This information has been prepared in response to various requests for a summary of the provisions of Initiative 729, which will be before the voters at the statewide general election on November 7, 2000. The material in this summary is provided for informational purposes only. It is provided for use by members of the Legislature and legislative staff. It is not provided as an expression for or against any of the provisions of Initiative 729.
BRIEF SUMMARY
Under current law, public schools are state and locally funded, are governed by elected school boards, and are subject to state laws and regulations. Initiative 729 would authorize the establishment of a limited number of state-funded public charter schools operating independently of local school boards and state laws and rules except those specified in the initiative.
Charter School
A public charter school is a public school that includes one or more grades of kindergarten through 12 and is operated according to the terms of a renewable five-year contract between an applicant and a sponsor.
Sponsor
The charter school must have a sponsor. The sponsor may be the local school district where the charter school is to be located, or any state or regional university. This does not include The Evergreen State College or any community college.
Applicant
A nonprofit corporation must make the application to a sponsor to establish a charter school. The corporation may not be a religious organization. The board of directors of the corporation may contract with others to provide the educational services, materials and/or property for the charter school.
State Law Exemption
Charter schools are exempt from most state statutes and rules applicable to schools except those relating to: health, safety and civil rights; state student assessments such as the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) and the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL); using certificated staff; financial and audit requirements; and the Open Public Meetings Act.
Students
A charter school must enroll all students who submit a timely application unless there is insufficient capacity.
Employees
Charter schools must employ certificated staff, but they may hire non-certificated staff of unusual competence in exceptional cases under the same provisions as other public schools.
A school district must grant a written request by a school district employee for an extended leave of absence (up to three years) to work at a charter school without any loss of seniority or retirement.
Employees of charter schools have the right to organize and enter into collective bargaining agreements with the nonprofit corporation. The bargaining unit is restricted to employees of the charter and must be separate from other units in the school district.
Employees of charter schools will be included in the state retirement system plans, if federal law permits.
Conversion Schools
Existing public schools may convert to charter schools. Only a local school district may sponsor the conversion of a conventional public school to a charter public school.
Limits
No more than 80 charter schools may be established during the first four years, not counting conventional public school conversions.
Charter schools may not be established in school districts with fewer than 1,000 enrolled students until January 2003.
Effectiveness Study
Washington Institute of Public Policy must study the effectiveness of charter schools.
Public Funding of Charter Schools
If the sponsor is a school district, the charter
school:
- Receives the same amount of state funding provided to other public schools in the district, except small school assistance.
- Receives the same amount of local levy funding provided to other public schools in the district for local levies approved after the effective date of charter.
- Is eligible for state matching funds for school construction, if voters approve.
- May receive up to $250 per student for start-up costs. The specific amount per student depends on the amount appropriated by the Legislature.
- May accept gifts and donations.
- The charter school's sponsor may retain up to 3 percent of the state and local funding as an administration fee.
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If the sponsor is a university, the charter school:
- Receives the same amount of state funding provided to other public schools in the district, except small school assistance.
- Receives no local levy funding.
- Is not eligible for state matching funds for school construction.
- May receive up to $250 per student for start-up costs. The specific amount per student depends on the amount appropriated by the Legislature.
- May accept gifts and donations.
- The charter school's sponsor may retain up to 3 percent state funding as an administration fee.
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Fiscal Impact
The cost of Initiative 729 is estimated to be in the range of $8 to $16 million for the 2001-03 biennium. The actual cost will depend on the number of new charter schools established during the biennium, the size of each school, and the number of students transferring from private and home schools to charter schools. The $8 million estimate is based on the assumption that there will be 24 charter schools in the 2001-02 school year with a total enrollment of 4,200, increasing to 28 charter schools in the 2002-03 school year with a total enrollment of 6,240 students. While transfers of students from public schools to charter schools do not result in additional state costs because the state is already funding such students, crossover from private schools and home schools would require additional state resources. The state fiscal impact of $8 million assumes that 18 percent of charter school students will be crossovers from private schools and home schools in the 2001-02 school
year.
Initiative 729 also has a local fiscal impact which relates to the transfer of levy revenues from public school districts to charter schools. If a charter school sponsor is a local school district, the initiative specifies that the charter school is entitled to local levy revenues for local levies approved after the charter has been established The cost to school districts who sponsor charter schools will depend upon when the local levies are approved. Many school districts run two to four year levies and the next levy elections will take place in the first part of calendar year 2001 for many districts. It is unlikely that many charters will be approved prior to the passage of most local levies. Given these considerations, transfers of local school district levy revenues will probably not exceed $4 million for the 2001-03 biennium.
For
further information contact:
Susan Mielke, (360)
786-7422
Senate Education Committee
Bill
Freund, (360) 786-7441
Senate Ways & Means Committee
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