Prospects dim for bill giving schools say in charter openings

April M. Washington, Rocky Mountain News

Published February 27, 2007 at midnight

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A bill that would restore public school districts' authority over most charter schools in their boundaries suffered a major blow Tuesday in the Colorado Senate when four Democrats sided Republicans to derail it.

Republicans successful tacked on "a poison-pill" amendment that allows charter schools that largely serve minority and at-risk students to open in all school districts across the state.

"There's nothing wrong with allowing the best practices of schools to flourish in the education process," said Sen. Peter Groff, D-Denver, who supported the controversial changes to the bill.

The bill was changed to allow the Charter School Institute to open three charter schools modeled after the Cesar Chavez Charter School in Pueblo, which educates mostly Hispanic students, in any school district it pleases. Under current law, only some school districts have the power to authorize charter schools and ban such a move proposed under the changed bill.

This is likely to make lawmakers in the House kill the bill. The sponsor, Sen. Sue Windels, D-Arvada, blasted efforts to alter the very face of her bill.

She contends the changes to her bill could further strip students and precious resources from traditional schools and it could likely spark open warfare between charter schools and public school districts already grappling with declines in student enrollment.

"I'm trying to smooth over relations between school districts that do not have chartering authority and the charter institute," she said. "What's happening now is that the institute can come in and open a charter school without communicating with the school district. The amendment now says we're trying to make all 178 school districts subject to the interference of the institute."

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