The Presidents of the state’s largest teacher union and the Maryland Association of Boards of Education have jointly offered their view in support of Maryland’s current laws governing public charter schools. From their letter, appearing in the Baltimore Sun:

Maryland’s charter school law has protected us from the “worst-case scenarios” of financial mismanagement, persistently failing schools and conflicts between local communities and charter school operators that have plagued states with weaker laws than ours.

Ensuring local school board oversight and highly qualified teachers in the classroom are hallmarks of Maryland’s charter school law. We need to protect Maryland’s strong charter school law to ensure that charter schools are run well, and that all students, whether they’re in a charter or a traditional public school, receive high quality instruction.

Read the full op/ed item in the Sun online.

The letter was, in part, a response to a Sun editorial from December, calling for more charter school autonomy and reforms in oversight laws. Governor-elect Hogan has indicated his interest in changing Maryland’s laws in this area to enable more public charter schools.