School Information System: New Wisconsin Charter School Legislation: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

October 28, 2011

New Wisconsin Charter School Legislation: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

3 this week to approve the latest version of Senate Bill 22 (SB-22). The bill expands chartering authority to Wisconsin Cooperative Educational Service Agencies, and most importantly creates an independent statewide charter school authorizing board.
The Good
I have blogged recently about the absurdity of Madison Prep having to get its education plan approved by the school board of a district that has proved incapable of effectively educating the very students Madison Prep seeks to serve. The state charter authorizing board would give startup charter schools like Madison Prep an authorizer option outside of their local school board. No longer would a resistant board be a brick wall for new charter schools.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at October 28, 2011 10:18 PM
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Comments

Though this bill is significantly in flux (at least on the surface, as it's likely a based on a model bill bt ALEC), two items struck me.

1) the cap on the decrease in General aid to the school district is eliminated,

2) the state will tax each charter 2% on average of revenue per student across all charters

Both DPI and OSER indicate the fiscal impact is yet indeterminate for school districts.

The law's impact on Madison Prep and MMSD will be something to follow. It allows for separate sex, if both sexes are supported, but by elimination the law does not seem to allow schools based on race.

Posted by: Larry Winkler at October 29, 2011 9:04 AM