A charter school operator from Arizona wants to be one of the first in the state to open a publicly financed school that’s not designed just for low-income kids. Representatives from Great Hearts Academies will meet with prospective parents Wednesday and Thursday nights.

Great Hearts has a dozen public charter schools in the Phoenix area. Their results read like elite private institutions. Nearly every student goes on to a four-year college.

Nashville businessman Townes Duncan helps lead a group that invited Great Hearts to Tennessee. Duncan sent his kids to private schools but says he would have considered a high achieving charter, had it been an option.

“If I had seen something where there was an opportunity to get a great education and not have to write big checks to get it, yeah, I would have been interested in that.”

Great Hearts has plans for as many as 10 schools in Nashville. Metro Councilman Jason Holleman says they’re worth considering. But he has questions about whether they’d benefit the entire system.

“I do think we need to be sure that we’re not simply taking already high achieving students out of private schools and putting them in the public school column.”

The business leaders who’ve worked to recruit Great Hearts have been beating back accusations that they’re trying to build a public school for well-to-do families. Townes Duncan calls it “uninformed non-sense.” Students across Davidson County would be eligible and must win a lottery to get in.

A news release from the Metro Council about the effectiveness of Great Hearts in Phoenix may look like an endorsement, says council member Emily Evans. But she says the meetings are purely informational.

“Keep in mind that the Metro Council has very limited influence on education in Nashville.”

Great Hearts hasn’t yet submitted its proposal to Metro’s Board of Education, which holds sole authority to approve or deny new charters.

A spokesman for Great Hearts says it wouldn’t even be considering expansion to Tennessee if the state legislature hadn’t opened charter enrollment to any student, not just those from disadvantaged families.