The Sconi

Wisconsin State Rep. David Steffen has proposed legislation to remove the limit on the number of charter schools that can be authorized by the College of Menominee Nation and the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe College.

“Today I testified in favor of my bill to remove the limit on the number of charter schools a tribal college may authorize,” Steffen said on Facebook. "Thank you to Wisconsin State Sen. Dale Kooyenga for working on this bill with me!"

Under current law, the total number of charter schools the tribal colleges may authorize is six.

"A charter school authorized by one of these entities is commonly known as an independent charter school," according to an analysis of Steffen's bill by the Legislative Reference Bureau. "Current law does not limit the number of charter schools that may be authorized by independent charter school authorizers other than the College of Menominee Nation and the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe College."

Other institutions in Wisconsin that are allowed to authorize independent charter schools are the Office of Educational Opportunity in the University of Wisconsin System, the City of Milwaukee, the chancellor of an institution in the University of Wisconsin System, a technical college district board and the county executive of Waukesha County, according to the analysis. Those agencies are not subject top six-school limit.

"I will always support more local control in education and empowering parents to make decisions that are best for their kids," Steffen earlier posted on Facebook about his charter school bill.