State Rep. Kathy Swan opposes charter-schools expansion bill

State Rep. Kathy Swan opposes legislation allowing for establishment of charter schools in Cape Girardeau and other cities with populations of more than 30,000.

The House’s elementary and secondary education committee recently passed the measure by a vote of 8 to 5.

Swan, who chairs the committee, cast one of the five “no” votes.

Charter schools now are mostly limited to students residing in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas.

Swan, a Cape Girardeau Republican, said school districts worry they will take a financial hit if the measure were to become law. State funding for school districts is based largely on enrollment.

Under Missouri law, charter schools are independent, public schools that receive per-pupil state aid that otherwise would go to the school districts.

Swan said Friday there also is an accountability issue in regard to charter schools.

Missouri, according to Swan, has a “20-year patchwork” of regulations governing charter schools. Swan said she wants a statewide task force established to study Missouri’s experience with charter schools.

She failed to secure passage of a measure last year to establish such a task force. She did not refile the bill this year, but still feels such a move is warranted.

“I am a big proponent in having people sit down on all sides of the issue,” Swan said.

The lawmaker said she is concerned about “barriers” to education such as poverty, homelessness, single-parent homes and hunger.

“How do we remove learning barriers?” she asked.

Swan said removing children from traditional public schools and putting them in charter schools is “not going to automatically improve learning.”

Education groups, including the Missouri School Boards Association and the Missouri State Teachers Association (MSTA), oppose the bill.

The MSTA said on its website the bill “would remove local control of public education in areas where charters expand and silence communities regarding how taxpayer monies are spent.”

Charter schools operate with their own boards of directors who are not accountable to local school boards, opponents said.

Swan said Cape Girardeau public school officials oppose the charter-schools bill.

The MSTA said on its website more than a third of charter schools have closed over the past two decades. While the reasons for the closures have varied from poor academic performance to financial mismanagement, “taxpayer money has been wasted,” according to the group.

“Over $620 million was spent on failed charter schools in Missouri,” the website states.

But proponents argued the state’s charter school commission only approves quality applications that demonstrate community support. The bill also requires charters to meet certain academic standards, supporters said.

Although the House committee approved the bill, Swan said she has seen no support in her legislative district for establishing charter schools.

While the measure passed out of committee, Swan said she doesn’t know whether the measure will be brought to the House floor for a vote.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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