September 22, 2022

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For More Information, Contact:
Benjamin Gies
502-381-1192
ben@prichardcommittee.org

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Kentucky Leaders Warn Tough Times Ahead for Child Care Access Without Significant State Investment

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FRANKFORT, KENTUCKY – The Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence and a team of statewide partners including Kentucky Youth Advocates, Metro United Way, United Way of Greater Cincinnati,  United Way of Kentucky, Appalachian Early Childhood Network, Learning Grove, 4-C, EC LEARN, and others released their findings today from A Fragile Ecosystem IV: Will Kentucky Child Care Survive When The Dollars Run Out? The survey of Kentucky child care providers underscored how the sector will be impacted once federal American Rescue Plan COVID relief dollars run out.

The survey found that:

• Over 70% of Kentucky child care providers will be forced to raise tuition for working parents
• Close to 40% indicated that providers would cut staff wages
• Close to 30% of child care providers said they would layoff staff
• Over 20% of providers indicated they would permanently close their child care center

“Nearly three years into the pandemic, Kentucky’s child care sector remains on shaky ground and the sector is bracing for more challenging times ahead. The results of A Fragile Ecosystem IV show the need for greater financial support from Frankfort, and for continued substantial, engaged planning with providers,” said Benjamin Gies Director of Early Childhood Policy & Practice for The Prichard Committee.

“As Kentucky rapidly approaches a funding cliff caused by the end of federal American Rescue Plan funding, time is of the essence to ensure Kentucky’s child care and early education infrastructure is sustained and strengthened for working parents immediately and in the long term,” said Brigitte Blom, President & CEO of The Prichard Committee.

The event in Frankfort was joined by statewide early childhood advocates, members of the KY Strong Start Coalition, and legislative leaders.

“Child care is the workforce behind the workforce,” said Representative Samara Heavrin (R-18). “Without access to affordable and quality child care, more Kentuckians will be kept out of the workforce. The lack of accessible child care already accounts for a loss of over $570 million in lost earnings, business productivity and tax revenue each year in Kentucky.  This is why I am an advocate for the private sector to be involved in the process. We need to encourage more of our businesses here in Kentucky to start looking at offering some type of childcare as a benefit to their employees, just as they would insurance or leave time. Our commonwealth cannot afford to see child care access worsen, because we cannot afford to lose more people in our workforce.”

“In these past two years, the vital nature of early childhood education, particularly reliable and accessible childcare, has become more apparent to the public,” Senator Danny Carroll, R-Benton, said. “Kentucky’s child care sector has faced immense challenges. Today’s press conference and dialogue aim to bring awareness to additional challenges on the horizon as federal ARPA dollars supporting centers lapse. I, co-chair  Heavrin and all members of the Early Childhood Education Task Force are working with intent and purpose to identify ways to help providers and families. Across the workforce spectrum, we are seeing businesses, schools, law enforcement and so many more starving for employees. Kentucky’s workforce is the greatest obstacle to continued economic growth, and I consider a solution to childcare needs fundamentally important in addressing workforce needs.

Senator Carroll added, “I appreciate the Prichard Committee being an ally in our efforts to strengthen the state’s childcare sector and bring awareness to the issues facing Kentucky child care providers and those they serve.

Senator Carroll and Representative Heavrin also serve as co-chairs of the Kentucky Early Childhood Education Taskforce, a bipartisan group of state legislators working to develop long term solutions for Kentucky’s early education sector.

Dr. Terry Brooks, Executive Director of Kentucky Youth Advocates added, “Parents cannot go to work if they don’t have access to reliable and affordable child care in their community in which their children are safe, cared for, and learning. Quality child care is the key to a strong future workforce in Kentucky, especially as centers provide an important environment for children to develop problem-solving and other social skills. An investment in child care now is an investment in our future.”

State advocates urged leaders in Frankfort to keep early childhood funding top of mind as legislators plan for Kentucky’s next budget session in 2024. As Kentucky speeds toward a funding cliff caused by the end of federal American Rescue Plan funding, the fate of working parents, and their ability to fully contribute to the commonwealth’s economy, hangs in the balance.

“Kentucky’s child care crisis began long before 2020,” Metro United Way President & CEO Adria Johnson said. “Perhaps the steady pace of closures muted the collective impact. But, in 2020, the closing of doors rang throughout our communities, and today child care providers tell us it will become deafening without action. Metro United Way is deeply grateful to work alongside policymakers and administrative leaders dedicated to ensuring Kentucky families and employers have the accessible, affordable, quality child care sector our Commonwealth needs. We urge them–and all–to hear the voices in A Fragile Ecosystem. They are the sounds of solutions.”

