Program on Law & State Government Fellowship Colloquium
Charter School Law: Comparative Perspectives of the Role of the Sponsor

The colloquium will discuss the legal developments of charter schools in Indiana and in states across the nation with a particular focus on the role of the sponsor. As the charter school movement matures within our state and local government communities, lawyers, judges, legislators, and school administrators must be prepared to work within a rapidly changing landscape of public schooling. The changing dynamic of state political and fiscal power over charter schools and the local governmental units, including traditional school districts, affected by those changes raises many questions about the efficacy, legitimacy, and adequacy of charter schools and their sponsors.

Are the legal developments allowing charter schools to address needs not formerly met by traditional public schools? Should per pupil funding provisions differ for charter schools? What does the public have to gain or lose by the charter school movement? What if a charter school fails? What are the respective roles of the legislature and judiciary in the future of charter schools? Are advantages of appointing an elected official as a sponsor outweighed by other concerns? Does the role of the sponsor redound to the success of the school?

The charter school movement has swept the nation over the last decade. Since Minnesota started the trend in 1991, nearly 40 states and the District of Columbia have approved some form of charter school legislation. According to the Center for Education Reform, nearly 684,000 students were attending 2,700 schools in 2003. Nearly two thirds of these charter schools have waiting lists of potential students. While this is still a small number of schools relative to traditional public schools, the number of charters is increasing.

Charter schools are public schools that trade increased accountability for freedom from process controls and greater autonomy over the school’s curriculum. Charters are independent and non-sectarian and are generally required to have open enrollment. As public schools, charters receive public funding for operations. The type and number of sponsoring institutions given the authority to grant charters is pivotal to the quantity, quality, and mission of charter schools within a state.

Indiana adopted charter school legislation in 2001. The legislation was immediately ranked by the Center for Education Reform as one of the strongest laws in the country. Eleven schools currently operate in the state serving approximately 1,300 students. The strength of Indiana’s law is largely based upon the sponsorship institutions. Local districts, state universities, and the Mayor of Indianapolis may all sponsor charters. Authorizing the Mayor of the state’s largest city to sponsor charter schools sets Indiana’s charter school legislation apart from all other states’ legislation in this area.

Tentative Agenda
June 23, 2003

On-line Resources

For more information regarding Charter Schools and other school reform policies please check out the following websites: