KANSAS

Candace Crawford

Legislative History
Kansas passed their charter school law in April of 1994.

Summary of Legislation
        The law limits the number of schools to 15 statewide and 
each district can have no more than 2 charters operating.  
Any group may apply for a charter including educational 
contractors and parents.  In order to apply, a group must 
submit a petition to the local school board of the district 
in which they want to locate their school.  Once the local 
board approves the charter, it is sent to the state board of 
education who reviews the charter for parts not in compliance 
with federal and state laws and regulations.  If the charter 
passes the review, the state board of education approves the 
establishment of the charter school.    The charter school 
may then apply for a waiver from local school district 
regulations and state regulations.  The waiver must first be 
approved by the local school board, then it may request on 
behalf of the charter school a waiver from state board 
regulations.  However, the school is still legally an entity 
of the local school district.  

Results of The Law
        No charter schools exist in the state of Kansas.  One 
application had been approved by a local school board but the 
state board declared it incomplete.

Conclusion
        Kansas's charter school law is just over a year old.  
There has not been enough time to notice any effect of the 
law.  There are a few things that could be added to the law 
to strengthen it and make it more conducive to the 
establishment of charter schools.  First, the legislators of 
the state could lift the cap on the amount of charter schools 
that can exist.  Second, the law could be amended to provide 
an appeals process for charters rejected by the local school 
board.  These amendments would greatly strengthen Kansas's 
law and encourage groups to apply for charters.