Work by Matthew Stone

Dec. 17, 2010

AUGUSTA -- Supporters of charter schools in Maine think they have reason to celebrate this holiday season.

The next governor is pledging to appoint an education commissioner who's a proponent of charter schools and public school choice.

And the new Republican-led Legislature appears more likely than past bodies to pass a bill that allows charter schools in Maine, which is one of 10 states that does not currently allow the independently run public schools.

"Charter schools are all of the sudden relevant, because we might get them," said Roger Brainerd, executive director of the Maine Association for Charter Schools.

The charter schools association is drafting a bill that would set the ground rules for opening, operating and overseeing a charter school system in Maine.

The association has made repeated attempts over the past decade to pass charter school legislation, but each try -- the most recent came in March -- has failed.

On Thursday, the group shared the new legislation it's working on with lawmakers, educators, policymakers and others who will play a role in the charter school debate.

"It's about innovation. It's about creativity. It's about experimenting," Brainerd said. "But at the end of the day, it has to work. It has to work for the student."

The draft legislation provides for a system of schools run by organizations who apply for the charters to operate them.

The bill offers those schools more flexibility than traditional public schools. For example, charter school staffs wouldn't have to be unionized, and only 50 percent of charter school teaching staffs would need to be certified.

But the schools would have to meet specifically negotiated targets for student performance or risk being shut down by their authorizers -- who would be local school boards, public or private colleges with an education program or a special statewide charter school commission.

"You're not just going to be able to put your name on a storefront somewhere and start operation," said Judith Jones, board chairman for the Maine Association for Charter Schools.

Charter schools would receive funding for each student they enroll, along with federal funding intended for charter schools. New schools would also be capped at enrolling no more than 10 percent of a school district's resident population.

During the law's first five years, the colleges and charter school commission would be limited to issuing 20 charters.

The charter schools association has yet to confirm a sponsor for the bill, but there's "bipartisan support" for the proposal, Jones said.

The prospects of passing a charter school bill when the Legislature convenes in January are looking bright, said Rep. Peter Johnson, R-Greenville, a charter school supporter who has served on the Legislature's Education Committee.

"I'm pretty certain it will happen," he said.

But the same lobbying groups that opposed charter schools the last time around have yet to be persuaded to support the schools.

Charter schools would drain funding from existing districts struggling to make ends meet, said Chris Galgay, president of the Maine Education Association.

"I don't know what they're supporting but to start an entirely new school system at a time when the budget's going to be cut further," he said.

Charter schools haven't even proven successful, Galgay said.

"We'll support anything we think is good for public education in this state," he said. "They have never made the case why we need these charter schools."

Todd Ziebarth, vice president of policy at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, said charters schools have been successful in some states and have struggled elsewhere.

"The state law matters a great deal," he said. "It has a big impact on charter schools' success and their struggles."

The law being drafted by the Maine Association for Charter Schools is based largely on the National Alliance's model law, which contains elements from charter school laws across the country. "Charter schools don't automatically get an indefinite charter," Ziebarth said of the model bill. "They're using public money. They need to be held publicly accountable."

Richard Durost, executive director of the Maine Principals' Association, said the organization still has a resolution on the books that opposes charter schools.

"There are probably some aspects of some approaches that would be more palatable than others," Durost said, asked if the association would be open to compromise. "But we would have to see the bill before we can assess what we might or might not support."

Dale Douglass, executive director of the Maine School Management Association, couldn't be reached on Thursday. That group, which represents superintendents and school boards, has opposed prior charter school attempts.

Matthew Stone -- 623-3811, ext. 435
mstone@centralmaine.com

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