Shannon Starkey-Taylor, Learning Grove CEO added, “We want to thank the Prichard Committee and our Kentucky partners for eliciting these survey results. They provide important insight into the immense struggle in the child care sector to maintain financial viability and quality care and instruction under the pressures caused by Covid and economic stress on wages.

To read the full report, click here.

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The Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence is an independent, nonpartisan, citizen-led organization working to improve education in Kentucky – early childhood through postsecondary.

Why is mixed-delivery preschool needed? Can’t we just expand the public school system?

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Many local school districts lack the personnel and facility space needed to readily expand public preschool to all four-year-olds. Public-private partnerships among already existing private child care facilities and the public school system eliminate barriers to the sustainable expansion of preschool, such as facilities capacity and teacher shortages faced by public school districts.

A full-scale expansion of public preschool without public-private partnerships will crash the private child care industry, leaving limited to no care available for families with children aged 0-3, according to the Early Care and Education Consortium.

• In Tulsa, Oklahoma, where free public preschool accounts for most preschool programming, costs of early care and education increased 33% overall from 2008 to 2018, with spikes of up to 55% for infants and toddlers. And from 2005 to 2018, 43% of all licensed early care and education providers in Oklahoma closed, leaving parents of children aged 0-3 without care and children behind in their early development (Early Care & Education Consortium, 2021).
• California saw the number of home-based-providers decrease by almost 30% from 2008 to 2016, largely due to the increase in state funded 4-year-old Preschool programs. An Early Care and Education Consortium (ECEC) analysis shows that if 4-year-olds are pulled out of their current settings as part of the expansion, providers anticipate having to raise prices in the 0-3 space by ~40% (Early Care & Education Consortium, 2021).
• In New York City, a system many see as the model for universal preschool, one study points to as much as a 20% reduction of available infant and toddler care after the implementation of universal 4-year-old preschool in 2014. Furthermore, all lost slots were found to be in high poverty areas, and the decline was not offset by an increase in provision in the home day care market (Early Care & Education Consortium, 2021).

Additionally, public preschool via a mixed-delivery system better serves the needs of parents in the workforce by offering full-day and full-year preschool services to children that match the work schedules of parents.

For an explainer video on the challenges faced in the expansion of public preschool, watch this video by the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Guest Post by Jill Handley - Principal, Kenwood Elementary

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As a principal who grounds her work in leading a school that is a model of inclusivity, I know that optimal student success in achievement, engagement, and sense of belonging occurs when there is a strong partnership between home and school.

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Whenever I talk with families, I tell them our partnership is like a triangle with the student at the top, the school on one side, and the family on the other.  If any one of those sides or vertices are broken, optimal student success cannot occur.

Four years ago, I attended a professional development session at the ESEA Conference with Dr. Steve Constantino where he shared ideas from his book, Engage Every Family (2015). In the book, Dr. Constantino outlines five principles of family engagement that schools should consider. Those five principles are closely aligned to Dr. Joyce Epstein’s Framework of Six Types of Parent Involvement and with the Commissioner’s Parent Advisory Council’s (CPAC) overarching objectives outlined in The Missing Piece of the Proficiency Puzzle that was released by The Prichard Committee in 2007.

Hungry for more ideas to better engage our families, I devoured the book and immediately ordered a copy for each member of our Family and Community Engagement (FCE) Committee.  We engaged in a book study and began developing our own understanding of the difference between family involvement and family engagement. Next, we started to reflect upon our family engagement practices by asking the question, “Would every family choose us?” Using this question as a guide, we implemented several of the strategies listed in the book which led to an increase in family engagement and student achievement.

Like many schools, we pride ourselves on the relationships we establish with our families and community partners. We always work hard to initiate positive outreach to develop trust and mutual respect with our families and have used a variety of methods to engage in two-way communication. In 2019, when we were recognized as a State and National School of Character, part of the process involved family interviews.  Listening to the way families responded with pride about their relationship with our school was such a bucket filler and affirmed we were on the right track to engaging our families.

As a Title 1 School with over 84% of our students qualifying for free or reduced lunch and 46% of our students speaking English as a Second Language, creating equitable opportunities for learning has always been a priority for Kenwood Elementary. To help achieve this goal it often means helping remove non-academic barriers for our students and families. We are fortunate to have a Family Resource Center (FRC) Coordinator who helps support this work; but the truth is schools have significant student and family needs that extend beyond the capacity of one family/community-based position.  As a result, we chose to allocate funding to create a certified Family Ambassador position which took effect just before the pandemic began.  During NTI the need to help remove non-academic barriers and provide equitable opportunities increased tremendously and thankfully our Family Ambassador, Aimee McDonnell worked closely with our FRC Coordinator to lead our FCE team in supporting families.

