School & District Management

South Carolina Eyes State Charter District

By Erik W. Robelen — February 21, 2006 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

South Carolina appears on track to enact legislation that would create both a statewide authorizer for charter schools and a new statewide district exclusively for those schools.

The measure stems from concerns that local school districts have not always been welcoming—and sometimes are hostile—to the largely autonomous public schools.

If the measure becomes law, South Carolina will join a small list of states with statewide authorizing bodies, and will be only the second to have a statewide charter district, according to Todd M. Ziebarth, a policy analyst at the Washington-based National Alliance of Public Charter Schools.

Currently, only school districts may authorize charters in South Carolina.

Both the state House and Senate recently approved versions of the legislation, which now must be reconciled in a conference committee. That panel was expected to begin meeting as soon as this week.

BRIC ARCHIVE

Two key differences in the bills are the composition of the charter-authorizing board and measures in the House bill related to funding of existing charter schools.

“It looks like we’re in the home stretch to passing a law that will greatly strengthen the charter school movement in South Carolina,” said Kristin L. Maguire, who was appointed to the state school board by Gov. Mark Sanford, a Republican.

During a Valentine’s Day visit to a charter school, Gov. Sanford cited examples of district resistance to charters. “It’s clear this bill is needed to provide another option for people looking to establish these schools,” he said.

South Carolina first enacted a charter school law in 1996, and has just 27 charters. Charter advocates suggest there would be far more if school districts weren’t the only ones authorizing charters.

“Right now, your only option is to go to your local school board,” said Mr. Ziebarth. “So 10 years into the movement, there are 27 schools open, and there just isn’t a friendly climate.”

But Scott T. Price, the general counsel of the South Carolina School Boards Association, suggested that the state authorizing board could become a rubber stamp for charter applications. He acknowledged some tensions between districts and charter schools, but said the answer was allowing other outside entities, such as universities, to become authorizers. In addition, he said, “We have a lot of questions and concerns with creating a whole new district.”

Second in the Nation

If the legislation becomes law, South Carolina will join only Colorado as states with a statewide charter district, Mr. Ziebarth said.

He noted that Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and the District of Columbia also have statewide, independent, special-purpose charter boards.

“It’s South Carolina’s twist on what’s happening in a small number of other places,” Mr. Ziebarth said.

Ms. Maguire said charter advocates sought advice from national experts in devising the legislation’s approach. She argued that there is “an inherent conflict of interest” in the way the charter law operates now, since charters receive some aid from local districts. “It’s the equivalent to going to a local retailer and saying, ‘We would like you to authorize a Wal-Mart to go up across the street, and you need to give us some money to do so,’ ” she said.

Funding for charters in the statewide district would not come from local coffers.

Some charter school leaders pushed hard for changes when the bill reached the House floor. They expressed concerns that school systems might decide to hand off their existing charters to the statewide district to save money.

Those advocates contend that the legislation in both chambers could lead to lower funding levels for charters. But an amendment passed on the House floor Feb. 9 aims to protect existing charters.

“There were some gaps and questions about how [funding] would be calculated,” said Robert E. Bohnstengel, the principal of the 1,500-student James Island Charter High School in Charleston, the state’s largest charter. “[The amendment] made us feel much more assured. ...”

Under the House bill, a decision to deny renewal of a charter would have to be based on the kind of evidence required to revoke a charter prematurely, such as failing to meet accepted standards of financial management.

A version of this article appeared in the February 22, 2006 edition of Education Week as South Carolina Eyes State Charter District

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Mathematics Webinar
Pave the Path to Excellence in Math
Empower your students' math journey with Sue O'Connell, author of “Math in Practice” and “Navigating Numeracy.”
Content provided by hand2mind
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Recruitment & Retention Webinar
Combatting Teacher Shortages: Strategies for Classroom Balance and Learning Success
Learn from leaders in education as they share insights and strategies to support teachers and students.
Content provided by DreamBox Learning
Classroom Technology K-12 Essentials Forum Reading Instruction and AI: New Strategies for the Big Education Challenges of Our Time
Join the conversation as experts in the field explore these instructional pain points and offer game-changing guidance for K-12 leaders and educators.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management Q&A Behind a New Effort to Recruit and Support Progressive School Board Candidates
By targeting school board races, this political group hopes to recruit candidates who can counter conservative messages.
6 min read
Voters fill out their ballots in booths on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, at Petersen Residence Hall on the University of Iowa campus in Iowa City, Iowa.
Voters fill out their ballots in booths on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, at Petersen Residence Hall on the University of Iowa campus in Iowa City, Iowa.
Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen via AP
School & District Management What's Stopping Later School Start Times That Support Teen Sleep? Bus Schedules, for One
See practical strategies for districts looking to move start times to accommodate teen sleep schedules.
5 min read
Crossing guard Pamela Lane waves at a school bus passing her intersection as she crosses students going to Bluford Elementary School on Sept. 5, 2023, in Philadelphia.
Crossing guard Pamela Lane waves at a school bus passing her intersection near Bluford Elementary School on Sept. 5, 2023, in Philadelphia.
Alejandro A. Alvarez/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP
School & District Management Opinion 'I Used to Think School Systems Were Broken': Educators Reflect
Changing your mind or evolving your thinking is not easy. Hear how these education leaders did just that.
1 min read
Used to Think
Hear how these Harvard education graduate students evolved their thinking around both their practice and work as systems leaders.
School & District Management Opinion I Teach Educators How to Change Their Minds. Here’s How
Four important lessons for how educators—school and district leaders, especially—can create opportunities for growth.
Jennifer Perry Cheatham, Erica Lim & Carmen Williams
5 min read
Video stills
The students from the Leaders of Learning class taught by Jennifer Perry Cheatham at the Harvard Graduate School of Education last year.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week