Oklahoma Attorney General Speaks Out Against New Charter Funding Plan

Oklahoma Attorney General John O'Connor said the latest effort by the Biden Administration to regulate federal funding for public charter schools could be devastating for parents and students who need options.

"We have some great public schools. We have some great public teachers. We have good teachers in low-performing schools. But at a certain point, when a school is not doing well, we ought to admit that, and we need to be making changes, and the Public Charter School System is one of those changes," said O'Connor. 

O'Connor joined other states' Attorneys general in asking the Department of Education to not adopt the new proposals. 

He said Oklahoma has invested time and resources into public charter schools, so all students have equal access to a quality education. 

"To me, the Charter Public Schools, which was a bipartisan effort started by Congress in 1994, were designed to give options in public education federally and state funded to kids who were in schools that were not performing well, and their parents wanted them to have an opportunity for a better education," said O'Connor. 

In an effort led by O'Connor, 16 states' Attorneys general are challenging two proposed changes to federal funding for public charter schools by the Biden Administration. 

"Even if your children are in a private school, even if you're a high-income earner, even if there's not a public charter school next to you, we need to love our neighbor as ourselves. We need to care for every child in our state and these proposals by the Biden Administration are counterproductive to our concern for our kids," said O'Connor.  

The Charter School Program offers about $440 million a year in grants, which works out to about $500,000 per school. 

O'Connor said it's designed to promote innovation and provide an alternative to low-performing schools. 

"Sometimes those kids are already having to overcome obstacles just to have a fair chance at the American Dream," said O'Connor. 

In a letter to the U.S. Department of Education, O'Connor expressed his concern for the proposed changes. 

He told News On 6 that the changes threaten to reduce funding, preventing some new schools from getting chartered.

The 'Community Impact Analysis Requirement' would give preference to charter schools in areas with over-enrollment. 

"It's a shift from the motivation of providing quality education for kids to an institutional survival instinct of a failing school," said O'Connor. "Now how many times to you think an underperforming public school is gonna be overenrolled."

O'Connor said the 'Partnership Priority' for charter schools partnering with local school districts would penalize charter schools aiming to compete.

"If you have kids in school, they're in school now. They need solutions now. They don't need a 10-year political football, topical study on these things," said O'Connor. 

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools said these schools serve 3.5 million students and two-thirds are from low-income, Black, or Hispanic communities. 

Supporters of the new rules believe they'll improve the quality, accountability, and transparency of charter schools.