Greetings from Nashville! Earlier this week, the House Education Committee passed HB 0702, legislation that would create the State Charter School Panel, an independent chartering board. The Panel would serve as an appellate body that could review (and, when warranted, authorize) charter school applications if they were improperly denied by local education agencies. The Panel would follow NACSA’s Principles and Standards for Quality Charter School Authorizing and would encourage LEAs across the state to do the same. Rep. White, the House author of HB 0702, spoke to the importance of setting high standards for authorizers and charter schools, as with this bill “we will challenge not only LEAs across the state, but we will challenge the charter applicant to meet the highest standards.”
Dr. Alex Medler, NACSA’s Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, testified on the role of quality authorizing in charter school oversight and the goals of NACSA’s One Million Lives campaign. The committee hearing coincided with the Tennessee Charter Schools Association’s annual “Day on the Hill” and students and parents packed the hearing room to show their support for quality charter schools.
We thank Rep. White and the Tennessee Charter Schools Association for inviting NACSA to participate in this hearing and look forward to our next visit to Nashville!
