Getting Past the Charter Law Roadblock: Can Canadian Schools Learn from the Maryland Experience?

Helen Raham

The Maryland Department of Education is breaking new ground in a way that may be instructive to Canadians. School districts in Maryland are creating public charter schools without the benefit of state charter laws.

Over 800 charter schools have opened across 30 US states since 1991. These public schools provide innovative or alternative education approaches on specific performance-based contracts called charters. Our Canadian provinces, however, have been slow to offer this option. Alberta remains the sole government to enact charter laws, which it did in 1995. Elsewhere in Canada, parents and educators anxious to pioneer charter schools have been stymied by the absence of enabling legislation. Now they may look to the Maryland model.

In 1996 the Maryland State Board of Education commissioned a broad-based study group to examine the charter schools concept and report on how it might be implemented in the Maryland context. In July, 1997 the Maryland Department of Education issued its policy directive based on the findings. (footnote 1) This has given school districts the green light to pursue the charter option.

The Maryland model

In essence, Maryland has declared chartered legislation unnecessary. The reasoning is simple. The Education Act vests the authority for establishing public schools with each local board of education. Charter schools, being public schools, fall under this authority. Guidelines for Local School Systems states: "As an issue of local control of public education and accountability, it is reasonable to conclude that local boards of education and superintendents are the appropriate education authorities to accept applications, evaluate them, negotiate and to charter schools that benefit students within their jurisdictions." (p. 5.)

The Maryland directive outlined the reasons for a district to consider charter applications: "Public charter schools have the potential to create a local educational marketplace by providing an educational option. They may provide the opportunity for parents, educators and students to voluntarily come together around a shared vision to build a unique approach to student learning. There may be an unmet educational need in the existing public schools that drawspeople together to resolve." (p. 6.) It pointed out that charter schools "should not be viewed as a threat to traditional public education or public school funding. Public charter schools will focus on student achievement in an educational environment different than the existing public schools." (p. 1.)

Guidelines for Local School Systems underlined that charter schools must meet high standards of accountability. "The charter should focus on improving student performance and be accountable for results. To remain in operation, public charter schools must be able to meet the needs of their students, maintain a high degree of parent interest and student enrolment, and remain accountable under a limited-term agreement. Renewal of a school's charter depends upon its performance in carrying out the terms of its charter with the local education authorities. The local board of education may determine the length of time a charter is authorized for and may include provisions for terminating the charter if agreed-upon goals are not met. This term is commonly 3-5 years." (p. 8.)

The document clarified that the intent of the charter option is to provide greater freedom from regulation to create unique learning environments. It states: "The public charter school through a more flexible structure may provide unique educational leadership and/or effect a change of services to students attending existing schools. Local authorities may waive certain policies, procedures, regulations for any school under their jurisdiction. Public charter schools are expected to function as semi-independent educational operations within the local public school system. They have the opportunity to create their own `learning community governance' and to create their own priorities, creative solutions, instructional design, professional development and client satisfaction." (p. 6.)

The guidelines suggest a process by which this might be done. "The local board of education may develop specific application, processing and approval guidelines. The board would then receive, deliberate, and act on petitions for charter schools within their jurisdictions." (p. 6.)

Requests for proposals

The Baltimore City Public Schools system wasted no time in translating this option into action. Under its New Schools Initiative, BCPS issued its first request for proposals (RFPs) calling for applicants to create wholly new schools targeting under-served populations. Seven of 37 proposals received were approved for implementation. The second round of RFPs closed in January 1998, seeking proposals to manage five identified existing low-performing schools.  (footnote 2)

The proposals are evaluated under the following criteria: improved special education compliance, innovative and effective education programs, parent and community involvement, management capacity, inclusiveness, staff development, replicability and practicability of imple-mentation. The schools are granted specific waivers required to implement their programs and will be expected to meet specific negotiated accountability standards, taking into account the baseline data of the schools.

Implications for Canada

What Canadians can learn from the Maryland experience is that there may be no need to wait for governments to introduce charter legislation. The School Act in each province may be examined to determine if local boards have sufficient authority to charter public schools. The British Columbia School Act, for example, gives a school board the right "to make rules respecting the establishment, operation and management of schools and educational programs to be provided by it." One interpretation might well be that a BC school board operating pursuant to the Act has all the authority necessary to establish and deliver an educational program in the form of a charter school.

This theory could be tested in two ways. Districts may issue requests for desired proposals, or charter proposers may seize the initiative and submit designs for consideration. Elected school boards across Canada will then have an opportunity to demonstrate how responsive they are to innovative solutions for unmet educational needs in their community.

If school boards refuse this opportunity, then developing charter schools legislation (footnote 3) is the next step.

Footnotes

1. Guidelines for Local School Systems in Considering Charter Applications, 1997, Maryland State Department of Education. Baltimore, MD, 16pp. (Telephone: (410) 767-0368.)   Back to paragraph 3
   
2. Baltimore City Public School System, "New Schools Initiative—Requests for Proposals," Nov. 1997.   Back to paragraph 9
   
3. Charter legislation provides the other half of the equation now missing in Maryland. Under charter laws, when the school districts fail to respond, charter applicants may apply directly to the state for a charter.   Back to paragraph 13

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