A charter school bill passed the Mississippi Senate on Wednesday with all Republicans voting for it, including Sen. Sally Doty, of District 39.

“I think it provides some choices for parents who are trapped in a failing school district,” Doty said.

The Brookhaven senator was measured, however, in her enthusiasm for charter school legislation.

“I have had my questions about charter schools and have done my own research and have done a lot of questioning and talking,” Doty said. “To be very honest, I was ready to get this vote behind and move on to some of our other education reform items.”

The legislation passed through the Senate on a 31-17 vote, with no Republicans voting against the measure and two Democrats voting in favor.

The bill would allow charter schools to locate in any school district, but in A or B graded districts, the school board would have to approve the charter school.

The Brookhaven School District received a D rating last year from the State Department of Education, so a charter school could locate in the district if an independent board the legislation would create authorized it.

The Lincoln County School District received a B grade last year, so the district’s school board would have to grant permission for a charter school in the district.

Doty said she would have preferred to see the bill be a little more restrictive.

“In a perfect world, I would have liked to start with failing districts,” the Brookhaven senator said. “But there are C districts that have failing schools within them, so I understand what leadership wanted.”

A district receiving an F grade from the Department of Education is failing.

Doty does not sit on the Senate’s education committee, so she had no formal input into the drafting of the bill.

However, even if the Senate bill eventually becomes law, Doty doesn’t expect to see a rapid influx of charters.

“I do not think we will see the widespread use of charter schools in our state,” she said.

Charter schools are publicly funded but are exempted from many regulations normal public schools must comply with.

If the Mississippi House of Representatives passed the Senate’s bill with no changes, it would go to the governor’s desk to be signed.

What’s more likely is that the House votes on a different bill or an amended version of the Senate bill.

If both legislative chambers pass differing charter school legislation, a conference committee will work out the differences.

Said Doty, “We’ve got a long way to go.”