Whatever your opinion on the state of public education, one thing is clear: childhood is fleeting. Children don’t have time to wait while adults drag their feet, kick a metaphorical can, and workshop administrative technicalities.
The EBR school board has lacked action for months on what should be a straightforward update to its existing, outdated Charter School Policy. While some board members have offered additions to the set of legal and compliance changes proposed by the district’s staff, a majority of the board has deferred action, called for a workshop, failed to hold a workshop, and continues to stall.
Perhaps the reason for the board’s delay is that the very mention of the term “charter” school leads some members of the board to prioritize politics over service to students and families, which is disappointing, given that truly meeting the needs of students and families requires offering additional options for families seeking the best educational fit for their child.
I want to be clear: charter schools are not a silver bullet. There are struggling schools of every type, and charters are only one tool in a public education toolbox. What charters do offer is competition, which data shows improves student outcomes. The charter schools in Baton Rouge are currently outpacing the district’s growth in academic achievement, meaning students who enter school behind are making up more ground. Ignoring the role of charters in the overall system is shortsighted and fails to keep the focus on children.
The board received a proposed update to the Policy in July, which primarily focused on aligning it with changes to the law passed by the legislature in 2024. It is not a heavy lift to review the technical changes to ensure the Policy still reflects the board’s values. But it would be a simple and easy win for the students in our community for EBR to have a Charter School Policy that complies with state law.
This update is important because effective charter schools require an authorizing environment that fosters a partnership with their authorizer—here, the local school board. A key part of that is a clear and fair set of regulations that is competitive with other authorizing options (the state board of education) and is compliant with state law and policy.
The Alliance believes that of the five types of charter schools, those authorized by and held accountable to local school boards are the type best-suited for local communities. They are more responsive to the needs of local students because the board that holds them accountable has a better understanding of their needs and challenges, and the communities in which they live.
But one of the changes to the law is a new option allowing local charter schools to petition to become state charter schools if they have legitimate concerns around the oversight operation of their authorizer. With a Charter Policy over a year out of compliance with the law, creating a wobbly foundation for existing charter schools, the board should be concerned about the likelihood of these schools exercising their option to exit the system. That may not seem like a big deal, but with EBR collecting around $750,000 in state revenue for the 7,000 students whose parents are choosing local charter schools, and enrollment trends in the district continuing to fall, the financial risk to the district is real.
Setting aside the risk of existing local charter schools leaving for state authorization, updating the Policy is critical for schools that may want to get started in EBR. With the annual charter application period starting at the end of September, aligning the Policy with state law should be a priority for the board, so that applicants know what standards they will be held to before they actually apply. Again, this is simply a matter of updating an existing policy to align with an existing law.
At the end of the day, this update isn’t about revenue to the district or fairness to charter applicants – it’s about elected officials serving the children and families that they were elected to serve, and putting actions to their claims that they accept responsibility for the public education of every child in Baton Rouge. The board needs to act now to implement this straightforward policy and update the language to match the law. Our kids don’t have time to wait for the school board to take action, and frankly, they deserve better.
Adonica Pelichet Duggan
CEO, Baton Rouge Alliance for Students