Utah touted as leader in charter movement

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the inauguration of charter schools in Utah — and officials say Utah has become a national leader in some areas of the charter movement.

Representatives from the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools visited Utah earlier this week to help commemorate the anniversary and congratulated lawmakers and charter leaders.

According to the Charter School Annual Report that was also released in conjunction with the visit, about 5 percent of Utah's public school students attend charter schools, free and public schools open to all students in the state.

The charter movement in Utah was kicked off 10 years ago by former legislator Brian Allen, who has been called the "father of the charter school movement."

"I wake up every day knowing there are 27,000 kids in this state going to a school that they wanted to go to, that they are thriving at and doing well and that's an important thing," Allen said.

Nelson Smith, president of the national charter alliance, based in Washington, D.C., said Utah stands out in front of the charter movement in a number of areas due to its acceptance of charters.

While in many other states schools can only be chartered by a school district, Utah has a State Charter Board that is also charged with granting charters.

Unlike other states, Utah has also created a charter school revolving loan fund that helps charters secure a facility, along with the newly created state charter school finance authority charged with providing a cost-effective method of financing charter school facilities.

Moreover, Utah is one of only a few states that recognize the need for parity in funding between charter and public schools — that is, the state kicks in money to ensure charter school student funding is closer to that of traditional schools.

"There are issues to be worked out between the state and the districts, but it is done in the spirit of trying to provide full funding to charter schools, and that is really important," Smith said.

Marlies Burns, state charter director, said that by fall 2008 Utah will have 66 charter schools in operation, with more schools popping up in rural areas as well as more schools targeting and serving at-risk populations.

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools is a nonprofit committed to advancing the 16-year-old charter school movement and increasing the number of charter schools available to families, particularly low-income and minority families whose access to high-quality education is limited.

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E-mail: terickson@desnews.com

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