Senate Education Committee Passes Charter School Bill |
The Senate Education Committee met this morning. The committee only considered one bill - SB 2189, the "Mississippi Public Charter Schools Act of 2013." The committee considered and passed the bill very quickly, going in at 9:00 and adjourning by 9:20. The bill was amended in committee to remove a pilot of virtual charter schools. The bill is now headed to the full Senate for consideration. As passed Senate Education, SB 2189: - Allows charters in every school district in the state. Local school boards in "A" and "B" districts must approve any charter application in their district prior to the application being submitted to the MS Public Charter School Authorizing Board. Applications in "C," "D," and "F" districts will go directly to the authorizing board without prior approval of the local school board.
- Creates the 7-member Mississippi Public Charter School Authorizing Board to authorize charter schools throughout the state. 3 of the members will be appointed by the Governor, 3 by the Lt. Governor and 1 by the State Superintendent of Education.
- Provides that public charter schools shall be subject to the student assessment and accountability requirements applicable to other public schools in the state.
- Prohibits private schools from converting to public charter schools.
- Provides that a charter school's underserved population (i.e., students with an economic or academic disadvantage) must be no less than 80% of the underserved population in the local district.
- Exempts up to 25% of teachers in charter schools from state certification in the initial year the charter is opened. All teachers must hold at least alternative certification within 3 years. SB 2189 exempts 100% of charter school administrators from certification requirements.
- Provides that charter operators must elect in their charter application to be "all in" or "all out" of PERS. If an operator elects to be in, employees of charter schools will be members of PERS.
- Allows students to cross district lines to attend charter schools, with the money to follow the child.
Click here for a summary of the bill that was provided to Senate Education Committee members. Click here to track the bill in the legislative bill status system. SB 2189 now heads to the full Senate for consideration. Concerned members should contact their respective senator. Click here for legislative contact information. Considering that the bill was not in the bill tracking system until this morning and that it has already been taken up in committee, I'm anticipating the bill to be taken up quickly by the full Senate. With regards to PERS, a bill has not been dropped as of this morning. I'll keep you posted on both of these critical issues. Thanks! |
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