Dems slap restrictions on state’s ability to approve new charter schools
Sen. Nancy Spence, the Senate’s assistant minority leader and a longtime advocate of charters and other public education reforms, denounced the bill as, “yet another attempt to undermine parental choice in education simply to preserve the interests of school bureaucracies.”
A measure being denounced as an assault on charter-schooling did not come up for action as scheduled today on the Senate floor and instead appears to be on the ropes for lack of support, the ranking Republican on the Senate Education Committee said.
“My read of the situation is the bill is dead,” said Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial.
Spence said the bill’s only hope is if its sponsor waters it down enough with amendments to survive the Senate so it can be restored to its original form in the House.
Senate Bill 61, by Sen. Sue Windels, D-Arvada, and Rep. Michael Merrifield, D-Manitou Springs, slaps a range of restrictions on the state’s ability to approve new charter schools when local school boards stand in the way. The measure also places quotas on the different kinds of students state-chartered schools are allowed to enroll.
The bill’s future in the Senate is in doubt because some of Windels’ own Democrat colleagues, including Senate President Pro tem Peter Groff of Denver, support charters. Groff was a sponsor of the legislation in 2004 that gave the state chartering authority as a way around local school boards that won’t approve charter applications for fear of losing funding to them.
SB 61 was approved in the Senate Education Committee last week in a 4-3 party-line vote over the objections of committee Republicans. Sen. Nancy Spence, the Senate’s assistant minority leader and a longtime advocate of charters and other public education reforms, denounced the bill as, “yet another attempt to undermine parental choice in education simply to preserve the interests of school bureaucracies.”
Windels has defended her bill as an attempt to improve communication and cooperation among school boards, charter schools and State Charter Institute. However, supporters of the State Charter Institute say Windels’ bill, if fully implemented, would render the institute powerless by giving local school boards veto power over new charter applications.
Charter schools now number over 100 and growing in Colorado. They are increasingly popular with parents because they have a degree of independence from local school districts and can tailor their own curriculum to the needs of a range of children, from at-risk to gifted and talented. While research findings on charters have yielded mixed results, data from studies that adjust for the fact that charter students tend to be disproportionately poor and otherwise at risk show those students make great strides after leaving conventional public schools for charters.
Filed under: Colorado Senate News, School Choice, Sen. Education Comm., Education, Sen. Spence