New charter schools in the state would be subject to a two-step approval process, as well as new laws over disclosing their records. The bill has passed the house and senate, and is now sitting at the governor’s office.
The pending bill would require new charter schools to convince both educators and politicians that they're worthy of an investment.
Speaking on the senate floor early Tuesday morning, Sen. Gayle Slossberg described the change as a clarification of language, not process.
“I don’t see any changes in terms of the roles that we are playing," Slossber said. "I see a change, a very clear change in the language we are using, so that all of our members of our public and every one understand what the actual process and what the roles are.”
Jeremiah Grace sees things a bit differently.
"These schools, stuck in limbo, with an initial certificate, have to wait for funding from the General Assembly, a political body, before they're a full charter," Grace said.
Grace is the state director for the Northeast Charter School Network. He says that the State Department of Education should have the final say over approving both the charter schools program and its public funding.
In addition to concerns about the new approval process, Grace is worried that charter schools will now be subjected to harassing document requests.
The law would require charter schools and their management organizations to give their records to School Governance Councils, which would then be subject to Freedom of Information requests. AFT Connecticut, a teachers union, has supported the bill, saying it's an important step toward stronger accountability.
Initial language required charter schools to disclose their donors, though it was removed before the final vote. Information on who donates to charter schools will remain private under the new rules.
The Appropriations Committee took money out of the state budget for two new charter schools, but the General Assembly put the $21 million back in after negotiations with the governor's office. Governor Dannel Malloy has been strongly pro-charter schools, and has expressed his displeasure with any bill that placed a moratorium on new charter schools.
