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Nebraska, South Dakota, and Vermont have resisted charter schools due to the negative impact such institutions can have on rural school districts — but that’s reportedly changing due to a shift in political leadership.
“These are states that love their rural public schools, that depend upon their rural public schools,” Carol Burris told Education Week.
Burris is the executive director of the Network for Public Education, an advocacy group focused on supporting and improving traditional public schools.
“These are not states that are going to be welcoming charter schools,” Burris added.
Burris said that rural states typically resist charter schools. Most states restrict parents to schools within their zip code or the school district that presides over their residential area, but charter schools allow parents the option to send their kids to a different school.
When charter schools are located near public schools, they compete for per-pupil funding as parents are allowed to opt out of sending their children to the neighborhood public school.
Concerns include that the money taken away from traditional public schools could be used to boost teachers’ salaries, invest in public school facilities and recruit more teachers.
The report from Education Week came after several red states with GOP resistance to charter schools eventually flipped on the issue.
Iowa, Idaho, Tennessee, Wyoming and Texas eventually passed universal school choice, overcoming pushback from state-level Republican lawmakers who had previously obstructed the effort.
The states have many constituents who live in rural areas. Rural schools tend to face funding challenges due to low enrollment and scarce resources. Rural Republicans, once obstacles to school choice measures, have shifted to supporting the policy in those states.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds overcame resistance from her GOP colleagues when she sought to pass universal school choice legislation. Reynolds endorsed nine candidates with a pro-parent platform in primary elections, ousting incumbent GOP candidates who did not support that platform.
“Burris expressed doubts that Nebraska or Vermont will implement any kind of charter authorization laws, because Nebraska has strong support for its public schools and Vermont’s legislature is controlled by Democrats,” reported Education Week.
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