The following is a response to discussions and actions taken
by the Kentucky Board of Education and Kentucky Department of Education on
charter authorizer training during the 2/4/2020 meeting.
Kerri Schelling, Executive Director
Kentucky School Boards Association
Today’s
actions by the Kentucky Board of Education maintain local school boards’
authority as charter school authorizers, while taking a more realistic approach
to the required charter authorizer training.
Kentucky is unique in that state law requires our 862
locally elected school board members to complete hours of training on an annual
basis. That is not the case in all states, but it equips these elected
officials with the necessary skills to effectively govern theirs districts,
collectively representing 650,000 students.
In 2017, when charter school legislation passed, school
board members were additionally empowered to serve as charter school
authorizers, a responsibility they took very seriously. As part of
administrative regulations adopted that year, members were required to earn a
dozen training hours each year relating to charter school issues. This additional
requirement placed limitations on our members’ ability to acquire training
needed to fulfill the everyday responsibilities of board service. Since 2017,
only one charter school application has been submitted to any of Kentucky’s 172
public school districts, compared to the 10,344 hours of charter authorizer
training school board members completed. This disparity is telling.
We are
grateful to the Kentucky Board of Education and to the department of education
for today’s actions to help alleviate this undue burden. On behalf of our
members, thank you for listening to the concerns of our locally elected school
board members and for making a decision that restores their ability to choose the
most appropriate professional development for their districts’ needs. Today’s vote has significant positive impacts
for every school board member in the Commonwealth; economically, professionally
and logistically.
We look forward to our continued work with the Kentucky Department
of Education and KBE on behalf of our students.