“Mean-spirited” legislation targets Colorado’s charter schools
Charter schools have been an effective and popular option for hundreds of thousands of Colorado families, including many Black and Latino families. Precisely because they are successful, accountable, and cost-effective competition for conventional public schools, charter schools are the target of meanspirited legislation that ultimately aims to put them out of business.
Competition in a free society is challenging. That’s true in business, in life — and in education.
For decades, there has been a strong, bipartisan consensus in our state that educational choice is positive and constructive. Whether Democrats or Republicans have been in the governor’s office or the House and Senate majority, laws have been passed year after year to strengthen available options for families.
And throughout those decades, the success of this system of choice has had the status quo public education groups seething. They don’t like that charter schools empower parents and teachers and provide an option to escape substandard conventional schools. And they are calling in every favor at the Capitol to erase that competition.
Here’s why.
Charter schools custom-design their own curricula, discipline policies, innovative teaching methods and more. These innovations can be very attractive to families looking for a better option for their children Many educators love the freedom they get as part of a charter school faculty.
As a result of all this, and more, charter schools not only are popular, but they are also performing well.
According to statistics from the Colorado League of Charter Schools, 134,000 kids — or 15% of public-school students — are choosing charter public schools. This population is more diverse than the conventional public school population, with 51% being students of color, and 21% English language learners.
On national assessment tests, a Harvard analysis ranked Colorado’s charter school population second best in the country.
House Bill 1363 is a brazen bill that contains a laundry list of anti-charter measures designed to make the schools unreasonably difficult to launch, needlessly challenging to expand and unfairly difficult to be renewed.
For example, if a charter is rejected by a local district, the school can appeal to the state, and in about half the cases, the charter is granted. This is a reasonable protection against an arbitrary and biased process within a local school district.
The anti-charter bill would eliminate that basic fairness protection.
Another provision erases the ability of charters to expand cost-effectively. Public bodies, including school districts, often have underutilized or vacant properties. At the same time, many charter schools are growing, and they often have more students who want to attend than their buildings can accommodate.
Current law not only allows charter schools to use excess capacity in school districts, including vacant buildings, it requires school districts to make charter schools aware of these properties. The bill would no longer require districts to provide this information and would preclude charters from using district facilities.
These are just two of the numerous anti-charter poison pills in the legislation.
The good news is that Gov. Jared Polis, like other Democratic Colorado governors, is a supporter of Colorado’s public choice system, including our system of charter schools. He is also a proud charter school founder. Charter parents and educators across the state, especially in communities of color, are hopeful that he is ready to uncap his veto pen if this extreme, measure reaches his desk.
It is deeply disappointing that legislators who speak often about the need for greater diversity and equity across Colorado have launched this effort to close an effective and valued path to quality education options for diverse communities. Stephanie Hancock represents Ward 4 on the Aurora City Council.