Statement on Maryland Charter School Legislation

The undersigned organizations urge the State of Maryland to approve charter school legislation with multiple public school chartering authorities, as provided for in Senate Bill 388 (which grants this authority to local school boards, Maryland public institutions of higher education, the Maryland State Board of Education, and any other entity designated by the State Board as a public school chartering authority).

Recommendation: The proposed legislation should be amended to include the establishment of a state-level charter school special education director who could oversee early implementation and assist charter schools with the various areas of expertise needed for full implementation. *

* Here is a brief explanation of the need for this recommendation:

"Many key informants indicated that implementing IDEA during the early years of a new charter school was particularly burdensome. The lack of knowledge of the operators and the other staff members as well as the costs of start-up often hindered the implementation early on. The amount of knowledge needed to understand all aspects of implementation, including finances, evaluation, due process, and other procedural requirements, created a barrier to timely implementation. In some states this meant that full implementation was not occurring until the second or third year of operation. Some states such as Minnesota were addressing the implementation issues by creating the position of state-level charter school special education director who could oversee early implementation and assist charter schools with the various areas of expertise needed for full implementation."
- Eileen M. Ahearn et al., "Project Search: Special Education as Requirements in Charter Schools." National Association of State Directors of Special Education (October 2001), p. 28 http://www.nasdse.org/project_search_doc2.pdf