Charter schools wanting to open in KY may finally have a funding source if this bill passes

A bill attempting to open charter schools in Kentucky was filed Tuesday in the General Assembly.

Charter schools are public schools that have contracts with authorizers in which they detail how schools will be organized and managed, what students will achieve and how success will be measured. In exchange, the schools have freedom from laws and regulations to which most conventional public schools must adhere.

Charter schools were approved in Kentucky in 2017 amid much opposition but none have opened, in part because the General Assembly didn’t provide a permanent funding mechanism.

Rep. Chad McCoy, R-Bardstown, has filed House Bill 9, that provides a funding stream — student enrollment and attendance would be recorded in a manner necessary for participation in the state’s main school funding system called SEEK.

McCoy did not immediately comment on the bill.

The new bill would create a state agency called the Kentucky Public Charter School Commission, with jurisdiction to authorize public charter schools.

“For five years, Kentucky families have waited for the opportunity to attend a free, innovative public charter school,” Heather Huddleston, director of education policy for the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, said in a news release. “I’m so grateful to Rep. McCoy for stepping forward and working hard to develop a robust charter school policy which will truly result in the creation and success of many of these public schools of choice.”

House Bill 9 also expands authorizers beyond the local and state school boards to include a new statewide commission, public and non-public four year universities, all mayors and the option of a non-profit organization approved by the State Board of Education.

Applications that are denied can now be appealed to either the State Board of Education or the new Commission.

Charter schools can be started anywhere in the state, but in a district with fewer than 5,000 enrolled students, the charter application must also have a signed memorandum of understanding from the local school board.

The first application filed in Kentucky to open a charter school was denied by the Newport Independent school board in December 2019, which thought the application lacked specifics. In 2020, The Kentucky Board of Education unanimously denied an appeal from the proposed River Cities Academy.

No group has applied to open a charter school in Kentucky since then.

The bill would allow public charter schools to be eligible for federal and state grants.

The bill also takes aim at another school choice issue.

In October 2021, a controversial law that established school choice for Kentucky students was ruled unconstitutional by Franklin Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd. House Bill 563 passed in March 2021, establishing a “school choice program” to allow students to attend schools outside of their district.

House Bill 9 says if the law resulting from House Bill 563 is held unconstitutional due to the provisions of that law, then the remedy should be to make those provisions applicable to all counties.