Bill > A1571

Introduced Session

Under the "Charter School Program Act of 1995," P.L.1995, c.426 (C.18A:36A-1 et seq.), the Commissioner of Education is granted the authority to approve applications for the establishment of charter schools and to regulate and oversee their operations. This bill would permit public institutions of higher education in New Jersey to also act as charter school authorizers. Local boards of education would also be permitted to act as charter school authorizers, but only for charter schools which would be located within the geographic boundaries of the district. Under the bill, the commissioner must establish an application process for the designation of eligible authorizer applicants as charter school authorizers. The commissioner may designate one or more eligible authorizer applicants to serve as charter school authorizers and must execute an authorizing contract with each approved charter school authorizer prior to that entity commencing charter school authorizing. The commissioner will establish the responsibilities of charter school authorizers. Those responsibilities will include: · soliciting charter school applications; · denying or approving charter school applications; · negotiating and executing performance contracts with approved charter schools that articulate the rights and responsibilities of each party; · conducting oversight of charter schools; and · designing and implementing a process that uses comprehensive data to make merit-based renewal and revocation decisions regarding charter schools. The commissioner has responsibility for the ongoing oversight of the performance and effectiveness of the charter school authorizers, and may at any time take corrective action against an authorizer, including terminating an authorizer's designation as an authorizer. The commissioner may also revoke a charter granted by an authorizer and may review and amend charter school performance contracts entered into by the authorizer. The bill specifies that the commissioner will be the sole authorizer option for charter schools and charter school applicants that: 1) limit admission to a single gender; 2) focus on providing programs and settings for children with individualized education programs or seek to advance the skills of diverse learners; and 3) focus on on-line learning as the primary component of their educational model. The bill expands the list of entities that may establish a charter school, including private entities that would realize a profit from the operation of the charter school. Nonpublic schools under the bill would also be able to convert to charter school status if certain criteria are met, including a certification by the charter school applicant that the school would prohibit religious instruction, events, and activities that promote religious views. The bill would also permit a local board of education to convert a district school to a charter school, and the commissioner to convert a failing public school to a charter school. An application to establish a charter school may be submitted at any time during the school year to the charter school authorizer. Notice of the filing of the application must be posted immediately on the charter school authorizer's website. Notice of the application filing must also be provided, either through the mail or electronically, to the school district superintendents and boards of education in which there are students who will be eligible for enrollment in the charter school. The charter school authorizer must make a decision on the application within 150 days of receipt of the application, and provide notice of its final decision to the same entities to which it provided notice of the filing of the application. A charter school authorizer is prohibited from approving a charter school application if another authorizer has denied that application within the prior six months. The bill also provides that certain charter school applicants will be eligible for a streamlined application process. A charter school applicant will be eligible for this process if the charter school founder has been designated a "high performing charter school" by the commissioner, or if the charter school founder is designated as an "approved operator" by the commissioner. The bill also does the following: · eliminates the current requirement that all classroom teachers and professional support staff at a charter school hold the appropriate New Jersey certification; · eliminates streamline tenure for charter school employees; · provides that a charter school renewal may be for a period of not less than five years and not more than ten years, instead of the current five-year renewal period; · requires the Commissioner of Education to actively encourage the establishment of charter schools that focus on scientifically-based inclusive practices that advance the academic, behavioral, and social skills of diverse learners in all classrooms, and assist in the return of students from out-of-district segregated placements into public school settings; · provides that a priority for enrollment in a charter school may be given to a student whose parent or guardian is a founder of the charter school or a student whose parent or guardian is a teaching staff member of the charter school; · provides that if a nonpublic school converts to a charter school, the students enrolled in the nonpublic school prior to the conversion will be eligible to continue enrollment at the school after its conversion; · gives charter schools the right of first refusal to purchase or lease at or below fair market value a closed public school facility or property, and requires the department to maintain on its website a list of all school districts where a public school facility or property has been advertised as for sale or lease; · exempts new charter schools from all State laws and regulations and any regulations of the local district that are applicable to public schools and public school officers and employees, except those pertaining to academic standards, assessment, testing, civil rights, the open public records act, and student health and safety; · authorizes the commissioner to adjust the amount of funds that a school district is required by law to pay to a charter school, if that charter school focuses on on-line learning as the primary component of its educational model; and · provides that it will be the district of residence's responsibility to provide transportation or aid-in-lieu-of transportation to charter school pupils attending an elementary school more than two miles from the pupil's home, and for high school pupils living more than two and one half miles from school, provided the charter school is not more than 20 miles from the pupil's home.

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Jay Webber (R)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee (on 01/27/2016)