Could charter schools privatize?

As time ticks down to the Tuesday public vote on government vouchers for private school tuition, a curiosity arises: Might public charter schools seek to become private schools, should Referendum 1 pass on Tuesday?

The question has been floating around in business and education circles, from charter schools to the chairman of the State Board of Education.

Indeed, converting a charter into a private school would create a built-in clientele and freedom from state regulations for teaching to testing and much in between.

But several charter school experts say a conversion would be a bad business move. And some wonder if it's even possible.

"There's always grumblings ... there are some schools that really don't want any oversight," said Gary Belliston, finance specialist in the State Office of Education's charter schools office. Still, he knows of none planning to convert to a private school.

"From a business standpoint, why would you want to close a charter school (when you have) guaranteed revenues?"

Still, it is possible some charter school leaders would seek to create private schools in addition to running their charter schools should voters OK giving parents a $500 to $3,000 voucher for private school tuition, based on income. One charter school director says she'd consider that possibility.

"Of course," said Carolyn Sharette, director of American Preparatory Academy charter school in Draper.

Charter schools are public schools that offer a different approach to curriculum and heavy parental involvement. As such, they charge no tuition and essentially are guaranteed around $5,300 per student from the state, according to numbers supplied by the State Office of Education. The schools, several of which have waiting lists, also may receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in state or federal start-up money and other federal grants.

"We have a guaranteed funding source, which is the state ... (and) our board is formed to run a public school," Sharette said. "It's quite a bit different to run a private school."

It's also questionable whether a public operation like a charter school could switch to a private entity. State law says that if charter schools close, their assets, like books, desks and computers, go back to the chartering entity, be it a school district or the State Board of Education.

That's what recently happened to Dream charter school's assets.