Charter School Expansion Coming Up for Vote in State House

Republicans have revived a measure that would open the door to more charter schools in Tennessee’s twelve largest counties.

The proposal already failed as a stand-alone bill in the state House of Representatives. It’s found new life as an amendment being added to another piece of legislation.

Mike Turner chairs the House Democratic Caucus. He says opposition to the measure isn’t about charter schools, but inequity. Turner says the bill would limit expansion to districts which tend to be represented by Democrats.

“The Republicans are trying to really force Shelby and Davidson counties, ‘cause that’s mainly who this would affect, without putting themselves in line to have charter schools. If they try to amend this bill on the floor, there will be an amendment to make it statewide and we’ll see how much they want to do charter schools then.”

State and local education funds follow students to charter schools. Turner says that makes charters an expensive proposition for school districts, especially in a tough budget year like this one.

The state House is scheduled to vote on the matter tomorrow.

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Turner says news stories about the issue over-emphasize the opposition of his party to charter schools.

“We took a position against a particular bill, not against charter school issues.”

Turner says that US Education Secretary Arne Duncan told him in a series of phone calls that first year stimulus monies wouldn’t be held up by the state’s inaction on the proposed charter school bill, although it will keep the state from qualifying for a possible share of the four-billion-dollar “race to the top” fund.

“He and I talked probably about four of five times over a period of about seven days. And we talked about the future of education in this country. And he’s a very nice fellow, a knowledgeable fellow, and he wants the school systems across this country to think outside the box. Not necessarily charter schools. He doesn’t think they’re the overall answer. He just thinks they’re a tool in the toolbox.”

A second political issue is that Representative David Hawk, R-Greeneville, was allowed to move an innocuous bill (HB 1525 Hawk/SB 621 Southerland) out of the House Education Committee and onto the House floor. That bill would ease restrictions on “cyber” charter schools. Hawk promised not to amend the bill to do anything else.

But now Representative Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, has filed an amendment that would turn Hawk’s bill into a clone of the bill the Democrats stalled in the House Education Committee.

If Hawk allowed his bill to be used in such a manner, it would violate several House customs. But arguably it wouldn’t violate any rules. Other laws have been passed under similar circumstances in the past.

The amendment would essentially rewrite the bill to parallel HB 2146 Harwell/SB 2133 Woodson, which House Democrats opposed in committee.

That bill has passed in the Senate but has been deferred to the year 2010 in the House Education Committee.
As passed in the Senate the charter school bill looks like this, which is apparently the same as the Kelsey amendment to the Hawk bill.

Our previous stories on this issue:
House Education Committee Adjourns, Leaving Charter Schools Bill Unresolved
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009, by Daniel Potter

Nashville Representatives Divided on Charter Schools
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009, by Daniel Potter

Capitol Hill Conversation – Bill to Expand Charter School Enrollments
May 18th, 2009