Rachel S. Karas, Frederick News Post
Maryland’s charter school laws are among the worst in the nation, according to two studies released this year.
The Washington-based Center for Education Reform and National Alliance for Public Charter Schools evaluated the content and implementation of charter school laws in 42 states and the District of Columbia.
In January, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools named Maryland last out of 43 in its own ranking of charter school laws. The state dropped from 42 to 43 in the National Alliance ranking. The 2014 Center for Education Reform scorecard released March 17 showed that Maryland scored 39th — two places lower than in 2013.
Three public charter schools are now open in Frederick County: Carroll Creek Montessori, Monocacy Valley Montessori and Frederick Classical. Officials at the Montessori schools did not respond to a request for comment on the ratings.
Tom Neumark, president of Frederick Classical Charter School, said he is disappointed but not surprised that Maryland continues to worsen for charter schools.
“Charter schools are supposed to be independent, and that’s basically what Maryland law guarantees you don’t have,” he said.
The studies’ criteria for grading the laws included whether the state allows entities other than traditional school boards to independently create and manage charter schools, whether independent authorization actually occurs, how many new charter schools are allowed to open, how separation from existing state and local operational rules is codified in law, and various measures of fiscal equity.
States also earned or lost points for accountability and putting the law into practice, Center for Education Reform methodology said. Points were deducted if the law is not followed or charter schools are not being approved for arbitrary reasons not set in law.
Good charter school laws ensure freedom and funding, Neumark said, but Maryland’s do neither. Frederick County charter school teachers are employees of the local school system
