By Chris Cargill, Kendall Cotton, and Derek Oestreicher

The Center Square

Families across the country have long benefited from the ability to attend a public charter school if they determined that was the best option for their children. Montana parents, however, have been stymied until recently when lawmakers finally stepped up. The Montana Legislature in 2023 passed two charter options for public education – HB 562 and HB 549. HB 562, the Community Choice Schools Act, is one of the strongest charter school laws in the country.

Public charter schools, called “Choice Schools” under Montana’s unique framework, are tuition-free public schools that are publicly funded but independently run. Choice Schools are granted flexibility from traditional public school regulations to build a learning environment and curriculum that fits the needs of their students. Choice Schools are subject to a contract that includes ongoing general government supervision, performance monitoring, and oversight. If Choice Schools don’t perform, they will be closed.

As they have done in nearly every state that has voted to launch public charter schools, the education establishment has sued to prevent implementation of HB 562 and deny families this important option.

This is why our organizations joined together to file an amicus brief in the case of Felchle v. Montana, to defend Choice Schools as an option for Montana families.

It’s abundantly clear that Montana’s Community Choice Schools Act (CCSA) is constitutional, consistent with charter school programs in other states, and will enable quality public education options for students. This is why we’re asking the court to uphold the Community Choice Schools Act and preserve this opportunity for Montana communities to expand the local public education system with student-centered Choice Schools.

Our amicus brief emphasizes three key points:

Constitutionality: The CCSA properly acknowledges the requirement in the Montana Constitution for the Board of Public Education to exercise “general supervision” over Choice Schools.

Consistency: The CCSA’s framework is consistent with the understanding of constitutional requirements for state board supervision of charter schools in other states.

Quality: The data on similar schools in other states, including research from Stanford University, demonstrates that Choice Schools will provide equality of educational opportunity and offer a quality education to Montana students.

We conclude our legal brief by noting: “For over three decades, children across the country have attended public charter schools and became more successful students because of it. Charter schools have a clearly demonstrated positive effect on their students and the data continues to show a positive upward trend, even in states where the charter law contains broad exemptions from state laws and regulations. Based on this data, Montana’s Choice Schools will provide a quality education because they follow a model that has led to academic quality in other states.”

For example, neighboring Idaho has more than 70 charter schools and a new law was passed this year that makes them easier to operate. Discussing Idaho’s charter schools, Kimberly School District Superintendent Luke Schroeder recently said: “You have to look at education for your entire community, not just your district. It’s human nature to be competitive, but we’ve got to put our egos aside and see what’s best for kids … At the end of the day, we just can’t be territorial about education.”

We believe that equality of educational opportunity guaranteed to all students by Montana’s Constitution means an all of the above approach – traditional public schools, choice schools, private schools, micro-schools, homeschooling, and more. We’re hopeful that Montana judges will agree. Allowing families more education options shouldn’t be a controversial idea. Montanans have waited long enough.