While connecting with and supporting families during NTI allowed us to deepen our relationships, it also highlighted a need to take an even more comprehensive approach to supporting families.  Understanding the needs schools have, our district family engagement specialist, Chrystal Hawkins, partnered with the National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) to provide differentiated family engagement support for schools.  We signed up for individualized support and were partnered with Cindy Baumert from NCFL who helped take our family engagement to a whole new level.  As a result of our work with Cindy, we developed a family engagement committee with parents who met monthly to give feedback and insight.  Our work with Chrystal and Cindy helped us transition from doing school to families to doing school with families by engaging their voice on the front end of planning.

It was during our work with Cindy that we found out about the Family Friendly Certification.  Proud of the work we had been engaging in, we were excited to apply. As the recipient of several other recognitions, we knew that applying would undoubtedly require us to provide evidence of our accomplishments.  Because of the success we had achieved with our families we initially thought, “Of course we are a family friendly school, and we have lots of evidence to prove that.” What we didn’t anticipate was the critical lens we would have to examine our practices through.

We began by conducting the Kentucky Family and School Partnership Self-Assessment and realized that we did have a lot of surface level evidence of our family engagement success; however, the self-assessment caused us to take a deeper dive into our practices to refine and add to what we were already doing. Our FCE Committee developed action plans for each of the five components of the self-assessment that focused on creating sustainable systems and structures to support each of the five areas of family engagement. The plans outlined what we were already doing and what we needed to do and included objectives, strategies/actions steps, timelines, responsible parties, resources/funding, measurements of success, and equity considerations.

Many of the strategies and resources we included in our action plans came from the training we engaged in as a result of the application process, along with the resources in the Kentucky Family and School Partnership Guide and the Kentucky Family Engagement Digital Playbook. Having detailed plans allowed us to have a laser-like focus on immediate actions steps we could take. Some examples of the ways in which we improved our practices because of the process are

• Creating a designated “community center” within the school for families to connect with school staff and other families
• Eliminating all “reserved for staff” parking and instead reserving it for visitors to create a more welcoming environment for families and community members
• Increased family voice through surveys and conversations to inform school needs
• Development of MTSS for Families that connects each family with at least one caring adult from the school (besides their child’s teacher) that acts as a liaison and advocate for the family

Dr. Mapp reinforces the need for schools to prioritize family engagement from being seen as an add-on for student success to being integrated as a core pillar of teaching and learning. Engaging in the process of applying for and becoming the first school in the state to certify as a Family Friendly School not only helped solidify that integrated pillar for us, but also provided resources and support to make it happen.

We are so honored to have earned this distinction and are grateful to our families and community partners who helped make it happen. We also understand that becoming Family Friendly Certified is only the beginning.  Now that we have created a systematic approach to truly engaging all families, we must make sure we examine all decisions for teaching and learning through a family engagement lens. If schools and districts are going to truly engage families as co-producers in their child’s education, then family engagement systems and structures must be re-examined and funding for positions and resources must become a priority.

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References

Commissioner’s Parent Advisory Council. (2007). The missing piece of the proficiency puzzle: Recommendations for involving families and community in improving student achievement.

Constantino, S. M. (2015). Engage every family: Five simple principles. Corwin.

Epstein, J. L. (1995). School/family/community partnerships. Phi Delta Kappan, 76(9).

Mapp, K. L., & Kuttner, P. J. (2013). Partners in education: A dual capacity-building framework for family–school partnerships.

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‍July 20, 2022

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For More Information Contact:
Suzetta Creech, 859-940-1790

Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership founding staff recognized with leadership award

LEXINGTON, Ky. – At the recent 25th anniversary celebration of the Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership (CIPL), founding staff were recognized as recipients of the 2022 Beverly Nickell Raimondo Leadership Award from the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence. The gathering was sponsored by Field and Main Bank, Russell Capital Management, and the Raimondo Family.

“Without the staff’s shared commitment and vision CIPL would not have had the unparalleled success it has had of empowering Kentucky parents and families,” said Tony Raimondo, husband of the late Beverly Raimondo.

The Prichard Committee award is named in honor and memory of Beverly Nickell Raimondo, who was instrumental in the development of the Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership in 1997. Since its founding, the institute has trained and supported parents as advocates for educational excellence.

“It is such an honor to be named among great parent leaders to receive the Beverly Nickell Raimondo Leadership award. Bev honestly believed every parent could be an advocate and made it her life’s work to train as many parents as she could. She gave us the language and the confidence we needed, not just to see our own children succeed, but every child we met. Thank you Raimondo Family, we will continue to honor Bev’s legacy,” Alana Morton, CIPL Program Associate (2005-2017).

