State Sen. Norma Anderson, R-Lakewood, who has a reputation as an education innovator, drafted the proposed charter university system, which she has dubbed millennium schools. Under the plan, each four-year school would be governed by a local board, as long as it signs a contract with the state and lists its goals. If a charter were approved, Foster said, the institution would be left alone for six years to choose its market or specialty, such as the environment or high technology. Former U.S. Sen. Hank Brown, now president of the University of Northern Colorado, said one of the biggest benefits to the proposed system would be the school's ability to set competitive tuition rates and develop budgets outside state regulation. Terese Rainwater, a policy analyst for the Denver-based Education Commission of the States, said the downside would be that tuition can rise substantially if an institution's costs go up.
Some professors are opposed because they see charters as a threat to academic freedom.
Some also believe the real goal is to eliminate tenure for faculty. Kevin Warner, senior director for worldwide education for Cisco Systems, said his firm offers courses in 5,900 educational institutions around the world, about 12 percent in four-year colleges. He said some colleges are able to work his instructional materials into their curriculum, while others are not because of strict requirements. Warner said that can hurt some state-funded universities that want to be on the cutting edge of technology. People need to learn to react quickly to what needs to be taught.