A recent study of Tennessee charter schools conducted by a University of Memphis professor (and principal investigator for the statewide evaluation program) reveals that these public schools operated independently of local school boards and their educational philosophies are working in Tennessee.

Steven M. Ross, director of the Center for Research in Educational Policy at U of M charted the academic progress (among other criteria) of children enrolled in second-year charter schools in Tennessee, comparing their academic data to highly similar individual students attending traditional public schools in Tennessee. The results? According to Ross’ student-to-student comparisons, charter school students and their parents are experiencing a significant, statistically measurable academic advantage over their peers in traditional public schools. The data paints a considerably different picture than national studies overly reliant on mere test score discrepancies between charter students and the general population.

Tennessee lawmakers in both the House and the Senate should support legislation proposed this year to broaden charter school enrollment, which currently is limited to students from failing schools and failing students in any school. Open enrollment is the ultimate destination, but charter school supporters would likely be satisfied (for now) if enrollment were expanded to all students deemed eligible for the free and reduced school lunch program. Given the tensions that often exist between charter school applicants and local boards of education, Tennessee lawmakers should also follow the lead of some other states and authorize additional governing entities to grant and extend charters. Last but not least, lawmakers need to lift permanently the sunset clause placed on charter schools in Tennessee, which according to the enabling legislation is set to expire in 2008.

More vocal involvement from the business and higher education communities in Tennessee will be key if expansion is to occur. Too often the push for charter schools gets pigeonholed as a Republican initiative, inflaming partisan fires and leading to stalemate. And while charter schools have indeed been the bailiwick of the GOP, they are as effectively presented as a pro-business policy issue—the introduction of free market principles into an ineffective, “40-laden” educational system in Tennessee. It is inexcusable that more business and higher education interests on Capitol Hill have not pushed for an improved climate for charter school creation across the state.

his month, BTN publishes the second annual results of an important study by the nonprofit, nonpartisan policy think tank the Tennessee Center for Policy Research (TCPR), ranking the state’s cities and towns from most business-friendly to least business-friendly. Arguably, the infusion of more free market options into our state’s educational system would markedly improve the business friendliness of every community in the state. And based on our educational rankings to date, what has Tennessee got to lose?