Dive Brief:

• Maryland, the first state to adopt charter schools, is in need of charter law improvements according to results from two studies released this year.  
• The state placed 39th out of 42 states evaluated for their charter laws by the Washington-based Center for Education Reform and ranked last out of 43 states evaluated by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. Both studies looked at state laws, fiscal equity, and accountability to determine their lists.  
• According to charter school administrators in the state, the main issue affecting Maryland's scores is the state does not allow independent authorization. This means only local school systems can give a charter school the ‘OK’; employees are bound by union-negotiated contracts and not employed directly by the charter.

Dive Insight:

When looking at Maryland’s rankings, it's important to keep in mind the potential bias of the organizations creating the lists and what this means for the scores. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools is a partisan organization with strong feelings on how a charter school should be run; charter schools, however, are incredibly contentious with various opinions on the proper and most efficient way for public dollars to be spent in a private setting.