Virginia's charter school law is the second weakest in the nation, earning an "F" according to a new report by the Center for Education Reform.
But the state might not be at the bottom of the list for long, if Gov-elect Bob McDonnell, a staunch supporter of charter schools, gets his way.
McDonnell spoke extensively during his campaign about charter schools and will likely propose legislation in the upcoming General Assembly session making it easier to open the publicly funded schools. Virginia has three charter schools with a fourth slated to open in South Richmond next year.
Charter schools are public schools that have some autonomy from state and local regulations, and are established through an agreement with the local school board.
Virginia is one of three states, along with Iowa and Kansas, that received a failing grade in the report released by the group, which advocates for charter schools.
Charter school proponents say one of the reasons for Virginia's small number -- the new report says Washington D.C. has 100 -- is that local school boards must sign off on charter school applications. Other states have independent boards or universities that screen applicants. There is also no appeals process here, either.
"Virginia's law is abysmal and should be completely reformed and overhauled," said Jeanne Allen, president of The Center for Education Reform.
The Virginia Education Association says the concept hasn't taken off here because school boards already have the autonomy to create specialty schools, such as the governor's schools that cater to some of the state's top students.
"There's a real narrow focus to the folks that would judge a state on one type of innovation, assuming that charter schools are the only appropriate education innovation," said Robley Jones, with the VEA.
"A lot of the schools that we have in Virginia that are specialty schools would be considered charter schools in other states but because we give so much flexibility to local school boards, there's no need to have a charter."
Not everyone sees it that way. McDonnell's transition group focusing on K-12 issues is working to identify hindrances within state law and figure out how to address them. Some changes would take legislative approval and others could require a constitutional amendment to address issues such as the role of local school boards in authorizing charter schools.
Amending the state constitution takes a successful vote in two General Assembly sessions with a legislative election in between. Voters must then approve the amendment in a statewide referendum.
The fact that only local schools boards may authorize a charter school is seen as the biggest hurdle. But there are some things McDonnell could do in the short term.
He said during the campaign that he wants to reallocate resources in the Virginia Department of Education to build more charter school expertise and create an advisory panel that would preliminarily review applications. That way, local school boards would know which charter schools have already been endorsed by the advisory panel.
Adding urgency to the conversation is a strong push from Washington; President Barack Obama is a strong supporter of charter schools. How a state handles this type of school is among the criteria for $4.3 billion in competitive Race to the Top grant money that state superintendents are seeking.
"The expansion of high-quality charter schools is a priority for the governor-elect," said McDonnell communications director Tucker Martin.
"Given that you have a Democrat president and Republican governor both equally committed to this goal, I think the time has never been better for this to happen."
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