Measuring up to the Model: A Ranking of State Charter Public School Laws. Eighth Edition

This eighth edition of "Measuring up to the Model: A Ranking of State Charter School Laws" presents the latest activity in charter public school legislation across the country. This year's rankings are the first that measure each state's charter school law against the National Alliance's revised model charter school law, "A New Model Law for Supporting the Growth of High-Quality Charter Public Schools: Second Edition" (ED581588), and account for these key updates: (1) providing more equitable support to charter school students; (2) increased attention on flexibility for charter schools; and (3) strengthening accountability for charter schools and their authorizers. Some highlights include: (1) Indiana has the nation's strongest charter school law for the second year in a row; (2) Washington became the newest addition to the rankings in 2017, having passed legislation that re-established its charter school law; (3) The Top 10 includes a mixture of states with more mature movements (Indiana at No. 1, Minnesota at No. 3, Colorado at No. 5, New York at No. 6, Florida at No. 8, and Louisiana at No. 9) and states with newer movements (Alabama at No. 2, Washington at No. 4, Maine at No. 7, and Mississippi at No. 10). This variety in the Top 10 speaks to the fact that many states continue to strengthen their laws based on what's working (and what's not working) and that states newer to the movement rely heavily on those lessons learned so they do not repeat the mistakes of the states that came before them; and (4) Maryland has the nation's weakest charter school law, ranking No. 44 (out of 44). While Maryland's current law does not cap charter school growth, it allows only local school district authorizers and provides little autonomy, insufficient accountability, and inequitable funding to charter schools. Rounding out the bottom five states are Wyoming (No. 40), Iowa (No. 41), Alaska (No. 42), and Kansas (No. 43). Appended to the report is: Methodological Details. [To view the seventh edition, see ED568904.]