While there is no question that Missouri Commissioner of Education, Dr. Chris Nicastro, and her staff worked hard to complete the application since announcing their intention to seek such funding, that application can only be described as incomplete without a push for expanding charter schools in Missouri.

Currently, Missouri has a geographical cap on charters that only allows them to operate in, and accept students from, the St. Louis and Kansas City public school districts.  This policy is in direct conflict with Secretary Duncan’s strong statement last June that “states that do not have public charter laws or put artificial caps on the growth of charter schools will jeopardize their applications under the Race to the Top fund.”

To not include this vital reform in Missouri’s Race to the Top application defies logic, especially in the wake of Governor Jay Nixon’s announcement during his State of the State speech that his proposed budget falls short of fully funding the state’s education formula by $87 million.  Governor Nixon, along with Dr. Nicastro and the State Board of Education, all signed off on the application before it was submitted.

The state also essentially was given a warning shot on its current education policies by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation when Missouri was rejected for a $250,000 grant to help with its Race to the Top application.  In all, 25 states received Gates Foundation help with their applications, states that now are perceived as early front-runners to receive the first round of much-needed dollars.

Missouri’s application, relevant to charters, focused only on increasing accountability for both schools and sponsors.  This is a good step to ensure that only quality charter schools are operating in Missouri.  No one wants unregulated or unaccountable charter schools operating in the state.

However, this still falls short of reforms that need to be made in order to seriously compete for this unprecedented pot of money.  At least four states, namely California, Massachusetts, Nevada and Tennessee, have held special legislative sessions or made their first legislative priority the passing of reforms in order to become more competitive in this race.

Despite the fact that charter expansion was not pushed in Missouri’s Race to the Top application, it should remain a top goal of education reformers during the 2010 state legislative session.  Thankfully, the winners of Round One are scheduled to be announced in April, giving Missouri’s legislature time to pass serious reforms before the end of its current session should the state not receive funding from the first round of the program.

Missouri’s education leaders still have time to analyze and react to the U.S. Department of Education’s feedback before Round Two applications are due in June.  Without reform efforts that almost have been labeled by Secretary Duncan as pre-conditions for winning funding, Missouri’s Race to the Top could be over shortly after beginning.

Secretary Duncan has specifically said that caps on charter schools, whether numerical or artificial, will significantly harm a state’s chance at receiving these grants.  Possibly due to this program, some unlikely supporters of charter expansion are seeking to file bills during the 2010 legislative session.  With Missouri’s budget constraints it is no mystery why legislators should aggressively help Education Commissioner Dr. Chris Nicastro compete for part of this pool of money.

Adding additional pressure to give parents more options is the merging of the unaccredited Wellston and provisionally accredited Normandy school districts in St. Louis County.  Riverview Gardens is also unaccredited and located in St. Louis County, and there are seven other provisionally accredited districts in the state.  To say families in these districts need options besides their failing district schools is an understatement.  There are also interesting concepts for charter schools coming from private schools that would like to charter so that parents of all income levels could have a chance to attend.  One private French language immersion school in Columbia testified last legislative session for expansion so that they could change to a charter school.

One less discussed reason for allowing charter schools statewide is to reduce the number of consolidations in rural areas of the state.  If a rural district is losing enrollment and considering consolidation, they would have the option to charter instead of families in the area losing a school close to home.  That would also stem job losses of teachers in the proposed consolidated districts.

Regardless of the motivation, charter school expansion should be a top education priority for legislators during the 2010 legislative session.  It will give parents and students more options in more areas of the state for their child to receive a quality education.  The presence of charter public schools can also lead to better results from zone district schools as a result of competition or collaboration.  The Children’s Education Council will continue to monitor charter school legislation during the 2010 session and support bills that allow for expansion of quality charter public schools giving more options to families across Missouri.