Charter Schools Need Freedom to Operate

It is good to see that Missouri policymakers are considering revising the law that limits the state's charter schools to St. Louis and Kansas City. ("Additional charter schools touted," Dec. 29.)

That has been one of the most nonsensical lids on expansion of these innovative public schools of choice, but it is far from the only one. For instance, your article offers as a positive example of regulatory flexibility the fact that "up to 20 percent" of teachers in the Kansas City and St. Louis charter schools may be hired without government certification. But why must 80 percent have to possess a piece of paper that is largely about taking a large number of courses in arcane theory in the teachers' colleges? Private schools do quite well by hiring non-certified teachers who have been liberally educated and have acquired content knowledge in the courses they teach. Charter schools should have the freedom to operate in the same fashion.

Missouri ought to aspire to having charters that offer a true alternative to conventional government-run schooling.