State removes cap on charter schools

In a strategic move, the Louisiana state Legislature voted last week to eliminate the cap on the number of charter schools in the state.

Though the state is not in danger of hitting the cap of 70 schools anytime soon, it intends to apply for a share of nearly $4.5 billion in federal education grants. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has said that charter-unfriendly states, including those which limit the growth of charter schools, might be at a disadvantage in securing the money.

"States are trying to position themselves for this stimulus money," said Caroline Roemer Shirley, executive director of the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools.

She said other states, including Illinois and Tennessee, also have lifted their caps. Charter schools are publicly financed, but independently run.

For the last year, the cap in Louisiana had been set at 70, and before that at 42. The cap applied only to charter schools that were not affiliated with the Recovery School District, the state-run district created to take over failing schools. Currently, the state has 24 charter schools that are independent of the Recovery School District, and another 43 that are part of the district, according to Shirley.

Sherri Wilder, a spokeswoman for the United Teachers of New Orleans, said she worries about the "unintended consequences" of eliminating the cap.

"I think every time a charter school opens, it pulls students out of district schools," she said. That's "less money for the districts to provide services."

Shirley said she's not certain how the initial cap was set at 42, but she said lifting it last year did not spark a wave of new charter schools. She called the "lack of support at the local level" the major disincentive for new charter school operators.

"Until we get past the idea that charters are just competing with the public schools for teachers and money, we are going to continue to have that roadblock at the local level," she said....