of that type of success.