Bill to line up vacant schools for charter entry fails

A bill giving charter schools first dibs on vacant school buildings failed to pass the House on Wednesday.

Senate Bill 308, by Sen. Alan Clark, R-Lonsdale, would give charter schools a right to access unused or underutilized public school facilities. Charter schools would be able to buy or lease the facilities at "fair market value."

Rep. Mark Lowery, R-Maumelle, who presented the bill, said decaying, deteriorating schools are community killers.

"Resources have been depleted, and we have an opportunity to keep the faith with the taxpayers of that district who paid for the millage to have the building built for educational purposes," he told lawmakers. "We're going to make sure that the legacy of that -- that commitment that they made -- that that legacy continues."

But Rep. Charles Blake, D-Little Rock, said the bill would undercut local control. He helped found a charter school.

"Handcuffing our districts and making them bend to our will -- that's what we're doing," Blake said.

Little Rock is closing four schools. One has a use, but Little Rock School District Superintendent Michael Poore has said he doesn't yet know what to do with the vacant ones.

And Rep. John Walker, D-Little Rock, said the bill could have unintended consequences. A school built with excess capacity to allow for future growth could be called "underutilized" and part of it could be taken over by a charter school, he said.

A charter school also could close a rural school on the edge of the 350 minimum student requirement. All it would have to do is take over part of the school, draw some of the students away, and the public school would close, he said.

Lowery defended the bill, saying there were safeguards in place.

A charter school would have to already be established in the community to take over a defunct building.

A school also could put a school toward an educational use to keep it from going unused. Leasing it to a Boys and Girls Club, using it as a pre-kindergarten center or opening it to a health clinic would count under that provision of the bill, Lowery told lawmakers.

After parliamentary wrangling, SB308 ultimately failed 50-32. A motion to expunge the vote also failed. Lawmakers can still bring back the bill for a future vote.

A Section on 03/09/2017

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