Legislation would demand transparency from charter schools

Re: ” ‘Mean-spirited’ legislation targets Colorado’s charter schools,” March 17 commentary

Aurora City Councilmember Stephanie Hancock thinks House Bill 1363 is “meanspirited.” I was curious as to how legislation requiring more transparency and accountability for charter schools could be a problem, so I read the entire bill.

What I found was an effort to require charters to meet the same standards as traditional public schools.

How is it “mean-spirited” to require charter-school operators to prove there is a need for their proposed schools?

Isn’t that cost-effective government? How is it “mean-spirited” to ask charter schools to disclose which waivers they are granted from requirements that traditional public schools must meet? Aren’t parents entitled to know if some services aren’t available? How is it “meanspirited” to require a process in which community members can appeal a charter approval? Isn’t that fiscal responsibility? In terms of mean-spiritedness, the best example seems to be Hancock’s unfair swipe at teacher unions, a common tactic of corporate-driven school “reformers.”

I’m not an educator or union member. I’m just a taxpayer and voter who wants to see strong, well-funded public schools available to every Colorado student.

Yes, some charter schools are excellent. But there are also charters failing to provide the quality instruction available in neighborhood schools. There are charter schools with unlicensed teachers and charters operated by out-of-state financial interests.

Maybe this is why Hancock claims that accountability and transparency requirements are mean-spirited. As a taxpayer and voter, I want to know what the charter schools are hiding.

— Karen Francisco, Littleton