ミシガン州におけるチャータースクール推進の政治的背景 : 知事と大学の役割

This paper aims at probing into the reasons why the charter school movement developed so quickly using the state of Michigan as a case study. Since its inception in 1991, the charter school movement has spread to all states in the U. S. with 37 of the 50 states having passed charter school laws. Presently, there are 1,682 charter schools nation wide educating approximately 350,000 students. One of the key elements that has influenced charter school expansion has been the type of legislation that was passed in each state. The center for Education Reform in Washington D. C. classifies charter school legislation as, \u27strong laws (expansive)\u27 helping to promote growth and \u27weak laws (restrictive)\u27 which tend to limit the expansion of charter schools. A key element in the strong law classification is the concept of multiple sponsors. Sponsors are the charter authorizing agents which have the power to determine which applicant is allowed to open the school. States with a strong charter school laws allow more than one type of authorizing agency, thus creating the concept of multiple sponsors. States with multiple sponsor options make it easier for charter schools to be established. Usually the sponsoring agencies are part of the state educational bureaucracy that want to control and restrict the expansion of charter schools. Providing multiple sponsors has to do with principle idea of the charter school movement. One of the main goals of charter school proponents is to gain more autonomy that enables charter schools to be more innovative and accountable. Charter schools gain greater autonomy two ways: 1) by being self- managed 2) by being free from state educational guidelines that apply to school districts. This organization structure allows charter schools to be independently managed institutions from school districts and local educational authorities. In this paper we focus on the state of Michigan which has the third largest number of charter schools (175) in operation, behind Arizona (348) and California (234). Although Michigan was the ninth state to pass a charter school law in 1994, it was the first state to allow universities to act as sponsoring agencies. In our paper we will show how the establishment of universities as sponsoring agencies has lead to a dramatic increase in the number of charter schools in the state. In Michigan 4 types of charter authorizing agencies are provided for in the law. They are: 1) public school districts, 2) intermediate school districts, 3) community colleges, 4) public universities. Among these four types of sponsoring agencies, universities are sponsoring roughly 76% of the charter schools currently operating in Michigan. Despite strong opposition from the teachers union and the Michigan Association of School Administrators, Michigan\u27s governor John Engler lead the initiative for a charter school law. He was supported by business and industrial leaders, namely The Michigan Chamber of Commerce and the Dow (Chemical) Foundation. Universities have not been very active in educational reforms such as, \u27restructuring\u27 and \u27systemic\u27 changes in the educational system. In most respects the situation is the same because colleges of education in Michigan\u27s public universities are not directly involved in authorizing and sponsoring charter schools. In fact, the three most prestigious universities: The University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and Wayne State University have not sponsored any charter schools. These three major research institutions have a slightly different organizational structure than the other public universities. At these universities their governing boards (Board of Regents) are elected by the citizens of Michigan. The other public universities, on the other hand, have governing boards that are directly appointed by the governor. Our findings show that through the governor\u27s influence most of these universities have established a charter school office on campus. These offices act as authorizing agencies for sponsoring charter schools. The directors of such charter school offices report directly to the president and board concerning any recommendations for sponsoring (opening) or closing a charter school. The current push for charter schools is coming mainly form business and industrial leaders in the state. However, more parents are demanding greater educational opportunities or \u27choice\u27 for their children. The demand for more charter schools is growing and it appears as though universities will continue to be the primary sponsoring agecies of charter schools in Michigan