KTBS
March 31, 2011
Charter schools are part of an educational movement sweeping the nation, and they're challenging the way we think about public education.
This school year there are 5,453 charter schools operating in America. In Texas there are 422 charter schools, 96 in Louisiana, and 32 in Arkansas.
Now a Louisiana lawmaker is introducing a bill to improve the quality of America's charter schools.
Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La. wants the approval process for charter schools to be a bit tougher with the Charter School Quality Act of 2011. It focuses on the quality of charter schools not the quantity. Landrieu wants stronger practices for approving groups that want to open charter schools nationally.
In some states, colleges or non-profit organizations can grant charters. In Louisiana, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education or local school boards are the overseers.
Buck Magee has 14 years of experience with charter schools nationally, and served as the director of Linwood Public Charter School in Shreveport. He said this law would help weed out the weak applicants.
"Do they have a successful track record, have they shown in any of the schools that they're operating that they can increase the academic performance and do they have high quality schools? Those are questions that I think are going to be answered," said Magee.
Joining Senator Landrieu in sponsoring this legislation are senators from Colorado, Delaware, Illinois and Connecticut. This bill is also endorsed by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS).