NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A plan to completely change the way charter schools are approved in Nashville took a major step forward Tuesday night. A House Education Subcommittee approved a bill that would take the decision-making process out of the hands of the Metro School Board. This promises to be one of the more controversial issues lawmakers will deal with this session. As it is now, local school boards approve charter schools. Some say politics is getting in the way, and they want the state to make that decision in Memphis and Nashville. When Metro's school board rejected an application from Great Heart Academies last year, it convinced some the process needs to change. Great Hearts had a lot of support, including the State Board of Education that ordered Nashville to approve the charter school. Mother Haley Dale is among those who worry Nashville may be losing out on their charter schools either now or down the line.

"We've got real quality CMO's that want to come into our district and educate our children well and to keep 'em out is not in the best interests of our students," says Dale.

Dale believes one solution is handing control over applications from charter management organizations to the state. A bill that passed the House Subcommittee would do just that in Tennessee's 2 largest cities.

"We've had some application processes that have demonstrated there's creeping politics into the process," says Tennessee Charter Schools Association's Matt Throckmorton. "An application shouldn't be determined on its political connections, it should be determined on its merit."

Is the state the right group to decide that merit? Lee Harrell is with the Tennessee School Board Association. He worries about the impact of allowing an unelected state board make decisions elected local officials are now making.

"In our opinion, the local boards are elected by the people and are directly held accountable to the people, and they should be the ones making these decisions," says Harrell.

This bill now heads to the Education Committee, where some lawmakers will try to tweak it. One Representative who voted "no" today tells us he believes it's wrong this bill only applies to Memphis and Nashville. He wants to change that.Attempt to Change the Way Some Charter Schools are Approved is Moving Forward