In 2002, Ball State University sponsored its first charter school.
Since that time, the university has added 28 additional schools to its ranks.
Despite the bad economy, Larry Gabbert, director of the Ball State office of charter schools, said charter schools will continue to open.
Ball State now sponsors 29 of the 49 charter schools in Indiana and has approved the sponsorship of six more for fall 2009, Gabbert said.
Demand for charter schools has increased due to petitions from parents and organizations, he said, as well as the support from President Barack Obama and Tony Bennett, the new Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction.
"[Bennett] is very supportive of choice and charter schools," he said. "This whole thing is now blossoming."
Although the demand for charter schools has increased, the Ball State office of charter schools maintains a rigorous process, by which organizations with petitions for charters.
"The organization group will talk to the charter school office and submit a preliminary proposal," finance coordinator Peter Tschaepe said. "In the end, the president will give the authorization and a contract is created. The process takes months."
Gabbert said the office of charter schools makes sure no established school encounters financial problems.
"The No. 1 reason that charter schools have gone out of business in this country has been financial mismanagement," Gabbert said. "So one of the things we look at very closely is the financial capability from people that want charters and then we monitor our schools
throughout the year to make sure they are handling their finances appropriately."
Ball State is one of four universities selected to grant sponsorship to the Indiana charter schools, he said. However, it is the only university that has taken the responsibility granting sponsorships, he added.
"We have talked with other universities to try to convince them to get involved, but they are not ready," Gabbert said. "Sponsoring charter schools takes a lot of work, it is a pretty sophisticated business."
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