Charter school oversight could shift

A bill making its way through the N.C. General Assembly that would change the way charter schools are governed is causing controversy across the state’s education system.

Senate Bill 337 — which would remove charter schools from the oversight of the state’s Board of Education and create an independent board to govern them — cleared the N.C. Senate’s Finance Committee Wednesday.

Senators Dan Soucek, R-Alleghany, and Jerry Tillman, R-Moore, introduced the bill because of concerns that the Board of Education could not accommodate the rapid growth in applicants after the General Assembly lifted the cap on charter schools in 2011.

And while the bill has been met with approval so far, some legal experts say it might not even be constitutional.

Rachel Beaulieu, legislative director for the Department of Public Instruction, said the bill might violate Article IX of the state’s constitution — which declares that the authority of public education rests solely with the state’s Board of Education.

“Having a public charter school answer to some new board makes me uncomfortable,” she said.

“It definitely brings about a state constitutional issue.”

For some county officials, the bill represents a worrisome step toward further dividing public schools and charter schools.

Debbie Piscitelli, a member of the Orange County Schools Board of Education, said an independent board for charter schools could create tension within the state’s education system.

“If there’s no longer any connection between public schools and charter schools, I would be concerned about it evolving into a completely separate system where the rules won’t be the same across the board.”

Since charter schools are publicly funded, she questioned the legitimacy of shielding them from the state’s public school restrictions.

“What is the basis for not making charter schools follow traditional rules?” Piscitelli said. “The state needs to ensure that its education requirements apply evenly to all.”

But Jarrod Dennis, the principal of Orange Charter School in Hillsborough, said his school has little authority to alter the state’s education policies.

“We have a little leeway in determining our curriculum, but we still are under the discretion of the state.”

No matter the outcome of the bill, Dennis said the state’s most pressing problem is to make way for the growth of charter schools.

“The fact is there are a lot of students on waiting lists for charter schools and we need to develop a policy that will accommodate this growth.”

Contact the desk editor at city@dailytarheel.com.