Senate panel defers request for final report on 20-year charter demonstration program

Senate Education Committee members on Wednesday debated SR 92, a resolution asking the Louisiana Department of Education to produce the compilation and final report called for in the original Charter School Demonstration Program law after the state ended the program.

Supporters, led by Sen. Jay Buie, said the resolution seeks a statutorily required “final report” detailing program outcomes, demographic and fiscal comparisons and recommendations after a roughly 20‑year demonstration period. “When the experiment is over . . . you have to give a final report. What are your results? What we found?” Buie said. Caroline Romer of Louisiana Charter Schools in Action said reporting required by later amendments remains in place, including a demographics report tied to recent statute changes.

Proponents argued the report would provide transparency and let the legislature and the public assess whether charter schools met the law’s original intent to “authorize experimentation” and to compare charter pupil performance with comparable groups. Buie repeatedly cited language in the original authorizing act directing a compilation and comparison of academic and fiscal performance and said the Department of Education and other entities have information needed to compile it.

Opponents and the Department of Education pointed to practical limits. Ashley Townsend of the Department of Education told the committee the agency had not prepared a fiscal estimate but expected that compiling decades of varied charter data would require “an additional 2 to 3 FTEs” because records and formats differ over time and some historical data may no longer be available. Townsend said the department could prepare a fiscal note for the committee but questioned the value of attempting a uniform 20‑year analysis when a Legislative Auditor report was completed in 2021 and annual accountability reporting continues.

Senators also disputed whether the compilation requirement remains in current law. Romer and others noted annual charter reporting continues and authorizers perform renewal reviews; Buie and backers said the original act explicitly required a final compilation and that the compilation was never produced. Sen. Jay Buie said the state has spent “about $10,000,000,000” over the two decades and that citizens deserve a final accounting; he urged the committee to require the Department of Education to prepare a report.

After extended debate, Sen. Hodges moved to defer SR 92. The committee recorded the motion approved (yeas 4, nays 1) and deferred the resolution.

Committee members said they would continue the conversation about scope and cost and that the department could provide an estimate if requested. The committee did not adopt an alternate scope or deadline during the meeting.

The resolution’s deferral leaves unresolved whether the Department of Education will produce the comprehensive compilation the original act described; supporters said the statute intended such a compilation, while the department and some senators said significant staff time and missing historic data make a full 20‑year synthesis difficult.