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LRB-3595/2
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2013 - 2014 LEGISLATURE
December 9, 2013 - Introduced by Representatives Kooyenga, Kleefisch, Hutton,
Pridemore, Sanfelippo and Ballweg, cosponsored by Senators Darling,
Vukmir, Farrow and Grothman. Referred to Committee on Urban Education.
AB549,2,7 1An Act to repeal 118.40 (2), 118.40 (2r) (b) 1. c., 118.40 (2r) (b) 3., 118.40 (2r) (c)
21., 118.40 (2r) (c) 3., 118.40 (2r) (cm), 118.40 (3) (a), 118.40 (7) (am) 1., 3. and 4.,
3118.40 (7) (ar) and 118.40 (8) (a) (intro.); to renumber 118.40 (8) (a) 1. and 2.;
4to renumber and amend 118.40 (1), 118.40 (2r) (bm), 118.40 (2r) (c) 4., 118.40
5(4) (a), 118.40 (7) (am) 2. and 118.51 (18); to amend 20.923 (6) (m), 40.02 (55)
6(intro.), 40.02 (55) (a), 111.81 (7) (f), 111.815 (1), 111.825 (2) (f), 111.92 (1) (c),
7115.001 (1), 115.415 (3) (a) (intro.), 115.77 (8), 118.40 (title), 118.40 (1m) (a),
8118.40 (1m) (b) 1., 2., 7., 13. and 15., 118.40 (2m) (title), 118.40 (2m) (a), 118.40
9(2m) (am), 118.40 (2m) (b), 118.40 (2r) (title), 118.40 (2r) (b) 1. (intro.), 118.40
10(2r) (b) 1. b., 118.40 (2r) (b) 1. d., 118.40 (2r) (b) 2., 118.40 (2r) (b) 2m., 118.40 (2r)
11(b) 4., 118.40 (2r) (d) (intro.), 118.40 (3) (b), 118.40 (3) (c) 1., 118.40 (3) (c) 2.,
12118.40 (3) (e), 118.40 (4) (title), 118.40 (4) (b) (intro.), 118.40 (4) (c), 118.40 (5),
13118.40 (6), 118.40 (7) (a), 119.60 (5), 121.02 (1) (a) 2., 230.08 (2) (dm), 230.35 (1s),
14895.523 (1) (a) and 895.525 (5); to repeal and recreate 20.923 (6) (m), 111.815

1(1), 118.40 (1m) (title) and 118.40 (3) (title); and to create 118.40 (1b), 118.40
2(1p), 118.40 (2r) (b) 1. bn., 118.40 (2r) (b) 1. cm., 118.40 (2r) (bg), 118.40 (2r) (bm)
33., 118.40 (2r) (bm) 5., 118.40 (3) (f), 118.40 (4) (ag), 118.40 (4) (d) and 118.40 (7)
4(c) of the statutes; relating to: authorizing independent charter schools,
5eliminating instrumentality charter schools, establishing magnet schools,
6replication process for certain operators of charter schools, and utilizing an
7alternative process for educator effectiveness.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current law, school boards may enter into contracts with individuals,
groups, businesses, or governmental bodies to establish charter schools, which
operate with fewer constraints than traditional public schools. Current law also
permits the University of Wisconsin (UW)-Milwaukee, UW-Parkside, Milwaukee
Area Technical College, and the city of Milwaukee to establish charter schools
directly or to contract for the operation of charter schools. This bill makes various
changes to the manner in which charter schools are established, eliminates
instrumentality charter schools, and authorizes school boards to establish magnet
schools that also operate with fewer constraints than traditional public schools.
Charter schools; independent authorizers
A charter school established by an entity other than a school board is known as
an independent charter school. Under current law, the only entities that may
establish an independent charter school are UW-Milwaukee, UW-Parkside,
Milwaukee Area Technical College district board, and the city of Milwaukee. This
bill expands the entities that may establish independent charter schools
(independent authorizers) to include all of the following:
1. All four-year UW institutions.
2. All two-year UW campuses.
3. Cooperative educational service agencies (CESA).
4. Technical college district boards.
Under current law, an independent authorizer may establish and operate a
charter school or enter into a contract with an individual or group to operate a charter
school. This bill eliminates the authority for an independent authorizer to directly
establish and operate a charter school. The bill also prohibits an independent
authorizer from contracting with a person to operate a charter school in a school
district in which at least 80 percent of the number of public schools that received the
highest level of performance on the latest school accountability report are located,
unless the person first provides the school board of the school district an opportunity
to contract to operate the proposed charter school.

Current law includes certain restrictions on where an independent authorizer
may establish a charter school. For example, the city of Milwaukee and the
Milwaukee Area Technical College are authorized to establish charter schools only
in the Milwaukee Public School District. Under the bill, each of the following
independent authorizers is restricted to establishing charter schools only in the
following geographic locations:
1. A four-year UW institution in the county in which the institution is located
or in an adjacent county.
2. A two-year UW campus in the county in which the campus is located or in
an adjacent county.
3. A CESA within the boundaries of the CESA.
4. A technical college district board, including the Milwaukee Area Technical
College district board, in the technical college district or in a county adjacent to the
district.
5. The city of Milwaukee in the Milwaukee Public School District.
Finally, under current law, subject to certain exceptions, a pupil is only
permitted to attend an independent charter school that is located in the school
district where the pupil resides. Under the bill, a pupil may attend any independent
charter school, regardless of the pupil's residence or the location of the charter school.
Independent charter schools; replication
The bill creates a new process by which a person who has a proven track record
of success for each charter school the person operates in this state may establish and
operate additional independent charter schools. Under the bill, a person has a
proven track record of success operating a charter school if during each of the two
immediately preceding school years the total percentage of pupils attending the
charter school who received a score of advanced or proficient on the state
assessments for math and reading in all tested grades taught at the charter school
is at least ten percentage points higher than the total percentage of pupils attending
public schools in the school district where that charter school is located who received
the same scores on the same assessments in the same grades. Under the bill, an
independent authorizer who receives a letter of intent from a person with a proven
track record of success with whom the independent authorizer has an existing
contract must, at the person's request, contract with that person to operate up to two
additional charter schools per school year. The bill specifies that a charter school
established under this process is not a satellite or subsidiary campus of an existing
charter school.
Charter schools; school boards
Under current law, there are two processes for a school board to establish a
charter school: one is initiated by the school board and one is initiated by a petition
signed by either ten percent of the teachers employed by the school district or 50
percent of the teachers employed at one school located in the school district. Current
law also requires that information that is required to be included in such a petition
is included in a contract to operate a charter school, regardless of how the charter
school is established.