Pictured are Christa Raimondo Cronin, Alana Morton, Maria Kenner, Tony Raimondo, Lutricia Woods, and Laurel Raimondo Martin.

“Bev’s vision allowed us to be ground breakers and innovators,” Maria Kenner, Community Support Coordinator (1998-2004).

“What a special honor to receive the 2022 Raimondo Award! I am proud and grateful to have had Bev as a friend and mentor. She was a natural leader with a servant’s heart and passion for helping parents realize their power in their child’s education,” Lutricia Woods, Community Support Coordinator (1998-2015).

“Bev’s team were the original builders, laying the foundation and vision of the Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership. Bev’s legacy continues to live through our continued efforts to ensure parents have a seat at the table,” said Brigitte Blom, President and CEO of the Prichard Committee.

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The Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence is an independent, nonpartisan, citizen-led organization working to improve education in Kentucky – early childhood through postsecondary.

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Under  Kentucky law, a public charter school will be one that:

• Serves students whose families apply, with a lottery to award seats if there are too many applications
• Is governed by a board of directors
• Receives authorization and oversight from another public agency: a school board, mayor, university board, or collective of school board members
• Gets its funding mainly through tax dollars allocated based on the students it enrolls
• Is subject to rules on school accountability, health, safety, civil rights, disability rights, and data reporting that apply to all Kentucky schools
• Is exempt from some other rules and regulations

Legally, a Kentucky public charter school will be “a public body corporate and politic,” which will make it a kind of government agency, rather than a private corporation subject to for-profit or non-profit regulations. Kentucky has other entities that are set up as public bodies corporate and politic, including the Kentucky lottery corporation, water commissions, and urban renewal and community development agencies.Practically, a charter school differs from more familiar public schools because the local school district doesn’t have the same kinds of control. For example, the school board cannot decrease funding or reassign students, and the superintendent has no role in evaluating, promoting, disciplining, or dismissing the school’s staff. If the local school board is the authorizer, it will have a limited role in overseeing the charter school and evaluating evidence on whether the school should be renewed at the end of its contract: much smaller than the board’s role with other district schools.Kentucky law also defines three specific kinds of charter schools:

• An urban academy is “a public charter school that includes an enrollment preference for students who live in close proximity to the school as defined in the charter contract.” In the pilot program created by 2022’s House Bill 9, the pilot charter schools in Jefferson County and Northern Kentucky must serve as urban academies.
• A virtual public charter school is “a public charter school that offers educational services primarily or completely through an online program.” Kentucky law spells out that virtual charter schools are not allowed.
• A conversion public charter school is an existing public school that converts to work under the charter school rules. If a school’s results are in the lowest 5% of all schools at its level, it can become a conversion charter and 60% of parents and guardians of its students sign a petition for conversion. If a school’s results are not in the lowest 5%, it can become a conversion charter if 60% of parents seek conversion, and the local school board approves the change. And a local school board can vote at any time votes to convert an existing public school over which it has authority to a charter school.

Legal Sources: KRS 160.1590 defines public charter schools and other key terms for those schools. 2022’s House Bill 9 amended paragraph (g) of the main charter definition and added the definition for an urban academy.

Series Links:

Charter schools: taking on the questions (Introduction)

1. What is a charter school?

‍2. What student results are charter schools expected to deliver?

‍3. Which school laws do charter schools have to follow?

‍4. How can students be admitted to charter schools?

‍5. Who can authorize charter schools?

‍6. Who can apply to start a charter school?

‍7. How can charter schools be closed if they do not deliver?

‍8. What funding can charter schools receive?

Adding new questions about charter schools (Conclusion)

State law on charter schools  has two kinds of requirements for student results:First, Kentucky’s school accountability system will apply. That system includes student assessments, other kinds of data, school ratings, and support and improvement actions when schools have especially weak results. It’s clear that charter schools will be part of that system, both because Kentucky charter laws say so and because it’s a core federal requirement set in ESSA (the Every Student Succeeds Act passed in 2015).Second, a performance framework will be required. Each charter school will operate under a contract with its authorizer, and Kentucky law requires the performance framework to be in the contract. That framework will include student academic proficiency and growth, achievement gaps, and college or career readiness at the end of grade 12, and it will also include data on school operations and on student attendance, suspensions, withdrawals, exits, and continuing enrollment from year to year. Those “performance indicators, measures, and metrics” will be used by the authorizer to evaluate the charter school.Neither element will implement itself, so here come two concerns about the work ahead.

