NO CHARTER SCHOOLS EXPECTED THIS YEAR

No charter schools are slated to open this fall in St. Louis and Kansas City despite recent legislation establishing the alternative education centers.

Last spring Missouri lawmakers passed Senate Bill 781, making the state the 34th in the nation to establish charter schools. Gov. Mel Carnahan in June signed the legislation, which only affects the state's two urban school districts. The law goes into effect Aug. 28.

The legislation permits school boards, four-year public colleges and universities, and public community colleges in the same or adjoining counties to open the schools, which would be eligible for state funding and work cooperatively with the existing public school district. Although educational laws regarding health, safety and minimum educational standards would be enforced, charter schools would be exempt from most other educational laws and policies.

So far no sponsors have stepped forward to say they are prepared to open a charter school this fall, said Susan Cole of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Educaiton. Laura Friedham, director of the Charter School Information Center in Clayton, said the center is working with prospective sponsors in both cities who may be prepared to open charter schools in fall 1999.

"We have been very vocal in that we do not advocate the opening of schools this year," said Friedham. "Opening a school is a daunting task, and the law doesn't go into effect until Aug. 28. That's way too short a time for anyone to have done any in-depth preparation."

Friedham said Missouri charter schools have not been well received by some public school administrators because the legislation "puts in place a process by which the money follows the child." While the loss of state revenue may seem threatening to a school board, charter schools actually provide an additional educational method that might catch students who can't function in a conventional learning environment, she said.

"This is a great opportunity to address populations of students not well served" by conventional education, she said. "It opens up the idea that there may be more than one provider of public education in any given community."

Cole said DESE has a limited role in the opening of charter schools, but subcommittees are meeting to work on various funding issues that might arise from their creation. It's difficult to tell how much funding for school districts would be affected because charter schools could have a variety of configurations that could affect one school district or several, dozens of students or hundreds, she said.

Although SB 781 frees charter schools from many of the policies and guidelines public school districts are required to meet, the legislation does require the alternative schools to provide periodic data that demonstrates the academic performance of its students. Schools that aren't helping students progress academically would lose their charters, which is a penalty school districts don't face, said Friedham.

"I believe in the concept of accountability and choice in the public school setting," she said. "Public schools right now continue accepting students even when results are documented as a failure."

Friedham doesn't project a statewide movement towards charter schools in the near future, although demand may increase as public school patrons try to meet the needs of more students.

"Maybe a few years down the road there will be a clamoring from parents outstate for some alternatives, but I don't see a movement anytime soon," she said.