(Source: MIRS.news, Published 08/12/2024) Hearings on new charter school transparency mandates are among the first things on the agenda for Senate Education Committee Chair Dayna Polehanki (D-Livonia). 

The former public school teacher said that while charter schools are public schools, 80 percent are run by companies that "use our tax dollars to turn a profit. 

"It's important that they're not allowed to continue to do so in secret," Polehanki said on Monday’s episode of the MIRS Monday podcast. "Michiganders have a right to know how many of their tax dollars are getting to the charter school kids and teachers, versus how much is kept by the companies that oversee them as pure profit."  

Michigan's first-ever nine charter schools opened their doors in fall 1994, about three decades ago.  

According to the Michigan Association of Public School Academics (MAPSA), 75.9 percent of the student population across the state's 285 charter schools "face socio-economic disadvantages."  

In spring 2022, Polehanki demanded similar reform, criticizing Michigan for having "been called the 'Wild Wild West of charter schools'" due to lack of certain transparency regulations. While Republicans led the chamber in the 2021-22 legislative term, Polehanki's four bills did not go beyond receiving a referral to the Senate Education and Career Readiness Committee.  

But now, Polehanki holds the gavel over the Senate Education Committee, and informed MIRS Monday podcast listeners she is very excited about getting hearings underway in September.  

The proposed reform consists of:  

- SB 943 by Polehanki, requires the educational management organizations (EMO) that run charter schools to disclose how much it received from the public school academy (PSA) it runs. The post-audited financial statement must also share an itemized list of fees, reimbursements or other charges they collected.  If they don't comply, the PSA must send a letter to the State Board of Education and then post on its website about not complying with the standard or guideline.  

- SB 944 by Sen. Rosemary Bayer (D-Keego Harbor), mandates that if an EMO operating a charter school has a personnel member being compensated more than $100,000 annually, the organization must submit to the school's board of directors a list detailing the individual's fringe benefits. The information would become publicly viewable within 30 days of the board of directors receiving it.  

- SB 945 by Sen. Mary Cavanagh (D-Redford Twp.), requires charter schools' EMOs to advertise for bids on contracts worth $29,572 or more at least once in the PSA's local newspaper, and for at least two weeks through the state's Department of Technology, Management and Budget (DTMB) website. Once a bid is accepted, the PSA's board of directors must approve the bid in an open meeting.  

- SB 946 by Sen. Darrin Camilleri (D-Trenton), requires that a representative of the authorizing body attend each meeting of a PSA's board of directors and that a report be prepared at least twice per year on the body's oversight efforts. Also, SB 946 clarifies that the report is presented in at least two board meetings annually, and that a majority vote by PSA members is needed for any act.  

- Polehanki's SB 947 prohibits PSAs from purchasing or leasing property from an EMO they are in agreement with or from a real estate holding company affiliated with the EMO. A PSA's authorizing body must review a lease or purchase agreement for real property before it is entered into, and the agreement must "reflect market conditions."  

When asked if she's heard of any horror stories dealing with PSAs, Polehanki said no, due to it being a "mystery."  

"There is no real financial transparency with these companies that run the charter schools. I hope people aren't making themselves millionaires off this. We just don't know," Polehanki said. "Hopefully, when the books are opened, and financial transparency and a leveled playing field is in place, we won't see horror stories. But the fact of the matter is, right now, we just don't know."  

Polehanki's expected September hearing on the legislation will follow the State Board of Education approving a resolution in April calling for legislation to subject charter schools to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Open Meetings Act (OMA).  

The resolution asks for legislation to follow the same bidding protocol as traditional public schools, for all educators and administrators to hold certificates and mandating that EMO contracts be published online.  

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy, the free market think-tank, criticized the resolution as the state taking aim at charter schools. An April 24 publication by the Mackinac Center claimed the resolution prompted false claims about lack of charter school transparency, adding that PSAs are subjected to FOIA although EMOs are not due to their status as private entities.  

"Charter schools are free, public, transparent and accountable. These bills would force families to find other options," said MAPSA President Dan Quisenberry. "We look forward to working with the Senate to educate them on the facts, to show them the impact of these bills, and to introduce them to the families and students who are now being targeted."