Accountability Roles to Build Up

Kentucky’s current rules for support and improvement at schools with low results were designed for multi-layered governance that includes a principal, a school council, a superintendent, and a school board. Accordingly, there are key steps where the principal needs the superintendent’s sign-off or plans designed at the school level needs approval at the board level. Similarly, if a school has ongoing weaknesses, it is supposed to receive additional support from its district.Charter schools will not have those layers and roles. They may only have the required charter board and one instructional leader. If that leader gets to act as principal and superintendent, that collapses a layer of checks and balances. If the charter board is both author and approver of the school improvement plan, that would also drop a layer of oversight out of the system.Bluntly, if Kentucky is going to stand up solo schools, separated from a network of leadership roles, we need to stand up a plan for who’s going to bring help and fresh thinking if the school needs support.

Frameworks and Firmness

The framework approach will require authorizer focus and follow-through. Before signing the contract, the authorizer should be the body checking that each performance entry is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Once the contract is in place, the authorizer needs to implement a regular process of reviewing evidence on those performance issues. There will also be puzzles on what to do if the school’s actual performance is a little or a long way below the framework’s expectations.The charter concept is supposed to be a trade where the charter accepts accountability in exchange for autonomy. For that to be an honest trade, the accountability part has to work. If accountability data shows a charter school to be deeply troubled, that warrants a step-by-step plan as strong as we have for other schools, with roles as clear and settled as the ones we apply to other institutions. Similarly, for a performance framework to have any impact at all, it has to be clear at the outset and checked consistently throughout the contract.

Legal Sources: KRS 160.1596 requires the targets and the framework. KRS 160.1593 requires the assessment plan.

Series Links:

Charter schools: taking on the questions (Introduction)

1. What is a charter school?

‍2. What student results are charter schools expected to deliver?

‍3. Which school laws do charter schools have to follow?

‍4. How can students be admitted to charter schools?

‍5. Who can authorize charter schools?

‍6. Who can apply to start a charter school?

‍7. How can charter schools be closed if they do not deliver?

‍8. What funding can charter schools receive?

Adding new questions about charter schools (Conclusion)

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Kentucky charter schools will have five-year contracts and be able to seek renewal for additional years.Charter authorizer will be able to refuse to renew a charter school’s contract if the school:

• Fails to “meet or make significant progress toward” performance expectations
• Persistently fails to correct violations of its contract, the charter school law, or financial management standards
• Substantially violates material provisions of laws that apply to the charter school.

There will be a formal process for hearing evidence for and against renewal, and renewal decisions will be subject to appeal to the Kentucky Board of Education.Before the five-year renewal decision, the charter authorizer will be able to revoke a charter school’s contract immediately if a violation threatens student health and safety.That is a very narrow rule for revocation before the renewal date . It’s possible to imagine a charter school that provides health, safety, and instruction that is very brief or very weak or very far out of line with state standards or very different from what was promised in the application and the charter contract. Under Kentucky’s charter school law, there isn’t an explicit provision that allows the authorizer to close a school that is operating with that kind of problem.There may be other ways to address severe problem. The authorizer (or any other concerned anyone) can call on the charter school to fix the weakness, and the charter school may respond seriously. If that does not work, the authorizer may be able to sue under the breached contract. Or parents may be able to go to court. Federal procedures may help, particularly if the problems affect the rights of students with disabilities. State accountability procedures may also kick in if the school’s scores are especially weak or its assessment implementation doesn’t follow state requirements.Even so, charter schools will have some important insulation from their critics, because voters cannot vote out a charter’s board and because only that board can evaluate or fire charter school leaders.That narrow provision for revocation means that best time to check that a charter school is going to be able to good work is at the beginning, in the application phase. Authorizers should be looking for charters led by people with relevant knowledge and skill, instructional designs that show deep understanding, and operation plans that allow robust implementation. Rejecting applications that don’t show those things will also be an important step in making sure each charter school has the capacity to contribute excellence and equity to Kentucky’s system of common schools.

Legal

Series Links:

Charter schools: taking on the questions (Introduction)

1. What is a charter school?

‍2. What student results are charter schools expected to deliver?

‍3. Which school laws do charter schools have to follow?

‍4. How can students be admitted to charter schools?

‍5. Who can authorize charter schools?

‍6. Who can apply to start a charter school?

‍7. How can charter schools be closed if they do not deliver?

‍8. What funding can charter schools receive?

Adding new questions about charter schools (Conclusion)

With the passage of 2022's House Bill 9, Kentucky has moved a step closer to having some public charter schools. That step invites many different questions about policy, impact, evidence, principles, and practicalities. Today, we’re releasing a series of posts by Susan Perkins Weston, each aimed at one major question we’ve heard recently and also over the years since the Prichard Committee’s “Exploring Charter Schools in Kentucky: An Informational Guide” came out in November 2015.

