Senate Education Committee Proposes Sweeping Change To Charter School Governance 

A Senate bill looking to make a significant structural change to how charter schools are authorized passed in the Senate education committee Tuesday. 

Right now, charter schools are authorized by a broad range of entities — local districts, the tribes, and the Statewide Virtual School Board, among them.  

SB 1621 bill seeks to create a statewide authorizing board that would be responsible for all charters in the state.  

“I think this is a really good first step and a necessary thing for us to as we update the way we’ve been running charter schools in the state of Oklahoma,” said Senator Adam Pugh, Chair of the Senate Education Committee.  

Senator Pugh hopes to set a high bar for how charter schools are created and managed in Oklahoma — and cut costs.  

Some key changes SB 1621 would put in place include creating a single statewide board for both brick and mortar and virtual schools, removing fees paid to sponsors, removing any current sponsoring charters, and creating high expectations for schools.  

Pugh says he wants to eliminate financial incentives for managing charter schools — some sponsorship fees cost millions.  

“Thats money that we’ve been paying in fees, that could be used to educate kids, and that's really for me what motivated me to remove those fees and really remove the financial incentive,” he said.  

The eight-member statewide board would be made up of a retired public-school administrator, someone with financial management experience, and someone from a federally recognized tribe, among other specific qualifications.  

Pugh wants to update overall governance of charter schools to prevent groups like the founders of Epic Charter Schools from taking advantage of state dollars.  

“I think it's important that we set ourselves up that we’re never in this position again,” Pugh said.  

Executive Director of Choice Matter's Robert Ruiz says a statewide authority would open up opportunities for minority communities to create charter schools that work for their students’ needs.  

“Our communities need a way to create community led schools. sometimes this can come in conflict with the interests of local districts,” said Ruiz.  

When the bill passed on party lines, 5 yes’s, 3 no's, there were not many questions or much debate about the measure in its first pass through committee.  

The bill does not yet have a title and remains ‘in the works.’