Education officials expect shift in school choice priorities

Leaders of the state’s two largest charter school sponsors — the Clark County School District and the State Public Charter School Authority — met for the first time Wednesday to plan for the coming legislative session that many expect will focus on expanding school choice.

“We are in the same boat as you with the uncertainty,” state authority Executive Director Patrick Gavin told the Clark County School Board of trying to gauge the stance of lawmakers, many of whom were replaced in the November election by Republicans.

The Nevada GOP made history by gaining control of the governor’s office, Senate and Assembly for the first time since before the Great Depression. And the party often pushes for increased school choice, a platform many candidates supported.

The state authority and district authorize a combined 29 charter schools with about 26,000 students. Both parties seemed to agree Wednesday that guaranteeing quality charter schools is a higher priority than simply increasing the number of charter schools.

“For the public, they need to wake up and smell the coffee,” said Clark County School Board member Chris Garvey, who argued that charter school organizers often aren’t in the business for the betterment of students. Garvey emphasized how some Nevada charter schools cut corners by not providing lunch. “It’s about competition and capitalism.”

More charter schools may fit the appetite of lawmakers in Nevada and in other states coming under GOP control in 2015, according to education officials from across the nation who gathered Wednesday at The Venetian for a meeting of the Education Commission of the States, which is led by Gov. Brian Sandoval.

“I think, nationally, we will certainly see an expansion of charter schools and vouchers,” said Kirsten Baesler, North Dakota’s state superintendent of public instruction.

School vouchers allow students to take the public funding that would be spent on them in public schools and instead use it toward tuition at private schools.

The Clark County School District sponsors seven charter schools. These charter schools enroll about 6,000 students. The district oversees the charter contracts and ensures compliance with state standards. However, these charter schools operate independently, receiving per-pupil funding that would otherwise go to the district.

“It is very concerning to me,” said Garvey, referring to the public funding that charter schools receive but with fewer demands made of them than of traditional public schools.

Board member Carolyn Edwards echoed the concern while acknowledging that charter schools must also put their students through the same state-mandated tests and be audited. But the transparency is not there, she said.

Each of Nevada’s 17 county school districts can sponsor charter schools within their boundaries. The state authority — created by the Legislature — sponsors 22 charter schools serving 20,000 students, making it Nevada’s third-largest district behind the Washoe County School District, which has more than 63,000 students and the Clark County district, which has 318,000 students. And 16 of the authority-sponsored charter schools are in Clark County.

Gavin acknowledged that the state has historically done a poor job of vetting charter school applications and the schools have “underperformed.”

“That is a fact. …The historic record is not great,” said Gavin, the new leader of the state authority that can authorize charter schools throughout Nevada. “We’re in a position to improve.”

The authority has become more demanding, telling all eight applicants this year that their charter plans don’t make the cut and they must reapply with changes if they wish to open schools, Gavin said.

“Starting right is probably the most important thing we can do,” Gavin said.

Contact Trevon Milliard at tmilliard@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279. Find him on Twitter: @TrevonMilliard.