Here are the questions the series will address based on current Kentucky law:

1. What is a charter school?

‍2. What student results are charter schools expected to deliver?

‍3. Which school laws do charter schools have to follow?

‍4. How can students be admitted to charter schools?

‍5. Who can authorize charter schools?

‍6. Who can apply to start a charter school?

‍7. How can charter schools be closed if they do not deliver?

8. What funding can charter schools receive?

‍Bluntly, we know the charter school debates are too big to be ended by any set of essays.

These posts don’t aim to end the debates, but we hope we can make the discussions more constructive and more focused on Kentucky's specific approach to implementation. We’ve included statute information to help readers go deeper, and we welcome questions as well as contrary interpretations of every kind. To round out the series, we've pulled together a unified list of key new questions that seem not to have definite answers in place.

The posts may also frustrate every kind of reader. For those who support charter schools, the posts identify practical challenges in need of attention. For those who expect charter schools to be an unhelpful disruption, the posts pay attention to ways charters can become effective. For those hoping for simplicity, these posts will show complexity. For those ready for complex full answers, many questions will remain.

The Prichard Committee does not support or oppose charter schools for themselves. Our goal is excellence with equity in public education. In our 2014 report, we highlighted evidence that some charter schools have successfully contributed to moving forward on that agenda, as well as noting evidence that many charter schools do not help much and some moved students in the wrong direction. As Kentucky is positioned to oven some charter schools in the near future, our focus remains the same: we want excellence and equity for all Kentucky students, and we’ll press for charter schools to be part of achieving that goal. We plan to be serious about quality and serious about diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging –for Kentucky public charter schools along with all the other public schools that serve our students and build our shared future.

In general, students who wish to attend Kentucky charter schools will be admitted. If the number wishing to attend exceeds the charter school’s capacity, some preferences will apply:

• For students who already attend the school, their siblings, and students who live in the district where the school is located
• If the school chooses, for students who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals, who attend persistently low-achieving schools, or whose parents are board members or full-time employees
• At conversion charter schools, for students who attended the school before the conversion
• At urban academy charter schools, for “ students who live in close proximity to the school as defined in the charter contract”

After the preferences are applied, remaining slots will be awarded by lottery.These rules leave no place for a school to compare two applicants and choose the learner with higher test scores, better auditions, stronger recommendations, or fewer reports of behavior challenges.That said, the rules do not create a fully level playing field. Families that know where they will be living next year will have an advantage over those with unstable housing. Similarly, families with more ability to explore options will be more likely to find and apply for charter options. Both advantages will often be tied to socio-economic privilege. And school decisions about when and where and how to advertise may also affect who applies.Two additional enrollment issues look like they still need attention.First, late admissions. if a student moves into the area on July 1 and wants to attend a charter school that has space, will the student have to be admitted? The lottery step is a solution for when there are too many applicants during the regular application season. But what if there are fewer applicants than seats, or if some who are admitted later move away or change their minds, making some seats available again? Will those seats be open to students who seek admission later on? For charters to be as public as other public schools, the answer has to be yes, but I don’t think Kentucky law says that.Second, removals. Our earlier post on legal requirements that apply to charter schools mentioned the need to clarify Kentucky’s procedures for suspensions, expulsions, and services after expulsion, particularly regarding roles and responsibilities at schools not governed by an elected school board. Those clarifications are needed for health, safety, civil rights, and disability rights. The clarifications are also needed to build toward fairness in who attends charter schools, making sure that being admitted is not an illusion for students who are quickly pushed out for reasons or using procedures that would not be acceptable in other public schools.

Series Links:

Charter schools: taking on the questions (Introduction)

1. What is a charter school?

‍2. What student results are charter schools expected to deliver?

‍3. Which school laws do charter schools have to follow?

‍4. How can students be admitted to charter schools?

‍5. Who can authorize charter schools?

‍6. Who can apply to start a charter school?

‍7. How can charter schools be closed if they do not deliver?

‍8. What funding can charter schools receive?

Adding new questions about charter schools (Conclusion)

In charter school operation, the authorizer is a government body that approves an application to form a charter school, enters a contract with the school’s board, provides oversight, and decides on renewal or closure of the school.

Options and Appeals

Kentucky law allows multiple authorizers for Kentucky charter schools:

• The local school board in the district where the school will be located.
• A collaborative of local boards formed to set up a regional charter school.
• The Lexington/Fayette County mayor and the Louisville/Jefferson County chief executive
• Either the trustees of Northern Kentucky University or a “collective” appointed by school boards in that region (see the Pilot Project discussion below for more detail.)

