The charter school movement receives its support and advocacy funding from two sources: far-right conservatives such as the Koch family’s Americans for Prosperity and investors from the super-wealthy technology class such as Reed Hastings of Netflix, Bill Gates of Microsoft and Michael Bloomberg of Bloomberg Business News.

Other large funders for charters in Colorado include the Walton Family foundation, the Daniels Fund, the Gates Family Foundation and Edythe and Eli Broad. The pro-charter organizations that receive their support include Ready Colorado, City Fund, RootEd and the Charter School Growth Fund.

These well-endowed charter advocates have combined their economic prowess and anti-public school leverage to put the pinch on the state legislature’s House Education Committee to defeat HB24-1363, Charter Schools Accountability.

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House Democrats also face opposition to the bill from our technology-class Gov. Jared Polis who is allied with his tech bro’s as well as the oil industry’s Koch brothers. The Colorado Democratic party platform, in contrast, has taken a position opposite the governor. The platform states: “We support utilizing public school funds only for public schools and holding charter schools to the same standards as public neighborhood schools.”

Earlier this session, the state Senate Education Committee defeated a pro-charter bill sponsored by state Sen. Paul Lundeen, R-Colorado Springs, and state Sen. James Coleman, D-Denver.  The bill required massive amounts of additional data from school districts on their relationships with charter schools. The data requisition even affected districts with no charter school presence.

In a tit for tat, it’s now spreading on Capitol Hill that HB24-1363 should be defeated in the House to even the score. It’s a common understanding that the House does not bend its knee to its Senate colleagues, but that is apparently a real possibility in this instance.

It’s been 30 years since charter legislation was first introduced in Colorado. Since that time, charters have received more public money and bargained for less accountability. Board governance is one area where charters like maximum control. The first concern of HB24-1363 is to ensure a charter school’s community has at least one-third representation so the community’s concerns regarding funding, disciplinary policy, growth and employment practices will be heard. This element of the bill shouldn’t create much headache for most charters because most elect or appoint their board members locally.

For a few large charter networks dominated by outside parties, however, this will be a change and correction. This particular article of the bill will most affect Denver Schools of Science and Technology (DSST), Rocky Mountain Prep, University Prep and KIPP schools, all within the Denver Public Schools district.

The Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity and other conservative advocates also reject the piece of the bill that requires transparency related to automatic waivers from state and local district policies. This aspect of current law allows charters to disregard state employment policies and local district employment agreements.

Waivers from the state’s required educator performance assessments are particularly questionable. The state’s performance evaluation structure for public schools is universally supported by Republican legislators and Gov. Polis, but apparently it’s too great a burden for the charter system. If GOP legislators and the governor object to state performance evaluation procedures as too onerous for charters, the obvious choice would be to remove the current assessment procedures from public district schools as well as charters. So far that bill has not been introduced.

Charter school advocates have worked hard to receive real estate advantages. Some assert these benefits allow wealthy, pro-charter investors to receive large tax deductions for their investments that help charters finance their buildings at below-market costs. The bill also disallows rent-free appropriations of district school buildings by district-authorized charters. It disallows a $12-per-year rent payment to school districts from state-authorized charter schools. These changes will enable school districts to decide how to use surplus buildings to bring the most value to the taxpayers who paid for the buildings.

Closing a neighborhood school is one of the most excruciating decisions a publicly-elected school board makes. These decisions are more pressing now that enrollments are declining across the state for both district and charter schools. District school closings only occur today with public review and examination of options. Charter schools are exempt from this process. Public district schools may not close charters based on low enrollment even when their own neighborhood schools end up paying the price. Almost 60 charter schools today are in low enrollment status at fewer than 250 students.

Charter supporters argue that their schools are subject to market forces for closing. That’s not precisely accurate. Some charters receive outside money to keep their schools open to preserve their real estate investment. School districts don’t have that option. If a charter is losing enrollment near a public school losing enrollment, and only the public school can be closed by the district, the corruption of sound decision-making is evident.

When charter schools do close, it’s often abrupt as that’s how market-forces work. Abrupt school closings are disruptive school closings. Children are literally thrown out on their ears and parents have to scramble to find schools for their kids. That process often means kids re-enter the public system without the money needed to educate them if the closing occurs after the October student count that sets local school budgets.

The changes to charter law built into HB24-1363 are sensible and well-reasoned despite the claims of charter advocates expostulating against the Charter School Accountability legislation. Charter schools will not lose their funding. Their parent communities will have more access and transparency in how their children’s schools operate. That’s all to the good of what the House Education Committee can and should support.

Paula Noonan owns Colorado Capitol Watch, the state’s premier legislature tracking platform. Noonan serves on the Advisory Committee of Advocates for Public Education Policy, which supports and advocates for HB24-1363.