Kentucky passed a law authorizing charters but never provided funding for them. The new governor of Kentucky, Democrat Andy Beshears, was elected in part because of his strong support by teachers and his commitment to public schools.
First charter school application in Kentucky rejected
NEWPORT, Ky. (AP) — The first charter school application filed in Kentucky has been unanimously denied. News outlets report Newport Independent Schools rejected the application Thursday night. The superintendent says the documents submitted by the proposed River Cities Academy lacked planning in multiple areas. A review committee says there was significant plagiarism in the application process. The committee also found a lack of authentic community support for the school. River Cities Academy can appeal the decision to the state board of education. The state approved charter schools in 2017 but a funding source for the schools hasn’t been provided
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“The state approved charter schools in 2017 but a funding source for the schools hasn’t been provided.”
Indiana put more money into charter schools for this year and next year even though fewer kids attend charters than K-12 public schools. Crazy funding. More for merit bonuses. Ugh.
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Indiana’s proposed budget boosts education spending. But does it go far enough on teacher salaries?
April 23, 2019
…Lawmakers also want to put more dollars toward the Teacher Appreciation Grant program, which is specifically earmarked for merit bonuses. The budget draft calls for a $15 million increase over two years, raising the bonus pool to $37.5 million each year.
Additionally, Holcomb promised to work “on a long-term plan to systemically increase teacher pay.”
But Democrats also argued that the school funding plan would disproportionately benefit charter schools and private schools receiving publicly funded vouchers. They provided an analysis showing that charter schools would be projected to receive about a 10 percent bump in each of the next two years, while traditional public schools would only see about a 2 percent increase.
Those differences are likely caused by a $15 million boost to a grant to charter schools to make up for them not receiving local property taxes, projected increases in virtual charter school enrollment, and a broadening of the school voucher program…
https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/in/2019/04/23/indianas-proposed-budget-boosts-education-spending-but-does-it-go-far-enough-on-teacher-salaries/?utm_source=email_button
Smart!!!!
I looked at several news accounts about this application.
The application was amateur hour. The website for the proposed school is filled with educational jargon gathered and patched together with no regard for contradictions.
The application was 1,062 pages long. Although the applicants have 30 days to appeal, this application was vetted “by a review committee that included representatives of public school districts in Northern Kentucky, Northern Kentucky University, the Northern Kentucky Cooperative for Educational Services and others that brought more than 700 years of experience to the process, said Newport Independent Schools Superintendent Kelly Middleton.”
The committee found that the applicant partially completed the Cover Sheet and Enrollment Projection portion of the application but that it did not meet the following criteria: • School Overview • Educational Program Design and Capacity • Operations Plan and Capacity • Financial Plan and Capacity • Closure and Dissolution • Optional Information.
The review committee also raised major concerns about the application, including:
• The lack of authentic evidence of community support for the charter school.
• A lack of evidence to support competency and capacity for providing services to students with special needs.
• The lack of a transportation plan for elementary school students and displaying questionable integrity for indicating a partnership with The Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky (TANK) had been secured when no such agreement existed.
• Significant plagiarism in the application process, including the use of external sources without providing proper citation.”
The applicants lied, plain and simple. The leader of this failed effort, Lynn Schaber is said to be “a marketing executive and consultant and President of The Strategy Store. The Store has no website. it operates from a single family residence. The owners of the Store, an LLC are: Lynn, who has an associate degree, and her brother and the brother’s wife, each with a high school degree.
It is not clear how these applicants are connected to the proposed school They are not mentioned at the school website where the “core team” includes Ian Maloney, Evelyn Pence, Jillian Stashak, Sarah Strauss, Sabrina Tinkler and Jeff Weghorst. The website says they are “a small group of NKY parents who organized late in 2016 to look into” a charter school “To realize the full potential of young minds through experiential learning with high expectations for excellence in academics and character.”
The article continues. This review and rejection was aided by the Northern Kentucky public school superintendents as well as Jefferson County Schools Superintendent Dr. Martin Pollio who sent in central office staff to help review each area of the application,” Middleton said.
Thank you Northern Kentucky. You do not need a charter school.
The governor installed a new state board. It will not approve any charter appeals
I wish we had such thorough vetting in TN.
I wish we had interest in serious vetting in CO.
Here’s the “founder” of the school promising that the school will cost less to operate than the public schools in the area:
“Our concept, the River Cities Academy, incorporates a longer school day, a longer school year, and a farm-to-school food program. Yet it costs less to operate than existing public schools (in other words, the River Cities Academy would save the state money). Our curriculum focuses on creativity, critical thinking, and social skills. Coursework involves exploring real-world problems in immersive project-based learning.”
Pure nonsense. She’s demanding the state send the “state share”, per pupil, to her school. If it “costs less” to operate (questionable) the money doesn’t go back to the state- it goes to the school coffers (for expansion) or to the charter operator. Unless she’s planning on returning unspent state funding at the end of the year what she says here just isn’t true.
Doesn’t inspire a whole lot of confidence when the public is misled before the school even opens.
https://www.rcnky.com/articles/2018/04/10/op-ed-river-cities-academy-charter-school-would-be-good-students
The charter school will “cost less” to operate because they off-load some operating costs on the public school district. It doesn’t “cost less”. They’re simply shifting some of their costs onto the public schools, while taking out a full state share from the public schools.
Which is a net loss for the public schools. But of course the public schools aren’t even considered in their application. The assumption is our schools exist solely to provide system infrastructure to serve the needs of the charter schools- public school students? Not a concern. Not even valued enough to be mentioned.
Kentucky is Tennessee’s northern neighbor, but it’s difficult to comprehend how they can be so different in treating privatizations of schools.