(The Center Square) – A bill introduced in the Colorado House of Representatives would make far-reaching financial and administrative changes to charter schools in the state and was criticized by educational choice advocates.
Colorado law currently requires charter schools and school districts to negotiate funding. School districts may also retain a portion of the charter school's per-pupil administrative overhead for services provided to the charter school. Each student enrolled in a charter school is limited to 5% of her income.
House Bill 24-1363, titled “Charter School Accountability. Regarding Measures to Address Charter School Accountability,” is a bill sponsored by Democratic Rep. Lorena Garcia, Rep. Tammy Storey, and Sen. Lisa Cutter. The name is sponsored. The 55-page bill would eliminate the 5% cap and allow school districts to retain the cost of all services to charter school students, including costs not currently reimbursed for special education services.
Two advocacy groups supporting school choice said in a joint statement that the bill would mark “the beginning of the end for Colorado's charter schools.”
“Colorado has been one of the national pioneers of the charter school movement, and for decades, under Democratic and Republican governors, there has been a bipartisan consensus that charter schools benefit families across the state. ,” said Christy Burton Brown, executive vice president of Advance Colorado. said in a statement. “This bill contains the biggest hit of all the extreme measures that have been proposed against Kneecap Charter School and the families who choose it for their children over the years. ”
Jesse Mallory, Colorado director of Americans for Prosperity, emphasized that 15% of the state's public school students attend charter schools.
“Instead of giving Colorado parents and students more options for the education that's right for them, this bill seeks to take choices away from families,” Mallory said in a statement. “This misguided law should be repealed as soon as it arrives.”
Current law allows charter schools to use school district facilities without paying rent when the buildings are not in use. Independent charter schools also won't have to pay more than $12 a year in rent for public school buildings that are “eligible for conversion.” The proposed bill would eliminate these benefits.
“We've known this was going to happen for months,” Dan Schaller, president of the Colorado League of Charter Schools, said in an interview with Center Square. “But what's surprising is the fact that charter schools have existed in Colorado for 30 years. Why bring this up again when we've had so many discussions?”
The bill would also end requiring school districts to create and provide upon request a list of vacant or underutilized buildings and land to charter schools, charter school applicants, and other interested parties. . Charter schools and applicants would also be prohibited from applying to use district buildings or land.
Schaller also noted changes in the law that affect procedural matters involving charter schools, school districts, and the State Board of Education.
“While they are technical in nature, they would have far-reaching implications if allowed to pass,” Schaller said.