One of the persistent criticisms thrown at Idaho public charter schools in the Legislature and elsewhere is that “charters were supposed to be laboratories of innovation for traditional public schools,” but they don’t share any of their lessons learned. After more than a decade of hearing this I believe the issue is less about charters keeping lessons from traditional public schools and more about traditional school systems not liking what they learn or hear. It is easier to claim charters aren’t really laboratories of innovation than it is to do something with the uncomfortable lessons learned over the 25+ years of the charter school experience.

Here are five lessons that could help transform public school systems if they were incorporated into district operations, but that probably will never happen for political reasons.

Idaho public charter schools:

1.  Are non-union workplaces. While Idaho public school districts have to periodically negotiate and navigate collective bargaining agreements with their workforce public charter schools operate free of these onerous one-size fits all agreements. Consider the 50 page Master Contract Between the Boise Independent School District and the Boise Education Association that defines significant portions of the school experience for educators (step and lane salary schedule were seniority and degrees earned trump evidence of impact on student performance) and students alike (e.g. school calendar and class size). Most charter schools utilize one-year at will contracts. Districts utilize “Category Three Contracts” defined in their collective bargaining agreements that perpetually employ district staff and make it near impossible to dismiss ineffective teachers.

2. Have unparallel flexibilities in the use of alternative certification for teachers and school administrators. In recent years Idaho public charter schools have fought for and received the ability to certify their own school administrators and teachers. In 2019, the legislature passed SB1058 that created an alternative pathway for charter administrators and has resulted in the inflow of some outstanding nontraditional school leaders into Idaho public charter schools, including retired military officers. In 2022, SB1291 created an alternative for charter school teacher certification allowing charters to create their own alternative certification pathways. It gave charters the freedom to customize their teacher licensing programs to the particular needs of their schools and specific learning models. Senate Bill 1291 lets charter schools issue school-specific teaching credentials to individuals who are at least 18 years old, possess a bachelor’s degree, and complete a criminal background check. This bill also mandates that these individuals receive mentoring and professional development training.

3. Are not required to have elected school boards. Idaho public charter schools are not required to have elected school boards. As nonprofit boards, charter school boards are made up of volunteers. These boards are mission driven boards. Charter school boards, leaders and staff are contractually obligated by their authorizer (a school district or the Idaho Public Charter School Commission) to clearly articulate their education model, their operational standards, their academic standards, and their financial plan. They are evaluated annually to determine if they are meeting academic, financial and operational goals. They are given a reasonable amount of time to prove that their model delivers for students and families. If they succeed, they are allowed to renew their contract every six or 12 years depending on the success of the school.

4. Lack access to local tax dollars. Public charter schools receive no local bond or levy dollars. They operate only on state and federal tax dollars. To make this work public charter schools utilize creative approaches to financing their school facilities, putting facilities in mall spaces or old district buildings, and operating on lean margins, which mean things like leaner administrative teams per student and slightly larger class sizes.

5. Are schools of choice for both parents and educators. Whereas public districts schools are often referred to as neighborhood schools, public charter schools are schools of choice that often have larger student enrollment zones than a particular neighborhood or section of town. Charter schools are free and open enrollment schools that are required to use a student lottery if they are overenrolled. Just as parents chose to send their child to a public charter school so teachers chose to work in a public charter school. Districts assign teachers to specific buildings while charter school teachers sign up to work in a specific school. Most often, teachers in charters work in their school because they believe in the mission and/or values of the school. Charters are model specifics (e.g. CTE, Classical Education, STEM, etc.) and teachers value working in a setting that teaches what they believe and in how they think education works best for students.

Idaho’s public charter schools have lessons to share and want to share them. And there are school district leaders across Idaho who visit charters and take ideas. The door is open. But, as the classic proverb reads: “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.”