TDOE: Federal Programs: Charter Schools

The Tennessee Public Charter Schools Act of 2002

On July 4, 2002, the Tennessee Public Charter Schools Act of 2002, was signed into law making it possible for the state to open its first charter schools in the 2003-04 school year. The purpose of this law is to:

Improve learning for all students and close the achievement gap between high and low students;
Provide options for parents to meet educational needs of students in high priority schools;
Encourage the use of different and innovative teaching methods, and provide greater decision making authority to schools and teachers in exchange for greater responsibility for student performance;
Measure performance of pupils and faculty, and ensure that children have the opportunity to reach proficiency on state academic assessments;
Create new professional opportunities for teachers; and
Afford parents substantial meaningful opportunities to participate in the education of their children.

Additional Information

Charter School Application Documents

Due Date: On or before October 1 of the year preceding the year in which the proposed public charter school plans to begin operation, the sponsor shall file applications as follows by the close of the business day:

Twenty identical hard copies and one electronic copy of the complete application to the director of schools for the local board of education considering the charter school application

AND

Two identical hard copies and one electronic copy of the complete application to the Tennessee Commissioner of Education

he same number of copies of any updates or revisions submitted during the review process should also be submitted to the above entities.

Application Application || Application Budget Cover Sheet || Application Budget (.XLS) || Budget Completion Resources || Review Guide || Scoring Criteria

Renewal Application || Renewal Application

Since the 2005 General ASsembly changed the charter School law, a revised version of the Tennessee Code Annotated (TCA) has not yet been published. Therefore there is currently no one link to The Tennessee Public Charter Schools Act of 2002. Readers may follow the instructions of select the links below to access the original law, as well as amendments to the law enacted in 2005.

Then, search charter schools using the search feature. The law is T.C.A. Title 49 Chapter 13.

Federal Programs: Title V, Part B-Public Charter Schools