Charter school debate heats up in Kentucky

LOUISVILLE, KY. (WDRB) -- It is a public school that runs like a private school but it still gets state funding. The charter school debate is heating up once again in Frankfort, with a loud voice asking lawmakers to listen.

A sea of passionate parents and their children filled the Capitol Rotunda in Frankfort on Tuesday with one united message: "We want charter schools!"

Jameelah Ferguson, a Waggener High School graduate, says, "When I got there, was 200 of us. When I graduated there was about 60, the rest had dropped out....I got a six-month-old son now and I want him to have better than what I had in school."

The Black Alliance for Educational Options organized the rally to support National School Choice Week and Kentucky House Bill 77. Rep. Brad Montell, a Republican from District 58, explains, "Charter schools are tailored to the needs of the community."

Charter schools receive special license to craft some of their own rules and follow fewer state guidelines. In return, teachers must yield higher test results or face losing the charter.

But Representative Montell's bill has a big opponent in Rep. Carl Rollins, a Democrat and the House Education Chairman, who says, "Research shows charter schools are not proven and not very successful nationwide."

Rollins has sponsored education innovation legislation that would give local districts charter-like freedoms but keep them under more state rules. When asked whether there's a chance the two bills could merge, he replies, "Not really."

The charter school debate is crossing the state. The group Kentuckians Advocating Reform in Education started running a commercial in January to push the issue. It may be working

"Probably in early February we'll hear the bill," Rollins says.

Prior legislation in 2010 and 2011 never reached that point. For Ferguson and her friends, it's a first step on what could be a long and winding journey.

41 other states have charter schools legislation, including Indiana, which passed it last year. There is another national school choice week event Tuesday night at 6:30 at the Cathedral of the Assumption Undercroft.