The Kentucky Board of Education will hear appeals of rejected applications. That Board can change the outcome based on whether the application met the legal requirements and whether the denial was "contrary to the best interest of the students or community."

Pilot Program

In 2022, House Bill 9 mandated a “Kentucky Public Charter School Pilot Project” that requires the approval of two “urban academy” charter schools, one in Jefferson County and one in Kenton or Campbell. As urban academies, each will give admissions preference to students who live near the school. The authorizers for each school will report each year to two legislative committees on how it is overseeing the required charter school. In addition, the Office of Education Accountability will review the school’s performance each year and report to the same two committees.For the Jefferson County charter school, the Jefferson County school board is directed to authorize a charter school by July 1, 2023. The Jefferson board will face an added challenge in its authorization and oversight work: 2022’s House Bill 1 only allows that board to meet once every eight weeks.For the Northern Kentucky charter school, there are two authorizer possibilities:

• Through January 1, 2023, the Northern Kentucky University Board of Regents can choose to be the authorizer by adopting a resolution. The board will then be required to authorize a charter school by July 1, 2023.
• On July 1, 2023, if NKU’s board has not become an authorizer, a “collective” will be created, with two members from the local boards in each of the nine school districts in Kenton and Campbell counties. The collective will then be required to authorize a charter school by July 1, 2024.

Ongoing Responsibilities

The authorizer’s work does not end with approving an application.Contract drafting will be an important legal challenge. Oversight to see if performance goals and operating requirements are being met will come after that. Decisions about renewal based on those issues will also be an important responsibility. If there are health and safety concerns, action may be needed to close the school. If there are other substantial weaknesses that are not legal grounds for closure, the authorizer will be responsible for raising those concerns with the charter school and perhaps for looking into other remedies.Authorizing and oversight looks like a moderately heavy lift. A school board authorizer at least starts out with a staff that knows education law, finance, and operations. If a mayor or a university board wants to take on the role, that choice seems likely to require some new staff or a commitment of time from existing staff as well as from the officials themselves. And if a collective of school board members must form to authorize the northern Kentucky pilot, it is not clear how they can get staff or logistical support for the initial authorizing decision. To get a further sense of the scale of effort involved in authorizing, one helpful resource may be the “Principles & Standards for Quality Charter School Authorizing” offered by the National Association of Charter School Authorizers. Once the authorizer contracts for a charter school, it will be able to retain 3% of the charter school’s revenue. As a loose estimate, think of that being about $300 per student, available to cover part of the cost of this oversight work.

Legal Sources: KRS 160.1590 defines the authorizers. KRS 160.1594 sets authorizing process, and KRS 160.1595 provides for appeals, with some modifications made by 2022's House Bill 9. Section 11 of House Bill 9 sets the rules for the pilot program.

Series Links:

Charter schools: taking on the questions (Introduction)

1. What is a charter school?

‍2. What student results are charter schools expected to deliver?

‍3. Which school laws do charter schools have to follow?

‍4. How can students be admitted to charter schools?

‍5. Who can authorize charter schools?

‍6. Who can apply to start a charter school?

‍7. How can charter schools be closed if they do not deliver?

‍8. What funding can charter schools receive?

Adding new questions about charter schools (Conclusion)

Kentucky law specifies that “teachers, parents, school administrators, community residents, public organizations, nonprofit organizations, or a combination thereof” will be able to apply. Applications for charter schools controlled wholly or partly by religious denominations will be rejected.Each charter application will include by-laws and initial members of the school’s board of directors, which must include two parents of students at the school and must not include employees of the school or employees of educational service providers that will serve the school. The board will be sworn in after the application is approved.Once a charter application is approved, the charter school will official be a “body corporate and politic” run by its board of directors. Legally, a Kentucky public charter school will be “a public body corporate and politic,” which will make it a kind of government agency, rather than a private corporation subject to for-profit or non-profit regulations. Kentucky has other entities that are set up as “public bodies corporate and politic, including the Kentucky lottery corporation, water commissions, and urban renewal and community development agencies. Formally speaking, the charter school cannot be owned by any other group or company.For-profit corporations cannot apply to form Kentucky charter schools: they are not on the list of allowed applicants. For-profit corporations also cannot own charter schools, because each charter school must be a “body corporate and politic.”However, for-profit corporations can be “education service providers,” and a charter school board can sign a contract with that sort of provider. If a charter school plans to contract with an education service provider, the planned terms of the contract will be included in the charter application. Kentucky law defines an education service provider as “an education management organization, school design provider, or any other partner entity with which a public charter school contracts for educational design, implementation, or comprehensive management." This provision means that for-profits can play a major role in how a charter school is started, though only with some type of agreement with others.The contract will determine what the provider does for the charter school and its board. That means that the charter might buy or rent its facilities, furniture, equipment, technology, books, and supplies. Many of those things can be used over more than one school year, so there is a valid question about who gets to keep those items if the school closes or chooses to work with different providers. Yes, a skilled and experienced provider can push a less-well prepared charter school board toward a contract that gives big advantages to the outside company. At the same time, it’s worth noticing that a charter school starts from scratch. It does not have a financial reserve or bond proceeds it could use to buy any of those big-ticket items, so rental contracts may be the only way the school can begin.

