What's next for Maine charter schools?

The Legislature's Education Committee delivered a blow to charter school supporters Wednesday. The panel rejected by an 8-5 margin a bill that would allow the independently run schools in Maine. The vote came less than a week after lawmakers on the committee appeared to support the idea.

What's next?

Charter school supporters are vowing to press on. After all, they've done it before.

The Maine Legislature has rejected charter school bills in previous sessions. This time around, however, the bill has gained more traction with support from the state Department of Education and an aggressive push for charter schools at the federal level.

Not quite enough traction, though, for support from the committee that makes education policy its business. But the fractured vote means the committee's debate is not the last one that will take place this legislative session. The bill next goes to the Senate.

The arguments against charter schools that held the most sway claimed the new wave of schools -- while they would, at first, be limited to 20 -- would divert students and funds away from locally funded public schools at a time when they need the resources most. In addition, Rep. Edward Finch and Sen. Elizabeth Schneider said, the educational innovations that could happen at charter schools can already happen in Maine -- at locally controlled public schools.

On the pro-charter school side, Rep. Alan Casavant called for experimentation to serve the students public schools aren't reaching. Sen. Carol Weston called for providing additional educational choices for their children. Charter schools wouldn't spur a mass exodus from existing public schools, she said.

"Not every parent has chosen home schooling. Not every parent has chosen private schools," she said. "Not every parent will choose charter schools."

Those on both sides of the debate will be waiting to see what arguments take hold when the bill reaches the Senate floor.