Knoxville lawmakers share misinformation about public charter schools to attack legislation that supports them

In its history, the charter commission has upheld exactly the same number of denials as overturned, but Metro Nashville Public Schools’ (MNPS) decisions make up more than 60 percent of the charter commission’s overturned decisions, including three last year.¶

Concerns about political bias, especially in Nashville led charter supporters, including Governor Bill Lee, to back legislation co-sponsored by Representative Mark White, R-Memphis, allowing charter applicants the ability to apply directly to the charter commission if they want to open a school in a district that has had three charter denials overturned in three straight years. The charter commission’s “direct authorization” would be in effect for the district for up to five years.¶

“What we’re having a lot of times is certain districts just may not like charters and therefore they turn a lot of em down,” said White. “I have a lot of faith and confidence in the history of the charter commission that we established a number of years ago, that they are really looking into these and they have rejected charters also but if you just have continual rejections by an LEA and the charter commission has overturned those rejections, which many times they don’t, then this puts that in place.”¶

Representative McKenzie spoke against White’s legislation by characterizing charter operators as outside venture capitalists seeking to make money. In Tennessee charter schools must be operated by a non-profit organizations and a number approved recently in Nashville and Memphis are led by experienced educators from the community.¶

“They’re doing a great job with their public schools, but you have this outside venture capitalist or outside entity that just doesn’t mesh that LEA, and they understand that,” said McKenzie. “This might be solving a particular problem that your charter commission is looking at but it doesn’t solve all of them. I think we kind of look inward, we get tunnel vision when we pass these type of bills, it can be detrimental to an entity that doesn’t need that.”¶

Representatives on House Education Committee disagreed, voting 15 to 4 to advance the legislation. A companion bill in the Senate passed last week.¶

Both bills would additionally provide the charter commission with new flexibility to renew charters every 5 years instead of every ten and allow public colleges and universities and charter operators who want to replicate an existing academic model and the ability to apply directly to the commission.¶

The Tennessee Higher Education Commission passed an important update on Thursday for how colleges and universities are funded.