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 1An Act to renumber and amend 118.40 (1); to amend 16.992 (2) (intro.), 16.992
2(6), 16.992 (8) (a), 115.001 (1), 118.40 (1m) (a), 118.40 (1m) (b) 15., 118.40 (2) (b)
3(intro.), 118.40 (2) (c), 118.40 (5) (intro.) and (a), 118.40 (6), 118.40 (7) (a),
4121.004 (7) (a) and 121.02 (1) (a) 2.; and to create 16.992 (1) (am), 118.40 (1),
5118.40 (1m) (am), 118.40 (1m) (b) 16. and 17., 118.40 (2) (am), 118.40 (3) (am),
6118.40 (10) and 121.51 (2) of the statutes; relating to: authorizing the board
7of regents of the University of Wisconsin System and the board of control of a
8cooperative educational service agency to establish a charter school and
9granting 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 1Section 1. 16.992 (1) (am) of the statutes is created to read:
AB950,3,1
116.992 (1) (am) "Charter school" has the meaning given in s. 115.001 (1).
AB950, s. 2 2Section 2. 16.992 (2) (intro.) of the statutes, as created by 1995 Wisconsin Act
327
, is amended to read:
AB950,3,144 16.992 (2) (intro.) A school district, municipal library board established under
5s. 43.54 or county library board established under s. 43.57, either individually or in
6conjunction with one or more other school districts, municipal library boards or
7county library boards, may apply to the department for a grant, or for approval of a
8loan under s. 24.61 (3) (d), or both, to implement, expand or participate in an
9educational technology or distance education project. A charter school, either
10individually or in conjunction with one or more other charter schools or one or more
11other entities that are eligible to apply for a grant or loan under this subsection, may
12apply to the department for a grant to implement, expand or participate in an
13educational technology or distance education project.
The application shall be
14accompanied by a technology plan that includes all of the following:
AB950, s. 3 15Section 3. 16.992 (6) of the statutes, as created by 1995 Wisconsin Act 27, is
16amended to read:
AB950,3,2217 16.992 (6) The board may require a grant or loan recipient to report to the board
18on the distance education and educational technology used in the school district,
19charter school, municipality or county for the purpose of assisting the state in
20planning related to distance education and educational technology if the board finds
21that complying with the requirement will not impose a substantial burden on the
22grant or loan recipient.
AB950, s. 4 23Section 4. 16.992 (8) (a) of the statutes, as created by 1995 Wisconsin Act 27,
24is amended to read:
AB950,4,4
116.992 (8) (a) Provide consultative services to school boards, charter schools
2and library boards to assist them in developing and implementing distance
3education and educational technology projects and in preparing applications for
4grants and loans under this section.
AB950, s. 5 5Section 5. 115.001 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB950,4,76 115.001 (1) Charter school. "Charter school" means a school under contract
7with a school board or alternative sponsor under s. 118.40.
AB950, s. 6 8Section 6. 118.40 (1) of the statutes is created to read:
AB950,4,99 118.40 (1) Definitions. In this section:
AB950,4,1110 (a) "Alternative sponsor" means the board of regents of the University of
11Wisconsin System and a board of control of a cooperative educational service agency.
AB950,4,1312 (b) "Corporation" means a nonstock, nonprofit corporation that is organized
13under ch. 181 and that is not affiliated with any religious organization.
AB950, s. 7 14Section 7. 118.40 (1) of the statutes, as affected by 1995 Wisconsin Act 27, is
15renumbered 118.40 (1g) and amended to read:
AB950,4,1916 118.40 (1g) Notice to department. Whenever a school board intends to
17establish a charter school or an alternative sponsor receives a petition under sub.
18(1m) (am)
, it shall notify the department of its intention. The notice shall include a
19description of the proposed school.
AB950, s. 8 20Section 8. 118.40 (1m) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB950,4,2521 118.40 (1m) (a) A written petition requesting the school board to establish a
22charter school under this section may be filed with the school district clerk. The
23petition
If the petition is filed by a person other than a corporation, it shall be signed
24by at least 10% of the teachers employed by the school district or by at least 50% of
25the teachers employed at one school of the school district.
AB950, s. 9
1Section 9. 118.40 (1m) (am) of the statutes is created to read:
AB950,5,32 118.40 (1m) (am) A corporation may file a written petition with an alternative
3sponsor requesting the alternative sponsor to establish a charter school.
AB950, s. 10 4Section 10. 118.40 (1m) (b) 15. of the statutes is amended to read:
AB950,5,85 118.40 (1m) (b) 15. The effect of the establishment of the charter school on the
6liability of the school district or, if the petition is filed by a corporation under par.
7(am), the effect of the establishment of the charter school on the liability of the
8alternative sponsor
.
AB950, s. 11 9Section 11. 118.40 (1m) (b) 16. and 17. of the statutes are created to read:
AB950,5,1310 118.40 (1m) (b) 16. If the petition is filed by a corporation, a copy of the
11corporation's articles of incorporation, a copy of the bylaws of the corporation, the
12names of the directors of the corporation and the names of the officers of the
13corporation.
AB950,5,1714 17. If the petition is filed by a corporation under par. (am), the name of the
15school district in which the charter school will be located, the estimated budget of the
16charter school in its first year of operation and the estimated cost per pupil enrolled
17in the charter school.
AB950, s. 12 18Section 12. 118.40 (2) (am) of the statutes is created to read:
AB950,5,2119 118.40 (2) (am) An alternative sponsor shall either grant or deny a petition
20under sub. (1m) (am) within 60 days after receiving it and shall notify the
21department of the alternative sponsor's decision.
AB950, s. 13 22Section 13. 118.40 (2) (b) (intro.) of the statutes, as affected by 1995 Wisconsin
23Act 27
, is amended to read:
AB950,6,424 118.40 (2) (b) (intro.) An alternative sponsor may not grant a petition that
25would convert a public school to a charter school. The board of control of a cooperative

