Evaluation of the Public Charter Schools Program: Year One Evaluation Report

CHAPTER 3 APPENDICES

Appendix L: COMPLEXITY IN CHARTERING AUTHORITY AUTHORIZER VARIABLES

Exhibit L-1: Local, State, Multiple Independent and Interdependent Entities, by State

Appendix M: STATE LEGISLATIVE CAPS AND NUMBERS OF CHARTER SCHOOLS
Exhibit M-1: Types of Caps Across States

Appendix L

COMPLEXITY IN CHARTERING AUTHORITY

Although local school entities and states play an important role in the charter school movement in each state, the specifics of charter granting vary greatly from state to state. For example, in California and Texas, two states in which local boards and the state board of education are assigned roles in chartering, the exact relationships between the state and locality are very different. In California, local boards charter and send on their charter for an official "number" from the state, which is essentially the state?s stamp of approval. The state takes on the role of chartering only in the case of an appeal and for the three charter districts in the state. Contrast this approach with Texas, where local boards can charter "campus" (or district conversion) charter schools independent of the state. However, the State Board of Education can also charter?and specifically charters open-enrollment or start-up?schools. The two entities operating independently can sometimes lead to confusion about relationships or overlapping interests, since the state board may charter a school within the boundaries of Houston Independent School District, for example, right alongside a charter that has been authorized by the district itself.

These examples illustrate the challenges in grouping state approaches to chartering into simple categories that do not reflect the true diversity and complexity inherent in the chartering infrastructure. Exhibit L-1 represents an effort to sort states according to relevant ways of viewing the state policy contexts and environments in which charter schools develop. In describing the various state approaches to structuring the authorizing system, there are several categories under which states can fall:

• Single entity authority (local and state). There are 15 states where the chartering authority is the purview of one type of agency only: local school boards or districts or a state entity. Ten of these states provide local school boards or districts with the authority to charter in the state. In two of these cases (ID, OR) the state board can also grant charters, but only when the local decision to deny the charter is appealed. In five other states, a state entity is the only authorizing agency. For the most part, this means that the state board of education authorizes the charter, but the SEA is often intimately involved in the review of applications and in many cases makes recommendations to the board. In one case (NJ), the State Commissioner is the sole authorizing agency.
• Multiple-entity authority (with independence or interdependence). In the remaining 23 states, more than one type of entity is permitted to charter. Relationships between the entities permitted to charter come in many forms. The first set of multiple-entity chartering states allow for each of the stated entities to charter independently of each other. In other words, in Arizona, one of three states with an independent entity created for chartering (a fourth is in Pennsylvania, but is meant only for appeals), the State Board of Education charters independently from either the State Board for Charter Schools or the local boards.

The second set of multiple-entity chartering states often have complex, interdependent relationships between the entities that charter. For example, in Minnesota, charter school authorizers include the State Board of Education (which became defunct around the time of the 1999 telephone survey), local boards, intermediate school districts, universities and community colleges, and the chief state school officer. However, in the past, all the Minnesota entities that were not the state board submitted their granted charters to the state for ratification. It is not clear who might play this ratification role now that the state board has been dismantled. In another example of this type, New York?s charter school authorizers include the state board of education (Board of Regents), the local boards, and the State University of New York?s (SUNY?s) Board of Trustees. In this state, public school conversions must go through their local boards; moreover, local boards must pass all approved charters on to the state board for final approval. Charter schools approved by SUNY, on the other hand, must submit their charter to the state board, but the comments of the state board are not legally binding, so in some ways SUNY has more authority over the chartering process.

Exhibit L-1
LOCAL, STATE, MULTIPLE INDEPENDENT AND INTERDEPENDENT ENTITIES,
BY STATE

State	Entities Permitted to Charter
Single Entity - Locals
CO	L
KS	L
NM	L
NV	L
OK	L, VTSD
SC	L
VA	L
WY	L
ID	L + SB on appeal
OR	L + SB on appeal
PA	L + IB1 on appeal
Single Entity - State
HI	SB
NH	SB
NJ	CSSO
RI	SB
UT	SB
Multiple Entities, Chartering Independent of Each Other
FL	L, U/C/C2
MI	L, ISD, and U/C/C3
WI	L, U/C/C4, M4
CT	SB, L
DE	SB, L
LA	SB, L + SB on appeal
OH	SB, L, C, U/C/C, M
TX	SB, L5
AZ	SB, IB6, and L
DC	SB, IB7
PR	IB8
Multiple Entities, With Interdependence
AK	L with SB approval
CA	L, C, with SB approval + SB on appeal and SB for charter districts
IL	L with SB approval + SB on appeal
MO	L, U/C/C with SB approval + SB on appeal
NC	SB, L and U/C/C with SB approval
MN	SB, L, U/C/C, CSSO, ISD + SB on appeal
NY	SB, L with SB approval, U/C/C9
AR	SB (L approve conversions before sent to SB)
GA	SB (L monitors, renews, and approves charters, and is liable)
MS	SB (L approve before sent to SB)
MA	SB (L and teacher's union approve local charters before sent to SB)

¹ Charter Schools Appeals Board
² State universities with laboratory schools
³ Only public colleges and universities
⁴ Only applies to these entities in Milwaukee
⁵ Including "home rule" districts
⁶ State Board for Charter Schools
⁷ DC Public Charter Schools Board
⁸ Educational Reform Institute
⁹ SUNY Board of Trustees

Table of Contents

|

Chapter 4 Appendices