Legal sources: KRS 160.1593 governs applications to run a charter school. KRS 160.1593 governs charter applications, including how education service providers are to be identified in applications. KRS 160.1590 establishes charters’ “body corporate and politic” status and defines education service providers.

To look at look at other “bodies corporate politic,” good starting places may be KRS 65.355 for land bank authorities, KRS 74.450 for water commissions, KRS 99.350 for urban renewal and community development agencies, KRS 154A.020 for the Kentucky Lottery Corporation, KRS 262.010 for soil and water conservation districts and KRS 342.803 Kentucky Employers' Mutual Insurance Authority.

Series Links:

Charter schools: taking on the questions (Introduction)

1. What is a charter school?

‍2. What student results are charter schools expected to deliver?

‍3. Which school laws do charter schools have to follow?

‍4. How can students be admitted to charter schools?

‍5. Who can authorize charter schools?

‍6. Who can apply to start a charter school?

‍7. How can charter schools be closed if they do not deliver?

‍8. What funding can charter schools receive?

Adding new questions about charter schools (Conclusion)

This Charter School Q & A series took on the Kentucky questions we’ve heard repeatedly. In trying to answer those questions, we’ve surfaced some new questions, and I want to conclude the series by sharing those issues as a set:

• Accountability: How will charter schools with the weakest results in the state accountability system receive support and improvement help? The existing system again calls for a district superintendent and an elected board to be key agents of change. Charter schools will not have outside people with those titles, and there isn’t an obvious equivalent mechanism to take on those change agent roles. See also the xx post
• Admissions: Will students who move to the area after a charter school completes its annual admissions cycle still be admitted? First, will they be admitted if the school has open seats? Second, will be the admitted when the school does not have open seats (as they would be to the public schools run by their local school district)? See also the xx post
• Removals: How will Kentucky’s rules on suspensions, expulsions, and services work for charter schools? I’m taking it as settled that charter school students will get the protections those rules provide, but there’s a mechanical problem. In other public schools, disciplinary actions by principals under council policy move to a higher level when the biggest consequences apply. Superintendents and elected school boards provide fresh eyes and some worthwhile checks and balances. For charter school students, who will provide that additional set of checks and balances? See also the xx post
• Funding: What is clear and what will be contested in the new legal rules? After trying to apply those rules, I’m confident there are legal ambiguities that will matter, and I’m also confident that I haven’t spotted all of those points of uncertainty. Those issues can be talked through this year, next year, or the year after. They can be engaged with a lot of collaborative thought, a little, or none. They’ll ultimately be resolved by litigation or legislation, but some serious discussion now could help those outcomes be wiser and more workable for all the affected students and schools. See also the xx post.

Whlle the questions above are about laws, procedures, dollars, and topics already discussed in this series, I do want to add one more about the larger social environment from which Kentucky law now expects charter schools to emerge:

• Visionaries: the charter school approach is pitched as creating opportunities for novel approaches. So, who’s bringing the big ideas that will work differently for students and better for at least some of them? What are the concepts? Who are the people excited by them? Who is on fire to make them really happen? There has been an assumption that those folks will appear. If that’s going to happen, it should probably start happening soon.

I definitely don’t know what charter schools will turn out to be in Kentucky. We’re about to make a big investment in capacity to apply, authorize, contract, implement, and oversee these schools. To me, two main things are clear:

1. The return we want on the investment is greater excellence with greater equity
2. We can only hope to see that sort of return if Kentuckians put serious effort and thought into the charter process in the coming months and years.

Series Links:

Charter schools: taking on the questions (Introduction)

1. What is a charter school?

‍2. What student results are charter schools expected to deliver?

‍3. Which school laws do charter schools have to follow?

‍4. How can students be admitted to charter schools?

‍5. Who can authorize charter schools?

‍6. Who can apply to start a charter school?

‍7. How can charter schools be closed if they do not deliver?

‍8. What funding can charter schools receive?

Adding new questions about charter schools (Conclusion)