School choice is under attack in Oregon.
There is a movement right now to rush emergency legislation to prevent the growth of school choice in Oregon. That legislation is Senate Bill 767. This legislation is an attempt to stop us and other future charter schools from establishing and growing brick-and-mortar in-person schools in the state of Oregon. We, Classical Quest for Education, are a non-profit public benefit corporation that is seeking to provide the choice of a classical education school model to families in Jackson County. Our board is made up of parents of school-aged children from throughout Jackson County.
Do not be deceived. SB 767 is a sleight-of-hand attempt, under the guise of protecting small school districts, to protect the monopoly of larger school districts and to also preserve the cash cow that these larger school districts have at the expense of charter schools. This bill would stifle charter school growth for brick-and-mortar in-person options. It would make some, if not most, locations in Oregon “off-limits” to in-person charter schools.
Under current law, charter schools once authorized can grow their model throughout the state. This allows a charter school to locate in a district that is either openly hostile to charter schools or that would charge an exorbitant fee. And districts regularly charge an exorbitant fee as a price for being approved. The proposed legislation takes aim at in-person schools by requiring an in-person school sponsorship from the district where they may locate even if there is little hope of getting authorization or must agree to unworkable fees. To close the door, all those school districts need to do is say “no” with little accountability.
Right now, school districts have essentially a stranglehold on in-person schools, even without this legislation. Authorizers have a pattern of charging up to 20% of a charter school’s per pupil revenue, depending on the grade level, just to operate. That is 20% off the top of a child’s education. It goes to the districts for little to no services in return. The charter school act allows districts to charge up to 20% but does not require it. This range of up to a 20% fee provides the opportunity for a newly approved charter school to negotiate with the district for possible services. Authorization of a full-service school such as ours requires little overhead from the authorizer. Our experience in California, for example, is that authorizers can only charge up to 1% for actual services provided. That is quite the disparity.
Sadly, it has become standard to charge such amounts in Oregon, even with a state constitution that requires proportional education funding and equal protection under the law for children’s education. One study showed that with all the extra fees and revenue districts get, Oregon charter schools operate on about 60% of the revenue of their district school counterparts. It is hard to imagine anything that is proportional or equitable about such a pay-to-play fee. It creates a second-class citizenry by saying, “Sorry, your child’s publicly funded education is worth 40% less than other Oregon public school children.”
This 20% authorizer fee is a double disadvantage to brick-and-mortar, in-person charter schools. Unlike district schools, which get separate tax-generated funding for their facilities with no effect on their per- pupil programmatic funding, charter schools must pay for their facilities out of their student program revenue. To get a facility that barely meets the needs of a full-service program, charter schools typically need to spend 15-20% of per-pupil funding. Again, that puts charter students at a whopping 35-40% disadvantage. This added to the fee that districts exact means that charter schools struggle to survive, especially charter schools with their own facilities. It is no wonder that most in-person schools in the state of Oregon are operating out of facilities like warehouses or small office spaces, without adequate playgrounds, performing arts spaces, or sports facilities. And just to make ends meet, they must pay their teachers lower salaries. Many families, especially dual-income families and single-parent families in lower income brackets cannot choose a virtual or hybrid school. They need full-service in-person options. The current funding model is relegating those families to choose options with facilities that are simply inadequate.
Senate Bill 767 is being rushed through as “Emergency Legislation” by opponents of school choice. The “emergency” that this bill claims to address— is that a group of parents and educators sought to open a charter school in Oregon under existing law that does not require support services from the district, and wants the state funding to follow each child. If a charter school gets authorized at a more reasonable rate, it is seen as a threat to school districts that have already authorized charter schools. It threatens their ability to justify taking 20% of the revenue from the schools they have already authorized, and, it sheds the shackles off of those schools to finally put in a full-service in-person facility.
SB 767 also claims to be needed to protect small school districts. CQE is seeking to open a high- performing brick-and-mortar, in-person, full-service charter school for the people of Jackson County. CQE has partnered with John Adams Academy because they already run three successful full-service schools in California. John Adams Academy is a fully integrated model that provides everything from Academics to sports to special education. We seek to serve students throughout Jackson County. In our due diligence process, we approached three districts in the county. The first, a large district, made it abundantly clear they would not be supportive of our charter and would not authorize us. We had some encouraging conversations with a second, large district in the county, but in the end, it would not budge from exacting 20% of student revenue it already charges other charters even though we provide all our own services and they would only have limited oversight duties.
As the big districts in the valley pushed away school choice opportunities, CQE determined to seek authorization in a third smaller district, Pinehurst School District, without the “pay-to-play" fee. CQE is in the middle of the charter application process with that district. The chairman of our CQE board lives in this smaller district. Her family has been there for four generations. She graduated from Pinehurst schools. Pinehurst is a small but mighty district. It has a small K-6 school but has to pay to have its 7- 12th grade students bussed and educated in another district over 40 minutes away. CQE has proposed offering a 7-12th grade in-person option in the district.
The chairman of our board wants this option for her children and for the children of her community who overwhelmingly support this option in their community. Having Pinehurst School District approve the charter responds to the needs of families in that community while at the same time stabilizing the enrollment and revenue of the district. By seeking authorization from the small district of Pinehurst, CQE is linking the fate of their charter to the fate of the district. If the district were to be negatively impacted it would negatively impact the charter. Therefore, there is a built-in desire on the part of the charter school and families to work toward the success, viability, and sustainability of this small school district.
This is what has scared these larger districts to rush this legislation. They know we cannot operate our full model in their district at their 20% fee. Now that we might get authorized somewhere else for less than the 20% and could operate anywhere in the county, these school districts are running to the legislature to shut us down. They are doing so under the guise that we are harming a smaller school district.
Under current legislation, CQE would also be able to open school sites in other areas in Jackson County. Our current projections are that we would open with about 400 students from throughout Jackson County and grow within 5 years to 685. Our oversight fee would more than cover the oversight costs for this smaller district and would provide some much-needed stable revenue in this district that experiences ebbs and flows due to unpredictable enrollment. It would not be the debilitating 20% that larger districts in the county exact. Contrary to the suggestion of the proponents of this legislation that we are threatening a small school district’s existence, our proposal to the Pinehurst School Board would strengthen the Pinehurst School District and serve as a mutually beneficial solution for each of us.
The original intent of the Oregon charter school law is that charter schools are to be approved and that they are to be viable options throughout the state. The only loophole that exists is the loophole that large school districts have used to create an educational monopoly and deny choice to school children. If this legislation passes, these larger districts will hold all the cards. It would prevent any school authorized outside their district from making in-person school opportunities available in their districts. If we want to serve families throughout Jackson County, we would be forced back to be authorized by them under this pay-to-play scheme which is financially debilitating for a full-service in-person model such as ours. We will not agree to that kind of educational impact on our families nor should any legislator. Low-income families with both parents working and single-parent families, are the most in need of in-person school options, and no child should be funded at a 35-40% disadvantage for choosing an in-person education option that fits their needs.
Classical Quest for Education Board – Jenna Hays, Tanner Cropper, Trevor Peterson.
Classical Quest for Education (CQE) is an Oregon non-profit public benefit corporation organization