AB950: Bill Text

LRB-4829/5

PG:kmg:ks

1995 - 1996 LEGISLATURE

1995 Assembly BILL 950

February 26, 1996 - Introduced by Representative Coleman, cosponsored by Senator Darling, by request of Governor Tommy G. Thompson. Referred to Joint committee on Finance.

AB950,1,9 An Act to renumber and amend 118.40 (1); to amend 16.992 (2) (intro.), 16.992 (6), 16.992 (8) (a), 115.001 (1), 118.40 (1m) (a), 118.40 (1m) (b) 15., 118.40 (2) (b) (intro.), 118.40 (2) (c), 118.40 (5) (intro.) and (a), 118.40 (6), 118.40 (7) (a), 121.004 (7) (a) and 121.02 (1) (a) 2.; and to create 16.992 (1) (am), 118.40 (1), 118.40 (1m) (am), 118.40 (1m) (b) 16. and 17., 118.40 (2) (am), 118.40 (3) (am), 118.40 (10) and 121.51 (2) of the statutes; relating to: authorizing the board of regents of the University of Wisconsin System and the board of control of a cooperative educational service agency to establish a charter school and granting rule-making authority.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

Current law authorizes a school board to contract for the operation of a school as a charter school. A charter school is exempt from most laws governing public schools. This bill makes a number of changes in the laws governing charter schools, including the following:

1. Currently, a school board may on its own initiative contract with any person to operate a charter school or may do so in response to a petition filed with the school board and signed by at least 10% of the teachers employed by the school district or by at least 50% of the teachers employed at one school of the school district. This bill allows a nonstock, nonprofit corporation that is unaffiliated with any religious organization to file a petition with an alternative sponsor (the board of regents of the University of Wisconsin System or the board of control of a cooperative educational agency) to establish a charter school. The alternative sponsor must either grant or deny the petition within 60 days after receiving it. The board of control of a cooperative educational service agency may not grant a petition for the establishment of a charter school located outside the territory of the agency.

2. Currently, the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) must grant or deny a petition within 30 days after MPS holds a mandatory public hearing on the petition. If MPS denies a petition, the person seeking to establish the charter school may appeal the denial to the department of education (DOE). DOE's decision on appeal is final and not subject to judicial review. This bill makes these provisions applicable to all petitions to establish charter schools that are filed with school boards.

3. Under this bill, if an alternative sponsor grants a petition and contracts with the nonprofit corporation to operate a charter school, the contract must specify the manner in which the alternative sponsor will supervise the operation of the charter school and the amount to be paid by the school board of the school district in which the charter school is located to the charter school for each pupil enrolled in the charter school. (Only a pupil who resides in the school district in which a charter school established by an alternative sponsor is located may attend that charter school.) The amount to be paid is the tuition that the school district would charge a nonresident pupil.

4. As mentioned above, current law provides that the statutes governing school districts and public schools do not apply to charter schools, with certain specified exceptions. Thus, a school district is not required to transport a pupil to and from the charter school that the pupil attends. This bill provides that charter schools established by alternative sponsors are private schools for the purpose of the pupil transportation statutes. The bill thus requires a school board to transport a pupil who resides in the school district and attends a charter school established by an alternative sponsor to and from the charter school on the same basis and under the same conditions as if the pupil were attending a private school.

5. The bill makes charter schools eligible for pioneering partners grants, which are grants to implement, expand or participate in an educational technology or distance education project. Currently, school boards and municipal and county library boards are eligible for such grants.

6. Currently, except for charter schools located in the territory of MPS, a charter school is an instrumentality of the school district in which it is located and the school board of that school district must employ all personnel for the charter school. This bill also exempts charter schools established by alternative sponsors from these 2 provisions.

For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

AB950, s. 1 Section 1. 16.992 (1) (am) of the statutes is created to read:

AB950,3,1 16.992 (1) (am) "Charter school" has the meaning given in s. 115.001 (1).

AB950, s. 2 Section 2. 16.992 (2) (intro.) of the statutes, as created by 1995 Wisconsin Act 27, is amended to read:

AB950,3,14 16.992 (2) (intro.) A school district, municipal library board established under s. 43.54 or county library board established under s. 43.57, either individually or in conjunction with one or more other school districts, municipal library boards or county library boards, may apply to the department for a grant, or for approval of a loan under s. 24.61 (3) (d), or both, to implement, expand or participate in an educational technology or distance education project. A charter school, either individually or in conjunction with one or more other charter schools or one or more other entities that are eligible to apply for a grant or loan under this subsection, may apply to the department for a grant to implement, expand or participate in an educational technology or distance education project. The application shall be accompanied by a technology plan that includes all of the following:

AB950, s. 3 Section 3. 16.992 (6) of the statutes, as created by 1995 Wisconsin Act 27, is amended to read:

AB950,3,22 16.992 (6) The board may require a grant or loan recipient to report to the board on the distance education and educational technology used in the school district, charter school, municipality or county for the purpose of assisting the state in planning related to distance education and educational technology if the board finds that complying with the requirement will not impose a substantial burden on the grant or loan recipient.

