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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Charter Schools Scrutinized Advocates Must Overcome Funding Doubts, Other Woes

Quane Kenyon Associated Press

State Rep. Fred Tilman thinks that if people know what charter schools are all about, they will like them better.

For five years, the chairman of the House Education Committee has been trying to get the Idaho Legislature to allow charter schools.

Advocates say the schools, operated under a special agreement, are free of many of the constraints that, they say, stifle innovation in the regular public schools.

Tilman hasn’t gotten far recently, but this summer, the Boise Republican is co-chairman of a special committee that could make recommendations on the issue to the next Legislature.

In any event, Idaho residents are likely to hear a great deal about charter schools in coming months.

The committee plans public hearings around the state. Tilman says the primary goal is educating people about what charter schools do.

The Legislature almost allowed charter schools in 1996. Tilman got the House to approve a plan, but it didn’t get out of the Senate Education Committee. The Senate floated a more restrictive measure, but it died in late-session maneuvering.

This past winter, Senate Education Committee Chairman Gary Schroeder, R-Moscow, let it be known he isn’t receptive to the idea, fearing that charter schools might siphon badly needed funding from the regular public school system.

Tilman, a strong supporter of home schooling, says much of the problem stems from people equating charter schools with private schools. He stressed repeatedly at a Statehouse meeting this past week that what he is talking about is “public charter schools,” a part of the regular public school system.

A big hang-up in recent discussions of charter schools has been who will decide when a group of parents or an organization should be granted a special charter to operate its own school. Some want local school boards to decide; others think it should be left up to the state Board of Education, state Department of Education or even the education departments at the state universities.

Money also is a major problem and could be the biggest hurdle charter schools must clear.

Tilman and others have talked of giving state school funding to students enrolled in charter schools on the same basis as per-student spending in regular public schools.

But opponents say that if a child or two leaves each classroom, taking several thousand dollars in state funding with them, school operating expenses wouldn’t drop noticeably but the loss of cash would be significant.

After the last Legislature gave only a minimal funding increase to public schools, that’s likely to be a major argument against charter schools.

Tilman and Schroeder want members of the special committee to review the rules governing charter schools in 25 other states before making any decisions.