IDAHO

Lori Shyavitz & Lester Eggleston Jr.

Background Information:
Although the Idaho Charter School bill passed unanimously in 
the House Education Committee, it failed to gather a majority 
vote in the Senate Education Committee (Fadness,  Mar. 21, 
1995; Pg. A9).   The bill proposed by Rep. Fred Tillman R-
Boise allowed for the establishment of charter schools by 
teachers, parents, or businesses.  State aid would not be 
meted to either religiously affiliated or private schools.   
Charter schools would accept their students through open 
enrollment.  Charters are accepted by the local school board 
and can be revoked by the state or local school board.  The 
drawback is the lack of start-up costs (Wickline,  Feb. 1, 
1995, p. 2C).  The bill had bipartisan support and 
opposition.  The Idaho PTA opposed the bill.  The following 
are issues influencing the supporting and opposing groups.

Legislation:
Choice:
        Opponents fear the sponsors will profit off the schools.  
Nick Hallett, former Meridian superintendent, "If people make 
money and kids get an education and the customer is satisfied 
I don't see a problem with that.  In the end, the customer 
will make good choices." (Vogt, Nov. 12, 1993, p. 2C).  
Charter schools empower the parent, the group who (ideally) 
knows the most about their own child.  Willie Sullivan,  a 
candidate for Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1994, 
questioned the necessity of charter schools if parents were 
empowered with the ability to choose within the public school 
system.  Charter schools are viewed as a means to increase 
local control in education (Stuebner,  Feb. 20, 1995, p. A7).  

Elitism:
        Charter schools, by appealing to the most talented 
students, will leave "less motivated students behind.  Yet, 
Tillman's counter argument cited existing charter schools in 
Minnesota and New York where both ends of the spectrum were 
represented.  Opponents of the bill believe that "The state's 
duty is to provide a thorough education for all students, not 
grant special privileges to some" (Jacobs,  Dec. 15, 1994, 
p.1C).

Opponents:
        Senator Gary Schroeder-R, a member of the Senate 
Education Committee and a staunch opponent of Idaho's charter 
bill, is fearful that charter schools will attract such 
extremists as Richard Butler and his Aryan Nations.  He sees 
no safeguards in the charter school proposal which would 
prevent the formation of such white supremacist schools.   He 
comments that "If we have a plan to make schools better, 
let's make them all better.  I'm going to fight taking part 
of (state) money to make exclusive schools." (Jacobs, Dec. 
15, 1994, p.1).  Schroeder also claims that the increase in 
charter school support is pushed by advocates of home 
schooling.