UPDATE: The Senate passed the bill and it now goes to Governor Fallin for her action.
Legislation approved today by the House of Representatives would allow rural school districts to sponsor a charter school.
Senate Bill 782, by Senator Clark Jolley and Rep. Lee Denney, allows school districts to adopt a charter school model. It also provides for a way for the community to override a school board in order to create a charter school.
“After Oklahoma allowed public charter schools in our largest school districts, we have seen their successful implementation, said Denney, R-Cushing. “Now, we are expanding that option to all school districts in Oklahoma. The decision to use the charter school option will be a local decision, under my legislation. It will be either a decision of the local school board or the community.”
The measure has the support of the Oklahoma State School Boards Association, the Cooperative Council for Oklahoma School Administration, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, the Oklahoma Public Charter School Association, the Oklahoma Public School Resource Center, the Oklahoma Education Workforce Initiative and various chambers of commerce from around the state.
“We worked hard to get everyone on board,” Denney said. “I think the sticking point would have been if this was a mandate or the state was an authorizer of the charter schools. We worked to make sure the decision was local.”
The legislation was approved by a vote of 64-31. If House amendments are approved by the Senate, it will proceed to the governor’s desk.
Nina Rees, president and CEO at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools released the following statement:
“Thanks to the leadership of Rep. Lee Denney and Senator Clark Jolley, we have taken a significant step toward meaningful education reform in Oklahoma. The passage of this bill will lead to more public school options for families across the state.
“According to our recent rankings report, Oklahoma has one of the weakest state public charter laws in the country. The current charter school law allows charters only in approximately four percent of the state’s school districts – mostly those located in Oklahoma and Tulsa counties. We expect Oklahoma will move significantly higher in our rankings if this bill becomes law.
“We want to take this opportunity to thank the bill sponsor Lee Denney in the House, for his leadership on behalf of the state’s students. We also want to thank the wide variety of organizations that have been working with us on this legislation, including the Oklahoma Public Charter School Association, the Oklahoma Public School Resource Center, the Oklahoma State Chamber, the Cooperative Council for Oklahoma School Administration, and the Oklahoma State School Boards Association.
“We now urge the Senate to concur with House amendments and send the bill to Governor Mary Fallin to sign into law.”
