Since the first three charters were granted in 1998, the charter school movement has grown to 36 schools in Idaho. Along the way, four have closed.

After more than a decade, test scores remain consistently high among charter school students, but many schools still struggle financially.

"Charter schools are here to stay and have become part of mainstream education in Idaho," said State Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna. "They're not easy to operate; they're not easy to run on a daily basis. Even with those challenges, parents and students are happy with the quality of education they are receiving."

This year, only one Treasure Valley charter school did not make adequate yearly progress as defined by the federal No Child Left Behind law.

But just because charter school students tend to get good grades doesn't mean the schools are doing a better job than traditional public schools, said Bill Goesling, chairman of the Idaho Public Charter School Commission, which oversees charter schools.

"Time will tell. Charter schools can pick and choose the students who will be attending," Goesling said. "They don't have that expansive requirement to take every student who shows up and give them the same education."

Whether a school offers bus service, a lunch program or requires uniforms will influence who might attend, he said.

Charter schools serve 4.3 percent, or 12,000 of the state's 275,000 students, but enrollment varies from district to district, said Diane Demarest, executive director of the Idaho Charter School Network.

For example, in Nampa 8 percent of students are in charter schools, but in Boise only 3.9 percent are, she said.

In the Treasure Valley, 14 brick-and-mortar charter schools serve about 4,500 students, Demarest said. About 9 percent, or 360 students, need special education.

Statewide, about 7,000 students are on charter school waiting lists, although it's hard to know how many students are on multiple lists, she said.

STAYING AFLOAT

While student test scores are an external measure of a school's success, keeping the doors open from one year to the next is a great internal achievement for many charter schools.

Budget wrangling, even for experienced charter school leaders, is a high art. Chief among the concerns for a school's survival are lack of money for a facility and no financial safety net in the event of low enrollment.

Cindy Hoovel, administrator of the K-8 Garden City Community School, described the school's location on Chinden Boulevard as "inner city asphalt strip mall." School leaders just signed a lease for two more years at that location, Hoovel said.

"We plan to go into high school, but space-wise we can't," Hoovel said. "Originally, we were only going to stay three years. It has been harder than the crew thought to raise money."

CHARTERS FACE UNIQUE FINANCIAL CHALLENGES

Traditional public schools are covered by a state law that says if student daily enrollment drops significantly from one year to the next, schools can collect, for one year, 99 percent of the money they received from the state the previous year.

Charter schools receive state money based on the number of students enrolled each year, no matter how much that number fluctuates. This money also is used for facilities and maintenance. Traditional public schools receive money from property taxes for facilities.

Some traditional schools would be struggling if they lost that financial safety net, Luna said. But the rules of the market apply to charter schools.

"If you believe charter schools exist to introduce competition, then you can't protect them from the consequences of that competition," Luna said.

Charter school budgets will be further pinched when the cuts to education spending approved by the 2009 Legislature hit home. Idaho appropriated $1.23 billion for public school education this year, down from $1.42 billion a year earlier.

"Charter schools will participate equally in those cuts because they're public schools, and they're treated the same as other public schools," Luna said.

MORE SCHOOLS COMING

Financial headaches aren't stopping the flow of applications for new charters.

Of the six new schools that will open in Idaho in 2010, five already are approved. Three will open in the Treasure Valley - one in each of the Boise, Nampa and Caldwell school districts, Demarest said.

State law caps the number of new charter schools that can open in a year at six.

This cap limits parents' choices, Luna said.

He'd like to see that cap changed in the next legislative session, keeping enough oversight to ensure new schools don't all open in one small section of the state.

"We're not talking about removing the cap and having unmanaged growth," he said.

Goesling favors the cap.

"The cap ensures the quality is there. If you have 10 to 15 opening in a year, you don't have the manpower to make sure they are quality schools," he said. "You also have the issue of competition. What happens to the product? In this case, it's children being educated or not being educated."

Bethann Stewart: 377-6393