1educational service agency may not grant a petition for the establishment of a
2charter school located outside the territory of the agency.
A school board may grant
3a petition that would result in the conversion of all of the public schools in the school
4district to charter schools if all of the following apply:
AB950, s. 14 5Section 14. 118.40 (2) (c) of the statutes, as created by 1995 Wisconsin Act 27,
6is amended to read:
AB950,6,137 118.40 (2) (c) The school board of the school district operating under ch. 119
8shall either grant or deny the petition within 30 days after the public hearing. If the
9school board of the school district operating under ch. 119 denies a petition, the
10person seeking to establish the charter school may, within 30 days after the denial,
11appeal the denial to the department. The department shall issue a decision within
1230 days after receiving the appeal. The department's decision is final and not subject
13to judicial review under ch. 227.
AB950, s. 15 14Section 15. 118.40 (3) (am) of the statutes is created to read:
AB950,7,315 118.40 (3) (am) If an alternative sponsor grants a petition under sub. (2) (am),
16the alternative sponsor shall contract with the corporation to operate the school as
17a charter school under this section. The contract may be for any term not exceeding
185 school years and may be renewed for one or more terms not exceeding 5 school
19years. The contract shall include all of the provisions specified in the petition and
20may include other provisions agreed to by the parties. The contract shall also specify
21the manner in which the alternative sponsor will supervise the operation of the
22charter school and the amount to be paid by the school board of the school district in
23which the charter school is located to the charter school for each pupil enrolled in the
24charter school. That amount shall be the amount calculated as tuition for the pupil
25under s. 121.83, determined as if the school district were the agency of service. The

1school board shall pay the specified amount to the charter school in 4 equal
2instalments due in September, December, March and June unless the alternative
3sponsor and the corporation agree to a different payment schedule.
AB950, s. 16 4Section 16. 118.40 (5) (intro.) and (a) of the statutes are amended to read:
AB950,7,75 118.40 (5) Charter revocation. (intro.) A charter may be revoked by the school
6board or alternative sponsor that contracted with the charter school if the school
7board or alternative sponsor finds that any of the following occurred:
AB950,7,98 (a) The charter school violated its contract with the school board or alternative
9sponsor
.
AB950, s. 17 10Section 17. 118.40 (6) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB950,7,1511 118.40 (6) (title) Program voluntary ; attendance restricted. No pupil may
12be required to attend a charter school without his or her approval, if the pupil is an
13adult, or the approval of his or her parents or legal guardian, if the pupil is a minor.
14A pupil may attend a charter school established by an alternative sponsor only if the
15charter school is located in the school district in which the pupil resides
.
AB950, s. 18 16Section 18. 118.40 (7) (a) of the statutes, as affected by 1995 Wisconsin Act 27,
17is amended to read:
AB950,7,2218 118.40 (7) (a) A charter school is an instrumentality of the school district in
19which it is located and the school board of that school district shall employ all
20personnel for the charter school. This paragraph does not apply to charter schools
21located in the school district operating under ch. 119 or to charter schools established
22by alternative sponsors
.
AB950, s. 19 23Section 19. 118.40 (10) of the statutes is created to read:
AB950,8,424 118.40 (10) Rules and bylaws. The board of regents of the University of
25Wisconsin System shall promulgate rules, and the annual convention for each

1cooperative educational service agency shall adopt bylaws, establishing the
2procedure for reviewing and either granting or denying petitions submitted under
3sub. (1m) (am). An alternative sponsor may not grant a petition unless such rules
4or bylaws are in effect.
AB950, s. 20 5Section 20. 121.004 (7) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB950,8,116 121.004 (7) (a) "Pupils enrolled" is the total number of pupils, as expressed by
7official enrollments, in all schools of the school district, including charter schools
8located in the school district,
except as provided in pars. (b) to (d). If such total
9contains a fraction, it shall be expressed as the nearest whole number. The same
10method shall be used in computing the number of pupils enrolled for resident pupils,
11nonresident pupils or both.
AB950, s. 21 12Section 21. 121.02 (1) (a) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:
AB950,8,1613 121.02 (1) (a) 2. Ensure that all instructional staff of charter schools located
14in
under contract with the school district board hold a license or permit to teach
15issued by the department. The department shall promulgate rules defining
16"instructional staff" for purposes of this subdivision.
AB950, s. 22 17Section 22. 121.51 (2) of the statutes is created to read:
AB950,8,1918 121.51 (2) "Private school" includes a charter school established by an
19alternative sponsor.
AB950, s. 23 20Section 23. Initial applicability.
AB950,8,22 21(1) The treatment of section 118.40 (2) (c) of the statutes first applies to a
22petition filed with a school board on the effective date of this subsection.
AB950,8,2323 (End)
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