A trio of state Democratic lawmakers is pushing a sweeping proposal to boost what they describe as accountability but which critics say flies in the face of local control and unfairly targets charter schools.

Notably, the biggest pushback is likely to come from members of their own caucuses and Gov. Jared Polis. 

Reps. Tammy Story of Evergreen and Lorena Garcia of Adams County, along with Sen. Lisa Cutter of Littleton, introduced House Bill 1363, a 55-page bill that seeks major changes in how charter schools operate.

Among them:

• At least one-third of a charter school board must be made up of parents or guardians of students attending the school, as well as reflect the community demographics;

• Prohibits automatic waivers (granted by the state board of education) from being included in charter contracts executed or renewed on or after July 1, 2024. Those automatic waivers were created as a paperwork reduction exercise tied to replacement plans; 

• Prohibits charter contracts from waiving educator personnel performance evaluation system requirements;

• Repeals the requirement that a school district provide a list of vacant or underused buildings and land to district charter schools, and prohibits district charter schools from using those vacant facilities;

• Repeals the ability of charter school applicants to seek a second decision from the state board when a local board rejects a charter school application a second time.

• Grants district accountability committees the ability to review charter school renewals; currently, they only review initial applications.

In defeat of a charter school bill, a first-year lawmaker's passion project comes to an end

Dan Schaller, president of the Colorado League of Charter Schools, said the bill also allows a single community member to appeal the decision of a school board on a charter school application. That flies of face in the local control, Schaller said.

In addition, the provisions unfairly target and inequitably target charter schools, Schaller told Colorado Politics. It would undermine systems with a proven track record of success, he said, such as the state board of education’s determinations when it comes to charter school appeals. Half the time, the state board of education has ruled for charters; the other half they ruled for the school board.

“Why would we undermine a system that has proven to be fair and effective over time?” he asked.

Schaller also noted charter schools are subject to the same financial transparency provisions as other public schools and districts, as well as the same conflict of interest rules.

Advance Colorado, in a statement Thursday, said the measure “would undo numerous legal protections for charter schools that have earned bipartisan support, including access to existing and underutilized public school facilities (and) varying legal routes for charter approval. The bill also would provide ways for charter schools to be revoked without due process, the statement added.

Kristi Burton Brown, a former chair of the state Republican party, said the measure would “kill charter schools in Colorado and take the right to educational opportunity away from parents and kids.”

Last night, @coloradodems introduced HB24-1363. This bill would kill charter schools in Colorado and take the right to educational opportunity away from parents and kids.We must defeat this bill and put the right to school choice in our state constitution. #copolitics #coleg pic.twitter.com/ShIp8HNeS2

— Kristi Burton Brown (@KBBColorado) March 7, 2024

In addition to the challenge of securing support at the state Capitol, supporters will likely contend with charter school backers with money to spend on advocacy efforts.

Democrats for Education Reform, a New York-based group that promotes “school choice,” including charter school expansion, and “reform” policies that often clash with the priorities of teacher unions, has poured more than $15 million into the pockets of Democratic candidates and causes in Colorado since 2010. More than half of that has been since Polis announced his bid for governor.

Almost all of that money is routed through its fundraising arms, Education Reform Now or Education Reform Now Advocacy. That money then goes into the bank accounts of independent expenditure committees in Colorado, including one that backed Polis in 2018 with $350,000 from Education Reform Now.

Democrats for Education Reform, which was started by Wall Street hedge fund managers, and its fundraising arm are known as “dark money” groups because they don’t disclose their donors, although various reports say Education Reform Now has taken in millions from Rupert Murdoch and the Walton Family Foundation.

The group’s dollars have found their way into the campaign coffers of at least 14 current Colorado Demcratic lawmakers, including the chairs of the House and Senate education committees.

The bigger amounts, however, have flowed through the independent expenditure committees. For example, in 2022, All Together Colorado, an IEC that backed Democratic Senate candidates in 2022, spent almost $500,000 to oppose Cutter’s Republican challenger. Education Reform Now contributed $750,000 to that committee in the 2022 election cycle. 

Independent expenditure groups are prohibited by law from coordinating with a candidate they support. 

The biggest hurdle for the bill may come from the governor’s office.

Polis is not only a supporter of charter schools; he’s the founder of the New America charter and a co-founder of the Academy of Urban Learning. The governor has also been vocal in opposition to changes proposed by the Biden administration’s Department of Education to charter school funding.

Cutter, Garcia and Story did not respond to a request for comment.