The Heartland Institute

Idaho Gov. C.L. Otter signed a bill to lift the state’s cap on the number of new charter schools allowed to open each year. “Idaho does not rank very high among states with charter schools and corresponding charter school laws,” noted state Rep. Bob Nonini (R-Coeur d'Alene), the bill sponsor. The new law overrides two charter ...

The South Carolina legislature voted to merge two versions of a bill that could increase the number of public charter schools in the state. Key to H.B. 3241 are measures that would diversify the types of sponsoring organizations, launch a loan program, and allow greater flexibility in charter school course and extracurricular ...

A 14-12 vote sent Mississippi’s latest charter school bill out of the House Education Committee and onto the floor. House Bill 888 would allow new charter schools to open. Mississippi currently only allows charter schools to exist if parents of students in a persistently failing school request that the state board of education ...

Louisiana lawmakers have introduced legislation to remake the state’s education system in line with Gov. Bobby Jindal’s proposals earlier this year, and the Senate education committee chairman said he expects they will pass “within a month and begin implementation.” The set of bills would create the largest voucher program in ...

Idaho state Rep. Bob Nonini has introduced a bill that would lift the cap on the number of new charter schools allowed to open each year. The state’s House of Representatives approved the proposal, and the Senate held a hearing on it March 5. “Idaho does not rank very high among states with charter schools and corresponding ...

Florida Senate Bill 1852 would require school boards to share federal funding for property costs with charter schools, which often set up shop in churches, empty strip malls, or other alternative locales. The bill passed out of the Senate PreK-12 education committee and awaits a floor vote. It also mandates that when a student ...

Florida Senate Bill 1852 would require school boards to share federal funding for property costs with charter schools, which often set up shop in churches, empty strip malls, or other alternative locales. The bill passed out of the Senate PreK-12 education committee and awaits a floor vote. It also mandates that when a student ...

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad’s education reform proposals have gotten a rocky start despite the months he spent touring the state to discuss them. State lawmakers have whittled down the Republican’s proposals to raise teacher quality and academic standards, expand charter schools, and require third graders to read before moving ahead ...

Eliminating number limits, strengthening authorizers, and equalizing funding and facilities for charter schools caused several states to shift to the top of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools’ annual ranking in 2012. The NAPCS judges states on laws that support charter growth and hold them accountable without stifling ...

In January 2012, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) proposed policies that would shift the state’s education system toward greater accountability, freedom, and choice. His proposals include the largest voucher program in the nation, altering teacher tenure and pay, a Parent Trigger to initiate school-level reforms, and giving principals ...

New bills filed in the Missouri legislature would improve the quality and increase accountability of existing charter schools while expanding them beyond Saint Louis and Kansas City—the only two areas charters currently are allowed in the state. Compared with states such as Minnesota and California, Missouri has a small number ...

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) has joined the growing ranks of governors supporting school choice by proposing in his 2012 legislative agenda tax credit scholarships, ending tenure, stronger charter school laws, requiring an online class of high school students, and streamlining virtual school regulations. “We have crafted this ...

By characterizing education primarily as the path to personal and professional advancement, reformers have (albeit unintentionally) redefined education as a private good, divorcing schooling from its historic role of instructing young people for citizenship, write Robin Lake and Cheryl Miller in a report for the American Enterprise ...

Implementing key practices well influences whether charter school authorizers approve strong applicants and close underperforming schools, says this annual report from the National Association of Charter School Authorizers. To that end, its latest includes an index of essential practices. It also reviews every state’s number and ...

More than 500 new public charter schools opened for the 2011-2012 school year, bringing the number of students enrolled in charters to more than 2 million, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools announced. These new charters enrolled approximately 200,000 students. More than 400,000 students are on charter school waiting ...

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) signed a bill to remove the cap on university-chartered public schools and allow community colleges to authorize charters beyond their districts. Senate Bill 618 is part of a long-term effort to shift to a performance-based educational system that includes recent teacher tenure reforms. Now Public ...

Collective bargaining with charter schools, though said to be more flexible and innovative than that with traditional public schools, offers too few advantages to outweigh the restrictions it creates, says a recent study. Currently, teachers in about 12 percent of charter schools have formed unions to negotiate wages, salaries ...

The best charter school laws allow for multiple authorizers because states that do so have more and better charter schools, says this policy update from the Center for Education Reform. Allowing multiple authorizers is important because traditional state and local school boards often view charters as hostile competitors and reject ...

Approximately 5 percent of U.S. schoolchildren attend public charter schools, and several states—including Michigan and Wisconsin—are considering legislation to lift or remove caps on charter school growth. Although 40 states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws allowing charter schools, an analysis by the Center for Education ...

Children attending charter elementary schools do better in reading and math on average than those in traditional public schools, according to a University of Washington study of the highest-quality research available. Students at charter middle schools also outperform their traditional counterparts in math. The study authors, economists ...