This bill eliminates the petition process for a school board to establish a charter
school and eliminates the requirement that a contract to operate a charter school
include the petition information. The bill also eliminates the requirement under
current law that, if a school board must hold a public hearing on a contract to
establish a charter school, the school board must consider the level of employee
support for the proposed charter school or the fiscal impact of the proposed charter
school on the school district.
Under current law, subject to certain exceptions, a school board determines
whether a charter school established by the school board is an instrumentality of the
school district. If a charter school is an instrumentality of the school district, the
school board must employ all personnel for the charter school. Under the bill, a
charter school established by a school board is not an instrumentality of the school
district and the school board is prohibited from employing any personnel for the
charter school.
Magnet schools; school boards
This bill authorizes a school board to establish magnet schools, which are
defined as schools that offer a special curriculum capable of attracting substantial
numbers of students of different racial backgrounds. Under the bill, magnet schools
are provided the same exemption from state education laws that charter schools are
provided under current law. The processes to establish a magnet school are the same
as the processes by which a school board may establish a charter school under
current law. Additionally, a contract to operate a magnet school is subject to similar
requirements and restrictions as a contract to operate a charter school, including
that a contract to operate a magnet school may not be for a term that exceeds five
school years. Finally, the bill requires that the school board employ all personnel for
a magnet school.
Charter school governing boards
This bill requires that every charter school be operated by a governing board.
The bill further provides that a charter school governing board has all powers
necessary to carry out the terms of its contract to operate a charter school.
Educator effectiveness; alternative process
Current law directs the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to develop a
system to evaluate the effectiveness of teachers and principals in public schools,
including independent charter schools. DPI must also promulgate rules establishing
an equivalency process aligned with its evaluation system for a school district or
independent charter school that wishes to use an alternative method of evaluating
teachers and principals. This bill allows a charter school under contract with a school
board that is not an instrumentality of the school district to use an alternative
method of evaluating teachers and principals.

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:
AB549,1 1Section 1. 20.923 (6) (m) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB549,5,72 20.923 (6) (m) University of Wisconsin System: deans, principals, professors,
3instructors, research assistants, librarians and other teachers, as defined in s. 40.02
4(55), the staff of the environmental education board, and instructional staff
5employed by the board of regents of the University of Wisconsin System who provide
6services for a charter school established by contract under s. 118.40 (2r) (cm), 2011
7stats
.
AB549,2 8Section 2. 20.923 (6) (m) of the statutes, as affected by 2011 Wisconsin Act 32
9and 2013 Wisconsin Act .... (this act), is repealed and recreated to read:
AB549,5,1210 20.923 (6) (m) University of Wisconsin System: all positions, including the
11chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but not including any other
12position assigned to the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
AB549,3 13Section 3. 40.02 (55) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB549,5,2014 40.02 (55) (intro.) "Teacher" means any employee engaged in the exercise of any
15educational function for compensation in the public schools, including charter
16schools as defined in s. 115.001 (1) that are instrumentalities of a school district,
or
17the university in instructing or controlling pupils or students, or in administering,
18directing, organizing or supervising any educational activity, but does not include
19any employee determined to be an auxiliary instructional employee under s. 115.29
20(3). "Teacher" includes the following:
AB549,4 21Section 4. 40.02 (55) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB549,6,5
140.02 (55) (a) Any person employed as a librarian by any school board in a
2library in any school under its jurisdiction, including a charter school as defined in
3s. 115.001 (1) that is an instrumentality of a school district,
whose qualifications as
4a librarian are at least equal to the minimum librarian qualifications prescribed by
5the state superintendent of public instruction.
AB549,5 6Section 5. 111.81 (7) (f) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB549,6,97 111.81 (7) (f) Instructional staff employed by the board of regents of the
8University of Wisconsin System who provide services for a charter school established
9by contract under s. 118.40 (2r) (cm), 2011 stats.
AB549,6 10Section 6. 111.815 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB549,6,2511 111.815 (1) In the furtherance of this subchapter, the state shall be considered
12as a single employer and employment relations policies and practices throughout the
13state service shall be as consistent as practicable. The office shall negotiate and
14administer collective bargaining agreements. To coordinate the employer position
15in the negotiation of agreements, the office shall maintain close liaison with the
16legislature relative to the negotiation of agreements and the fiscal ramifications of
17those agreements. Except with respect to the collective bargaining unit specified in
18s. 111.825 (2) (f), the office is responsible for the employer functions of the executive
19branch under this subchapter, and shall coordinate its collective bargaining
20activities with operating state agencies on matters of agency concern. The legislative
21branch shall act upon those portions of tentative agreements negotiated by the office
22that require legislative action. With respect to the collective bargaining unit
23specified in s. 111.825 (2) (f), the governing board of the charter school established
24by contract under s. 118.40 (2r) (cm), 2011 stats., is responsible for the employer
25functions under this subchapter.
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