Legislation increasing accountability and state oversight over charter schools became law Friday, but lawmakers and charter school officials say even more significant reforms will be on the table next year.
In a ceremony Friday at his Wilmington office, Gov. Jack Markell signed House Bill 205, a measure pushed through the General Assembly in late June following reports of mismanagement and financial difficulties at Reach Academy for Girls and the Pencader Charter High School.
Charter schools are independent public schools, free of most state and school district rules and regulations, that are encouraged to use different, innovative or proven teaching and learning methods. Their goal is to provide improved school and student performance and to give parents and students greater opportunities in choosing public schools. There will be 21 charter schools operating in the state in the upcoming school year.
Among other things, House Bill 205:
- Requires criminal background and child abuse registry checks for charter school board members and prohibits individuals who have felony convictions or convictions for a crime against a child from serving on a charter school board.
- Requires charter school board members to disclose any financial interest they may have in the charter school.
- Adjusts the distribution of state funds to charter schools so that they receive smaller amounts at the start of a school year.
- Requires annual external audits of charter schools.
- Gives the state expanded authority to intervene in school management if financial problems are detected.
- Makes it easier for qualified charter school operators to take over failing charter schools.
- Changes deadlines for charter school renewals so students at underperforming charter schools have more time to find a new school if their charter school is ordered to close.
“When a charter school fails, it can be extremely traumatic for students, parents and teachers,” Markell said. The new legislation, he said, increases the likelihood that charters will perform at high levels while “decreasing the risk that they will not live up to their promise.”
Gov. Jack Markell signs Charter School Oversight legislation into law
Charter School Network’s acting president Gregory Meece and State Senator David Sokola (D-Newark) react to the new law.
The new requirements are “evolutionary changes that build on what we’ve learned about charters that allow us to build an even stronger charter school program,” said state Sen. David Sokola, D-Newark, a sponsor of the original charter legislation in 1995.
House Bill 205 was a joint effort of legislators, Markell’s staff, the state Department of Education, charter school leaders and the Delaware State Education Association, Markell said.
Discussion of the next round of charter school reforms is already under way, said Greg Meece, director of the Newark Charter School and acting president of the Delaware Charter School Network. Key priorities for charter school leaders, he said, are improving the state Department of Education’s procedures for approving and monitoring charter schools and providing charter schools with equitable access to funding to acquire their facilities.
House Bill 205 came about, Meece said, “in part because mistakes were made, and in part because charter schools have a very slim margin for error because they don’t receive separate funding for capital expenses.”
In March, a report by the National Association of Charter School Authorizers detailed dozens of shortcomings in the Department of Education’s standards and procedures for approving and monitoring charter schools.
Since June, Meece said, charter school leaders have met three times with members of the State Board of Education, Markell’s staff and Department of Education officials to “compare what is done in other states and review best practices nationwide.”
“I’m prepared” to work on changes, Sokola said. “It’s often good to look at the [outside] evaluations. We can learn not only from our experiences here but from experiences elsewhere.”
Improving the Department of Education’s procedures will reduce the likelihood of charter schools running into trouble and increase the chances of detecting problems before they become severe, Meece said.
On the capital funding issue, Meece explained that charter schools must draw on funds intended for day-to-day operations to pay for construction or purchase of their school facilities. In traditional school districts, buildings are financed through bond issues, with the state picking up the majority of the costs. As a result, Meece said, charter schools have difficulty securing affordable sites and have less money available for daily operations than regular public schools.
“We need a formula so charters can secure capital funds … from the state,” Sokola said, but it could not be the same formula that is used for regular school districts. One option he mentioned would be for charters to secure construction funds from private foundations and use that as the equivalent of school districts’ “local share” of construction costs.
Charter school operators, Meece said, have suggested that the state provide an annual subsidy or reimbursement for a portion of capital expenses incurred in previous year. “It wouldn’t be as expensive as paying for a new school building, but it would be something charter schools could count on as a way of helping pay for teachers or additional resources for children,” he said.