AB950, s. 4 Section 4. 16.992 (8) (a) of the statutes, as created by 1995 Wisconsin Act 27, is amended to read:

AB950,4,4 16.992 (8) (a) Provide consultative services to school boards, charter schools and library boards to assist them in developing and implementing distance education and educational technology projects and in preparing applications for grants and loans under this section.

AB950, s. 5 Section 5. 115.001 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB950,4,7 115.001 (1) Charter school. "Charter school" means a school under contract with a school board or alternative sponsor under s. 118.40.

AB950, s. 6 Section 6. 118.40 (1) of the statutes is created to read:

AB950,4,9 118.40 (1) Definitions. In this section:

AB950,4,11 (a) "Alternative sponsor" means the board of regents of the University of Wisconsin System and a board of control of a cooperative educational service agency.

AB950,4,13 (b) "Corporation" means a nonstock, nonprofit corporation that is organized under ch. 181 and that is not affiliated with any religious organization.

AB950, s. 7 Section 7. 118.40 (1) of the statutes, as affected by 1995 Wisconsin Act 27, is renumbered 118.40 (1g) and amended to read:

AB950,4,19 118.40 (1g) Notice to department. Whenever a school board intends to establish a charter school or an alternative sponsor receives a petition under sub. (1m) (am), it shall notify the department of its intention. The notice shall include a description of the proposed school.

AB950, s. 8 Section 8. 118.40 (1m) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB950,4,25 118.40 (1m) (a) A written petition requesting the school board to establish a charter school under this section may be filed with the school district clerk. The petition If the petition is filed by a person other than a corporation, it shall be signed by at least 10% of the teachers employed by the school district or by at least 50% of the teachers employed at one school of the school district.

AB950, s. 9 Section 9. 118.40 (1m) (am) of the statutes is created to read:

AB950,5,3 118.40 (1m) (am) A corporation may file a written petition with an alternative sponsor requesting the alternative sponsor to establish a charter school.

AB950, s. 10 Section 10. 118.40 (1m) (b) 15. of the statutes is amended to read:

AB950,5,8 118.40 (1m) (b) 15. The effect of the establishment of the charter school on the liability of the school district or, if the petition is filed by a corporation under par. (am), the effect of the establishment of the charter school on the liability of the alternative sponsor.

AB950, s. 11 Section 11. 118.40 (1m) (b) 16. and 17. of the statutes are created to read:

AB950,5,13 118.40 (1m) (b) 16. If the petition is filed by a corporation, a copy of the corporation's articles of incorporation, a copy of the bylaws of the corporation, the names of the directors of the corporation and the names of the officers of the corporation.

AB950,5,17 17. If the petition is filed by a corporation under par. (am), the name of the school district in which the charter school will be located, the estimated budget of the charter school in its first year of operation and the estimated cost per pupil enrolled in the charter school.

AB950, s. 12 Section 12. 118.40 (2) (am) of the statutes is created to read:

AB950,5,21 118.40 (2) (am) An alternative sponsor shall either grant or deny a petition under sub. (1m) (am) within 60 days after receiving it and shall notify the department of the alternative sponsor's decision.

AB950, s. 13 Section 13. 118.40 (2) (b) (intro.) of the statutes, as affected by 1995 Wisconsin Act 27, is amended to read:

AB950,6,4 118.40 (2) (b) (intro.) An alternative sponsor may not grant a petition that would convert a public school to a charter school. The board of control of a cooperative educational service agency may not grant a petition for the establishment of a charter school located outside the territory of the agency. A school board may grant a petition that would result in the conversion of all of the public schools in the school district to charter schools if all of the following apply:

AB950, s. 14 Section 14. 118.40 (2) (c) of the statutes, as created by 1995 Wisconsin Act 27, is amended to read:

AB950,6,13 118.40 (2) (c) The school board of the school district operating under ch. 119 shall either grant or deny the petition within 30 days after the public hearing. If the school board of the school district operating under ch. 119 denies a petition, the person seeking to establish the charter school may, within 30 days after the denial, appeal the denial to the department. The department shall issue a decision within 30 days after receiving the appeal. The department's decision is final and not subject to judicial review under ch. 227.

AB950, s. 15 Section 15. 118.40 (3) (am) of the statutes is created to read:

AB950,7,3 118.40 (3) (am) If an alternative sponsor grants a petition under sub. (2) (am), the alternative sponsor shall contract with the corporation to operate the school as a charter school under this section. The contract may be for any term not exceeding 5 school years and may be renewed for one or more terms not exceeding 5 school years. The contract shall include all of the provisions specified in the petition and may include other provisions agreed to by the parties. The contract shall also specify the manner in which the alternative sponsor will supervise the operation of the charter school and the amount to be paid by the school board of the school district in which the charter school is located to the charter school for each pupil enrolled in the charter school. That amount shall be the amount calculated as tuition for the pupil under s. 121.83, determined as if the school district were the agency of service. The school board shall pay the specified amount to the charter school in 4 equal instalments due in September, December, March and June unless the alternative sponsor and the corporation agree to a different payment schedule.