The Ogden School Board took an important step forward recently when it approved a request for a charter school to open at summer's end in downtown Ogden.
It was a day many charter school supporters feared might never come. A Florida-based firm, Academica Corporation, submitted its application in February. But the School Board had regarded the application with some wariness, its members saying they were already up to their collective eyeballs in planning for a school bond election. Besides that, the Ogden teachers' union has not exactly been warm to the notion of a charter school, and it is widely accepted that the current roster of board members are in office due to considerable union support.
But Ogden parents cranked up the heat by turning out in force, and in the end the board voted unanimously to support the charter-school application.
City officials support the charter school concept, because they claim Ogden schools' poor reputation -- whether or not it's deserved -- is a hindrance to economic development: companies don't want to bring business to the city, officials say, because managers and employees don't want to live in a city with schools of questionable quality.
That, of course, begs the obvious -- and smart-alecky -- question: Then why not tell them about homes in suburban Weber, Davis and Box Elder counties?
We're not certain Ogden's economic development depends on its schools' performance, but it surely must be one factor amid a complex web of ingredients that attract and/or retain business and industry. Insofar as that affects the economic viability of the city, then, Academica's charter school targets a group that needs some extra attention: It's designed to be a bilingual version of a neighborhood school -- serving students in kindergarten through the eighth grade -- for the downtown-area residents currently bused to other schools. As their scores rise, the thinking goes, so will the attractiveness of Ogden to businesses looking to expand or relocate.
The argument for more and better schools -- especially ones aimed at populations that are, perhaps, being underserved -- is one that makes sense. The School Board still must draft a charter schools policy, but that should be simple enough to do following other models around the state and nation. We look forward to this experiment and hope the school realizes its promise.