Charter schools in Maine

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Education policy in the U.S.

Public education in the U.S.

School choice in the U.S.

Charter schools in the U.S.

Higher education in the U.S.

Glossary of education terms

Education statistics

Charter schools in Maine are public schools operated independently of public school systems, either by nonprofit or for-profit organizations. Although they are largely publicly funded, charter schools are exempt from many of the requirements imposed by state and local boards of education regarding hiring and curriculum. As public schools, charter schools cannot charge tuition or impose special entrance requirements; students are usually admitted through a lottery process if demand exceeds the number of spaces available in a school. Charter schools generally receive a percentage of the per-pupil funds from the state and local school districts for operational costs based on enrollment. In most states, charter schools do not receive funds for facilities or start-up costs; therefore, they must rely to some extent on private donations. The federal government also provides revenues through special grants. As of March 2017, 44 states and the District of Columbia had approved legislation authorizing the creation of public charter schools. Six states had not.

HIGHLIGHTS

According to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, a charter school advocacy group, there were an estimated 7 total charter schools in Maine in the 2015-2016 school year. These schools enrolled approximately 1,500 students.

Overall, charter school students accounted for 0.84 percent of total public school enrollment in Maine in 2015.

The Maine State Legislature approved the state's charter school law in 2011.

Background

History

The Maine State Legislature approved Maine's charter school law in 2011.

The concept of creating public charter schools as alternatives to traditional public schools was first brought to public attention in the late 1980s by a small group of policymakers and educators. The notion gained traction in the early 1990s, and in 1991 Minnesota became the first state to pass a charter school law.

The National Conference of State Legislatures defines charter schools as follows:

“	Charter schools are publicly funded, privately managed and semi-autonomous schools of choice. They do not charge tuition. They must hold to the same academic accountability measures as traditional schools. They receive public funding similarly to traditional schools. However, they have more freedom over their budgets, staffing, curricula and other operations. In exchange for this freedom, they must deliver academic results and there must be enough community demand for them to remain open.	”
—National Conference of State Legislatures

Across the nation, charter schools have grown in number since the passage of the first public charter school law. As of March 2017, 44 states plus the District of Columbia had enacted charter school laws, and in 2013 it was estimated that 4.6 percent of all public school students attended charter schools. Performance results of charter schools nationally have been mixed, with some performing demonstrably better and others closing because they could not meet required standards.

In 1993, the Maine Association for Charter Schools (MACS) was founded to advance charter school policy in the state. Despite the early advocacy for alternative education options, Maine's charter school law was enacted nearly 20 years later in 2011. Its passage marked Maine as the 41st state to implement a system of charter schools. The legislation created the Maine Charter School Commission as the state authorizer, and during its first year of operation it received nine letters of intent and reviewed six charter school applications. In 2012 the first two charter schools opened. The state's first virtual school opened in the fall of 2014.

Participation

According to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, a charter school advocacy group, there were an estimated 7 total charter schools in Maine in the 2015-2016 school year. These schools enrolled approximately 1,500 students. Overall, charter school students accounted for 0.84 percent of total public school enrollment in Maine in 2015.

Charter schools, 2015-2016
State	Total number of charter schools	Estimated enrollment	Percentage of total public school enrollment
Maine	7	1,500	0.84%
Massachusetts	81	40,300	4.28%
New Hampshire	26	3,200	1.76%
Vermont	0	0	0.00%
United States total	6,824	2,930,600	5.85%
Note: The percentages in the column labeled "Percentage of total public school enrollment" were calculated by taking the estimated number of charter school students in a given state and dividing by the total estimated number of public school students in that state in 2015. Total public school enrollment estimates came from the National Center for Education Statistics. Source: National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, "A Closer Look at the Charter School Movement," February 3, 2016

Demographics

See also: Charter school demographics and Demographic information for all students in the United States

The table below presents information about the race/ethnicity of charter school students in Maine in the 2013-2014 school year, as reported by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. To facilitate comparison, the same figures are also provided for all public school students.

