Charter school measure revived

Monday, May 5, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

SB220, providing for the creation of 25 charter schools statewide with no more than 12 in any one county, passed unanimously April 23 in the Senate Human Resources and Facilities Committee. The bill provides guarantees the teachers union wanted regarding the use of licensed teachers and the collective bargaining process.

"I feel real positive that this bill will pass the Legislature," says Sen. Jon Porter, R-Boulder City. "We're providing a way to make improvements to our educational system."

Charter schools are part of a national education reform movement to give parents more voice in the education of their children. Teachers and parents sign a charter with the local school district to establish schools that are independent of state education rules.

"By lifting restraints from these public schools, teachers, parents and administrators have more freedom to pursue innovative teaching methods," said Porter, one of the bill's sponsors.

Other sponsors include Sens. Valerie Wiener, D-Las Vegas; Ernie Adler, D-Carson City; and Maurice Washington, R-Sparks.

In exchange for greater latitude in teaching methods and curriculum, charter school educators agree to demonstrate superior student achievement.

"We're comfortable with the amended bill approved by the committee," said Debbie Cahill, a lobbyist for the Nevada State Education Association. "We can support it."

The changes, particularly the reference to Nevada's collective bargaining law, were added after Human Resources Chairman Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas, suggested the bill would be killed otherwise.

The bill should come to the Senate floor for a vote this week, then head to the Assembly where it faces a more uncertain future in the Education Committee, chaired by Wendell Williams.

Williams, D-Las Vegas, helped kill the 1995 charter bill. He said the 25 schools allowed to be established and run independently in SB220 is too many.

"I'm not going to support as high a number as they have proposed in the Senate," he said.

The former teacher said there have been problems with charter schools in other states, and Nevada should proceed more carefully. Williams also said there is the question of whether the creation of charter schools actually means using public funds for private education.

Other critics include Barbara Clark, representing the Nevada Parent-Teacher Association, who questions the wisdom of creating a two-tiered public education system and giving only a few students the chance to excel in a charter school.

"If deregulation is such a good idea, why not do it for all the public schools in Nevada?" she asked.

The bill requires full-time elementary school teachers working in charter schools to be licensed. It also requires teachers of core subjects such as English in secondary charter schools to be licensed under Nevada law.

As written, the bill allows a public school to convert to a charter school if at least 50 percent of the teachers agree.

Other interested parties also could form a charter school. The schools would be considered public and open to all students. The charter school would get the same funding per student as public schools receive.

A charter would be approved for six years but could be revoked if the school ran into financial or other difficulties.

Local school boards would have the power to authorize the creation of a charter school.