Charter school legislation heard before packed crowd

Today, during a meeting of the House Education Committee, charter school legislation, HB 77 (Montell), was heard for informational purposes before a packed crowd. Dave Adkisson, president and CEO of the Kentucky Chamber, joined the bill sponsor and a panel of charter school practitioners from Indiana, New Mexico and Wisconsin to encourage the committee to support adding this educational option in Kentucky. The current bill would have to gain support of a majority of the House Education Committee before moving forward in the legislative process.

“Employers need educated and work-ready employees. Charter schools are yet another tool for the public education system to prepare students, especially in areas with consistently low performing schools, for the jobs employers need to fill,” said Adkisson during his testimony.

Charter schools are independent schools designed to provide tuition-free public education choices to parents and students. Charters liberate teachers and administrators from red tape and allow more innovation in the classroom. In exchange for this flexibility, charter schools accept high accountability, knowing that they can be closed if they fail to live up to their charter. Kentucky is one of 10 states in the country without charter school legislation.

Based on a survey of members and careful deliberation by the Education and Workforce Policy Council, the Chamber took the position to support charter schools in the fall of 2010.