Enrollments by ethnicity, 2013-2014 (as percentages)
Data sample	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	Other
Charter schools in Maine	93.0%	4.0%	1.0%	1.0%	1.0%
Public schools in Maine	90.9%	3.2%	1.8%	1.5%	2.5%
Charter schools in the U.S.	34.9%	27.1%	30.0%	4.1%	3.8%
Public schools in the U.S.	50.3%	15.6%	24.8%	4.8%	4.4%
Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, "Table 203.70. Percentage distribution of enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools, by race/ethnicity and state or jurisdiction: Fall 2003 and fall 2013," accessed June 7, 2016 National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, "The Health of the Charter Public School Movement: A State-by-State Analysis," March 2016

State law

Authorizers

Charter school authorizers are, according to the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA), the organizations "designated to approve, monitor, renew, and, if necessary, close charter schools." NASCA has identified six primary types of charter school authorizers:

1. Higher education institutions (HEI)
2. Independent charter boards (ICB)
3. Local education agencies (LEA)
4. Non-education government entities (NEG)
5. Not-for-profit organizations (NFP)
6. State education agencies

The table below lists charter school authorizers in Maine as of June 2016. Click [show] to expand the table's contents.

Charter school authorizers in Maine, June 2016
Authorizer	Authorizer type
Maine State Charter School Commission	ICB
Source: National Association of Charter School Authorizers, "Maine Authorizers," accessed June 15, 2016

Enrollment regulations

Charter schools in Maine are fully open to any state resident as long as there are enough slots. If the number of students interested in attending the charter school exceeds the available space, selection is based on a random lottery. Charter schools may choose to serve specific grade levels or designate a focus on students who do not fit within traditional public schools. Otherwise, they may not discriminate for any reason prohibited under federal law.

The number of students a charter school may enroll is limited to the size of the school district in which it resides. In a district with 500 or fewer students, the charter school may not enroll more than 5 percent per grade level of the student body each year during its first three years. In a district with over 500 students, that number may not be above 10 percent.

In subsequent years, charter schools in Maine must give enrollment preference to current students and their siblings. They may also give preference to children of founders, board members, and full-time staff, though not to exceed 10 percent of the number of enrolled students.

Funding

In Maine, charter schools receive their funding from local school districts.

Financing for charter schools differs from state to state, and even between districts within states. Public charter schools in Maine are funded using a system in which the dollars "follow the child" from the non-charter public school system to the charter school, to be paid by the district in which the student resides. The amount paid to the charter school is determined by the average spending per pupil in the school district in which the student resides.

Additionally, districts are responsible for paying a percentage of their per-pupil transportation costs according to a formula developed by the Maine Department of Education. Charter schools and their authorizers are also allowed to obtain funding from grants and private donations. However, charter schools do not receive public funds for facilities nor any additional funding that voters may approve for local district schools. The law also permits school districts to retain 1 percent of the per-pupil figure to cover administrative costs.

Accountability

See also: Accountability measures for charter schools

Charter school contracts in Maine must detail measures of performance and processes of evaluation. These performance measures must include guidelines for attendance, academic growth and academic proficiency, among others. Part of the role of the authorizer is to evaluate how well a charter school meets the performance standards outlined in the contract. The authorizer uses that information to determine a charter contract's eligibility for renewal and to identify problems in school functionality. The law states that the authorizer must alert the charter school to these problems to allow the school the opportunity to correct them. If the school still cannot meet the standards, the authorizer has legal authority to revoke the charter or decide against renewal, thereby closing the school.

The authorizer is also required to submit annual reports to the commissioner of the Maine Department of Education on the school's performance for the year and the status of the school.

However, these annual reports are not required to be public. Instead, every four years the Maine Department of Education disseminates the data in a report on public charter schools in the state to the state executive branch and to the public.

