On Tuesday, Northern Kentucky University will decide whether or not to become an authorizer for the charter school pilot scheduled to come to Northern Kentucky in 2024.
House Bill 9, which passed in this year’s legislative session that established the Kentucky Charter School Pilot Program, listed NKU as the authorizer for the Northern Kentucky. It also gave the NKU Board of Regents the option to pass on the responsibility.
In short, a charter school authorizer is a public entity responsible for oversight of charter schools. But in a state that hasn’t had charter schools or authorizers before, it can be difficult to understand what that decision means, and what NKU would be taking on.
“Authorizers are the institutions that decide who can start a new charter school, set expectations and oversee school performance, and decide which schools should continue to serve students or not,” said Alanna Klein, the senior manager for media strategy at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. She elaborated that authorizers can be school districts, education agencies, independent boards, universities, mayors and municipalities, and nonprofits.
“If NKU becomes an authorizer, they will be the entity that reviews applications from charter school operators who want to run the pilot charter school for Northern Kentucky required under state law,” said Gary Houchens, a professor of Education Administration at Western Kentucky University who has served on the Kentucky Board of Education.
He also served on the Kentucky Charter Schools Advisory Council, which developed and approved the state’s first charter school regulations in 2017. The bill passed that year did not include a funding mechanism, something that was solved with the passage of HB9 this year.
Houchens serves as a policy advisor for Commonwealth Educational Opportunities PAC, a political action group that spent money attacking NKY political candidates in the spring over their alleged stance on school choice. He also serves on the board of EdChoice Kentucky, which has lobbied the legislature for school choice in Kentucky.
“They will select and approve an applicant, enter a contract (or “charter”) with the chosen operator stipulating the school’s performance goals, and monitor the school to make sure that it is meeting its goals and operating according to law and regulation,” Houchens said. “When the charter school’s contract expires in five years, NKU would decide whether to renew or revoke its contract based on its performance. Authorizing is an important responsibility.”
If NKU declines to be an authorizer, then local school boards will be required to put forward two members from each local board of a district located in a county that contains four or more school districts. These members will become the substitute pilot project authorizer.
As a charter school supporter, Houchens believes that NKU would be the better choice as authorizer because they don’t have a conflict of interest that a local school board district does due to the fact they’ll oversee a charter school they have to compete with for students.
“That puts those districts in a difficult spot and potential conflict of interest because they will oversee a school that will ultimately compete with them for students,” Houchens said.
There are 45 other states with charter schools, and of those, 16 have universities that serve as authorizers, according to the National Association of Charter School Authorizers. Some of these are in states such as New York and Indiana.
“Because they are independent entities, universities do not have the kinds of conflicts of interest faced by local school districts when they choose or are forced to serve as authorizers,” Houchens said. “Universities also often have education, management, and other technical expertise, plus deep partnerships within the community, to help the charter schools they authorize succeed.”
In Indiana, Ball State serves as the authorizer for charter schools across the state.
The Office of Charter Schools oversees the application and review process and monitors school performance once a charter is established. As a charter authorizer, Ball State University authorizes charter schools to operate with considerable flexibility while holding those schools to a high level of accountability.
Klein said that authorizers operate similarly in every state and district and oversee the school’s proficiency goals, enrollment requirements, and community service.
“The authorizer’s job is to oversee the school’s commitment to its charter. Occasionally, authorizers do not renew a school’s charter if the school is not meeting the goals set forth,” Klein said. “In addition, the authorizer is responsible for all aspects regarding charter school applications and logistics around operations.”
While other states have universities operating as charters school authorizers, the potential for NKU to be the authorizer hasn’t been popular for other stakeholders in the area.
“I feel that any district being required from an authorizer to take on a charter without any of their input is totally unconstitutional,” said Mike Borchers, superintendent of Ludlow Independent Schools, during the Local Superintendents Council Meeting in September.
He was referring to a statute that will require a school district to take on a charter school if the authorizer chooses it for the district, whether they want a charter school in their district or not.
During the meeting, Borchers said if NKU selects a district for a charter school, that district will have to use its funds to pay for students attending the school. However, due to language in House Bill 9, students from other districts can attend the charter school, which means the local school district selected for a charter may have to spend funds on out-of-district students.
The authorizer would also collect a 3% fee from the district’s funds.
“Our situation is so much more unique than the other situation in the state with the pilot projects,” Borchers said. The other pilot project will be established in Jefferson County, and HB9 did not designate a university as authorizer for that pilot.
Further, if NKU chooses to be an authorizer its status as one could be challenged if the charter school laws are challenged for its constitutionality, which seems likely after some comments at the same Superintendent’s Council meeting.
“I’ll make it very clear, I’m not in favor of charter schools, especially the way they’re written in statute. I do not believe, especially the way it’s set up in finances, … that they are constitutional,” said LSAC Chair Robbie Fletcher, superintendent of Lawrence County Schools.
NKU’s Faculty Senate issued a statement at the Nov. 28 Board of Regents Meeting that said it opposes the university becoming a charter school authorizer for five reasons — with the first two saying that if NKU acts as an authorizer it doesn’t align with the mission and vision of the university, and it conflicts with its Core Values of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“NKU did not request to be an authorizer of the charter school pilot project,” the statement reads.
The Faculty Senate also said they are unequivocal in their support for excellence in public education across the continuum.
“NKU has a robust partnership with the public P-12 school districts in northern
Kentucky,” the statement reads. “A large portion of our student body comes from northern Kentucky high schools. Numerous NKU graduates serve as teachers, administrators, and counselors in the local schools. These partnerships must not be jeopardized.”
Lastly, they say that charter schools have a mixed track record of support for all students and their success.