Tennessee House shows increased support for public charter schools

Tennessee House chambers (Photo by the Tennessee General Assembly)

Members of the Tennessee House sent a sign of increased support for innovative education options Monday by voting 70 to 19 in favor of legislation that supporters say will improve the approval process for public charter schools.

The vote is a noteworthy change from last year, when 63 of 99 members of the Tennessee House voted in favor of legislation designed to make it easier for public charter schools to acquire facilities. Both bills were considered legislative priorities by charter supporters.

Charter schools are free public schools operated by a non-profit organization under a contract or “charter” with an authorizing agency like a school district or the state.

Under current law, potential charter applicants first apply to their local school board for approval. Members are supposed to follow state guidelines when making those decisions and denied charter applicants have the option of appealing to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission if they believe guidelines weren’t followed.

The commission has overturned at least one charter denial from Metro Nashville Public Schools in each of the last four years and that has led to concerns about local politics interfering with these decisions.

To address those concerns, Governor Bill Lee backed legislation this year sponsored by Representative Mark White, R-Memphis, to allow 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 under the bill.

Representative Mark White (Photo by the Tennessee General Assembly)

On Monday White told members of the House that the legislation will help ensure parents have high-quality educational choices for their children.

“Charters are a local public school which serve the best interest of the child. It’s a parental choice whether they leave them in the traditional school they may be in that district and or if there’s an option that is workable for that child, they can move over there,” said White.

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

Democrats oppose charters despite success in their own districts

Every House Democrat voted against the bill, including multiple representatives from Nashville, Knoxville, and Memphis where charters have outperformed comparable public schools run by local school districts. A study by Stanford found Tennessee’s public charter schools are additionally succeeding despite serving students who come from significantly more challenging backgrounds than traditional public schools.

Representative Bo Mitchell (Photo by the Tennessee General Assembly)

Representative Bo Mitchell, D-Nashville, was among the Democrats speaking against the legislation, in the process providing misleading information about public charter school performance and how they operate in Tennessee.

“That is such a farse to say that charter schools are public schools when you don’t hold them to the same standards that you do our public schools,” said Mitchell.

Under state law, charter schools are considered public schools and the students who attend them take the same tests as traditional public schools.

Representative White pushed back on Mitchell’s comments, pointing to the performance those schools have produced in recent years.

 “The students that have moved from the public schools into a charter, those charters are outperforming the schools from which they came,” said White. “The whole purpose of education is to educate the individual child. I don’t know why we’re so concerned about whether he goes traditional public or charter, if you’re educating the child that’s what our obligation is.”

Following the House vote, education advocacy organization Tennesseans for Student Success issued a press release applauding the “overwhelming support” from House members. President and CEO Lana Skelo said the legislation will remove the politics from the approval process that can cause barriers and delays. The Tennessee Firefly is a product of and supported by Tennesseans for Student Success.

“Today’s House vote is an important step forward to improving student achievement in our state by ensuring kids can attend the public school that works for them,” said Skelo. “Families deserve access to the high-quality public-school options that new public charter schools will be providing in the coming years. Those schools can only open if they have a fair application process free from local politics. We applaud the leadership members of the Tennessee General Assembly showed to strengthen this important process and provide families with more choices and more opportunities for students to succeed.”

The bill now heads to Governor Lee’s desk for approval.