Sandoval urges charter school panel to expand parent choices

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Brian Sandoval called for members of a new board overseeing charter school education to provide more choices for parents and children who deserve the right to select the type of education that meets their personal needs.

At the inaugural meeting of the Nevada Public Charter School Authority on Friday, Sandoval said members will ensure that the state's 15 charter schools meet all state academic standards and lead to creation of more and better charter schools.

Because of the approval of a Sandoval-backed bill last year, the Charter School Authority was established to sponsor and oversee charter schools, which are considered public schools in Nevada. They receive the same amount per pupil in state support as do other public schools.

Before creation of the Charter School Authority, local school districts, state universities and colleges and the state Board of Education sponsored and oversaw charter schools.

Criticism had been raised that local districts and the Board of Education did not want to establish more charter schools that would take funds that otherwise would have gone to public schools.

Since 2007, 31 applications to create charter schools have been denied, and 16 were approved. Not all of those opened.

In a brief presentation to the board, Sandoval said creation of more and more charter schools is another of the "ships in the water" that Nevada needs to improve its recesssion-ravaged economy.

"We must provide the best education for children," he added. "Charter schools provide parents and children with choice and the type of education that best meets their needs."

The 15 existing charter schools will be switched to sponsorship of the Charter School Authority, whose seven members were appointed by Sandoval and legislators.

At the meeting, Authority Executive Director Steve Canavero said the charter schools now have 10,500 students, about 4.8 percent of the total public school population.

Nationally about 5 percent of students are enrolled in charter schools.

But Canavero presented the board with some sobering statistics -- particularly those showing the number of Caucasian students attending charter schools is far greater than their percentage of the total school population, while Hispanic and African-American students are underrepresented.

One of the key points made when the state law allowing charter schools passed in 1997 was that minority students would be able to acquire better educations.

The charter school student ethnicity report for 2010-11 showed about
65 percent of charter school students are white, compared with 40 percent in public schools.

Hispanics make up about 40 percent of the public school population but about 18 percent of the charter school population.

Black students make up about 10 percent of the state public school population but 8 percent of the charter school total.

Canavero also said that 26 percent of the charter school population would qualify for free or reduced lunches, compared with 41 percent of the overall public school population, an indication that students from wealthy families are more likely to attend charter schools.

During the meeting, members elected Kathleen Conaboy, who has been a legislative lobbyist for the McDonald Carano Wilson law firm, as the authority's president, and Elissa Wahl, active in the home-school movement, as vice president. Wahl is co-author of "Christian Unschooling: Growing Your Children in the Freedom of Christ."

Conaboy had nominated Robert McCord, a longtime Clark County educator, as president. She said she wanted to avoid any conflict of interest because she has represented the Nevada Virtual Charter School.

But other members said that they were not concerned about a possible conflict and that her government experience was invaluable. She then was elected unanimously.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900.