Model State Charter School Law Unveiled

The nation’s leading charter school organization has unveiled a proposal aimed at overhauling the wide range of state laws that govern the publicly funded schools, as well as establishing charter laws in the 10 states that don’t yet allow the schools to operate.

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, which is hosting its annual convention this week in Washington, has designed a model state law that, among other things, calls for better access to facilities and other capital resources, stricter accountability for the local school boards and other entities that authorize charters, and performance contracts.

“If the first phase of charter laws was aimed at getting established, then we now have to pay a lot of attention to making them perform well,” said Nelson Smith, the president and chief executive...