Charter school law rankings

In January 2016, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools released a report ranking all of the nation's charter school laws. Maine's law ranked 6 out of 43. The organization ranked each state's law by considering what it called "20 essential components of a strong charter school law." The table below compares Maine's score with that of neighboring states. To access the full report, including methodology, click here.

Charter school law rankings, January 2016
State	2016 ranking	2015 ranking	Ranking difference	2016 score	2015 score	Score difference
Maine	6	3	-3	163	163	0
Massachusetts	11	17	6	153	147	6
New Hampshire	33	31	-2	128	128	0
Vermont	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Source: National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, "Measuring Up To The Model: A Ranking of State Charter School Laws," January 2016

Issues

Debate

Proponents of charter schools such as the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools argue that, due to their freedom from some state oversight and regulation, they can adopt more innovative educational approaches. This allows them to cater to their particular higher-risk school age populations, which are generally composed of more minority and poor students. In addition, advocates argue that charter schools empower parents and improve traditional public schools through competition.

Meanwhile, critics such as Diane Ravitch argue that charter schools have not been proven to produce significantly higher levels of academic achievement as promised. It is difficult to find data comparable to traditional public schools. Critics also contend that charter schools divert funds from traditional public schools, which continue to enroll significant majorities of public school students, thereby compounding problems at failing schools and generating unequal outcomes for students.

Funding inequity

In 2014, the University of Arkansas Department of Education Reform released a report identifying disparities between charter school funding and traditional public school funding. Examining 31 states, the researchers considered all sources of charter school funding, including public funds, grants, and philanthropic donations. Researchers found that charter schools received on average 28.4 percent less than traditional public schools. Tennessee's funding disparity was lowest at 0.1 percent, while Louisiana's was highest at 58.4 percent. Maine was not studied.

Charter school management organizations and other groups

See also: Charter school management organization

The Maine Association for Charter Schools was founded in 1993 as a 501(c)(3) charter school advocacy organization. The organization was one of those involved in the development of Maine's charter school law, along with the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. It has designated itself as Maine's primary charter school support organization, which assists and disseminates information for authorizers, governing boards and the general public. The Maine Charter School Commission is Maine's sole state authorizer of public charter schools.

Innovation

See also: Charter school innovation indicators and High-performing charter schools

Charter school proponents argue that charter schools have the freedom to adopt more innovative practices, which in turn lead to improved academic performance. To get a sense of the level of innovation occurring in charter schools, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools surveyed charter schools across the country on the various innovative education practices they employed. Data for Maine was not available in the 2011-2012 school year. The table below displays the prevalence of a variety of innovative practices in surrounding states.

Charter schools with innovative practices, in percents (2011-2012)
State	Extended day	Extended year	Year-round calendar	Independent study	School-to-work	Higher education courses	Average
Maine	No data available
Massachusetts	62%	43%	5%	33%	10%	33%	31%
New Hampshire	0%	0%	0%	80%	40%	40%	27%
Vermont	No charter school law
Source: National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, "The Health of the Public Charter School Movement: A State-By-State Analysis," accessed October 3, 2014

Ballot measures and legislation

Ballot measures

See also: School choice on the ballot and List of Maine ballot measures

Ballotpedia has tracked no statewide ballot measures relating to school choice in Maine.

Legislation

The following is a list of recent charter school bills that have been introduced in or passed by the Maine state legislature. To learn more about each of these bills, click the bill title. This information is provided by BillTrack50 and LegiScan.

Note: Due to the nature of the sorting process used to generate this list, some results may not be relevant to the topic. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation pertaining to this topic has been introduced in the legislature recently.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Maine charter school. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Charter schools in Maine - Google News

See also

• Charter schools
• Charter school statistics for all 50 states
• School choice
• Public education in Maine
• School choice in Maine
• Maine Department of Education
• Charter school management organization

External links

• National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
• National Association of Charter School Authorizers