SPRINGFIELD DISTRICT SEEKS CHARTER AUTONOMY

When legislation to permit charter schools was first being discussed in the Missouri Legislature, representatives of several school districts showed up in Jefferson City to voice their opposition. Allowing some schools to operate independently of state regulations would siphon state funding, they said.

Generally, this has been a common theme, even after charter schools were limited to Kansas City and St. Louis. The legislature restricted the charter schools to those urban areas where school districts have, despite massive state funding efforts, failed in their mission to turn out well-educated students.

As has been noted in this space on many occasions, local school officials have been fighting the wrong battle. Instead of opposing charter schools, they should have been pushing for the same freedom from overbearing bureaucracy.

Finally, one Missouri district has embarked on a bold journey whose destination is charter status for the entire district.

The Springfield, Mo., school board recently made charter status for the district its top legislative priority. The district is well aware that the trip will travel along a bumpy road.

In the first place, current legislation doesn't allow charter schools outside Kansas City and St. Louis. And there are no provisions for an entire district to be chartered. Attempts to expand those limits -- a recent bill tried unsuccessfully to authorize charter schools in Springfield -- haven't had a bit of success. That's mainly because charter schools have been viewed as alternatives to schools in badly run districts. Springfield's schools are, for the most part, good schools.

So why is Springfield doing this?

One reason is to send a message: School districts should enjoy local control, and charter schools are given that autonomy. So why shouldn't an entire district strive to obtain charter status?

Springfield officials say having a charter would allow the district to optimize local control and free the district from "unproductive bureaucratic activities that don't really have anything to do with accountability and student performance," in the words of Superintendent Jack Ernst.

Well said.

The Springfield plan accomplishes one thing immediately. It exposes the issue of local school control and freedom from state and even federal bureaucracy to much-needed public discussion and legislative debate.