Editorial, Wyoming News
The issue: The Center for Education Reform has given Wyoming’s charter school statutes a “D” grade.
We believe: This is one big reason that the state has so few charter schools: The law hinders, rather than helps, advance the concept.
It continues to be a mystery why Wyoming does not have a robust charter school movement.
This is a state that treasures independence, free market competition and local control of schools. It also has a conservative political mindset, which should make it fertile ground for education reform.
True, the Legislature has been busy with other matters. It has been trying to install a system of school accountability. And the brouhaha over State Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill is consuming a lot of energy and time.
But that does not mean lawmakers should not be looking at this issue.
Accountability is one big piece of the puzzle. But so is competition. Academic success outside the system n which charter schools offer n can help push the public schools off dead center.
Perhaps the biggest impediment to the charter school movement in Wyoming is the state law. Quite simply, it gets in the way of charter schools, rather than helping them to prosper.
That the state law needs work was proven once again n as it is every year n by a report from the Center for Education Reform. It gives Wyoming’s charter school statutes a “D” grade, ranking them 40th out of the 43 states that have such laws.
Two of the biggest impediments in the law are a lack of multiple authorizers and the freedom for charters to operate in ways they see fit.
In terms of authorizer, the current process of having school boards approve charters is unproductive. It forces boards to worry about a charter’s impact on funding. Then there is the fear that it actually may succeed and what that says about current schools.
Wyoming needs an independent authorizer to open up the system. Besides, that could allow for greater expertise in the decisions; even district officials admit they are in over their heads in analyzing the quality of charter petitions.
As for autonomy, charters now have to rely on the districts’ goodwill if they want to operate outside current policy. Yet the movement relies on a trade: charter school freedom for results. If that is not given n and it is not in Wyoming n then the full benefits of the charter idea cannot be enjoyed.
Lawmakers must open the system to the competition that they say they so dearly love. Perhaps some legislative candidates will make that point about the charter law in this year’s elections.
Follow the law
The Laramie County Commission clearly broke the state’s open meetings law this week. Rather than meeting at its announced time of 2:15 p.m. on Monday, it met earlier.
The commissioners say it was just an error. Perhaps. But another opinion being expressed is that they wanted to meet with off-track betting officials outside the view of the public. A variety of motivations for that have been speculated upon.
No doubt, the commissioners will say none of that is true. But that is why there is a law: Meeting in public doesn’t allow for rumors or innuendo n or bad behavior, if any.
The County Commission should know better. The law is clear. Follow it.