Charter schools offer Indiana an opportunity to explore a new type of public education.

Ball State University's decision to sponsor charter schools is consistent with its historical mission to make high-quality, innovative programs available to Indiana citizens and their children. Far from being an abandonment of public education, this decision reflects the university's long-standing commitment to being engaged with innovations in public education, in all its forms, throughout the state.

Charter schools provide another educational option for parents and their children. They are independent, non-discriminating, and non-sectarian. They operate under a performance contract that allows more independence and freedom than a typical public school. Charter schools will be state funded and must be open to all Indiana students.

Ball State has considerable experience in operating a variety of programs for public school children. This experience positions Ball State to help ensure that the implementation of the state's charter schools legislation is a positive step for Indiana and its residents and for public education.

First, we operate two public schools, the Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Humanities and Burris Laboratory School. The Indiana Academy is the only public, residential high school in the state and is home to 300 academically gifted juniors and seniors. These students go on to receive more than $1 million in college scholarships each year.

The Burris Laboratory School for grades K-12 gives Ball State teaching majors valuable classroom experience early in their college careers and also provides an environment in which to test new and innovative curriculum. Ball State's electronic field trip initiative benefits students throughout Indiana and across the country. Each year millions of students participate in interactive broadcasts from the nation's top museums as well as learn about topics ranging from dinosaurs to the International Space Station.

The university's strong alliance with public education to foster new development and innovation is also apparent in its 23 professional development schools and a teacher education magnet program.

This extensive involvement with innovation in public education provides us with the appropriate background to assess the potential for a proposed charter school to add something of value to public education in Indiana. As a sponsoring organization, Ball State has established a rigorous application process to ensure that any group or individual planning to open a new school meets the highest standards of quality public education.

To gain sponsorship, applicants must be able to demonstrate the capacity for delivering a level of education equal to what we expect from the two public schools we operate. Once in operation, a charter school must continue to maintain the highest standards. Failure to do so will result in termination of our sponsorship. As Indiana moves ahead with the charter schools initiative, Ball State will use its expertise not only to sponsor charter schools but also to help public school corporations work with this new possibility.

Roy A. Weaver



Dean, Teachers College