Ban For-Profits from Charter Schools

Section 1. Legislative intent. New York's charter school law was enacted 14 years ago in an effort to create new learning opportunities for all students, to encourage different and innovative teaching methods and to provide parents and students with expanded choice within the public schools. Fourteen years provides the state with enough information to make judgments about changes that are needed in the law to ensure the public knows how their tax dollars are being spent and to ensure public schools serving the majority of students have the resources needed to provide a quality education to all students. This legislation is intended to clarify the transparency and accountability of charter schools and provide fiscal relief to the school districts where charter schools are located.

§ 2. Subdivision 1 of section 2851 of the education law, as amended by chapter 101 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows:

1. An application to establish a charter school may be submitted by teachers, parents, school administrators, community residents or any combination thereof. Such application may be filed in conjunction with a college, university, museum, educational institution, not-for-profit corporation exempt from taxation under paragraph 3 of subsection (c) of section 501 of the internal revenue code [or for-profit business or corporate entity authorized to do business in New York state. Provided however, for-profit business or corporate entities shall not be eligible to submit an application to establish a charter school pursuant to subdivision nine-a of section twenty-eight hundred fifty-two of this article, or operate or manage a charter school for a charter issued pursuant to subdivision nine-a of section twenty-eight hundred fifty-two

EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

[ ] is old law to be omitted.

LBD04867-01-7

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of this article. For charter schools established in conjunction with a for-profit business or corporate entity, the charter shall specify the extent of the entity's participation in the management and operation of the school], and provided that under no circumstances shall an application to establish a charter school or approval to operate a charter school be granted to a for-profit business or corporate entity authorized to do business in this state nor in any manner whatsoever shall they have an involvement in the management and operation of a charter school. The application shall include the amount of any management fee to be paid to any not-for-profit corporation working in conjunction with the applicants. Salaries of the employees of such not-for-profit corporation may not exceed the salaries for comparable positions in the school district of location.

§ 3. Paragraphs (d), (h), (p) and (v) of subdivision 2 of section 2851 of the education law, paragraphs (d) and (h) as added by chapter 4 of the laws of 1998 and paragraphs (p) and (v) as amended by chapter 101 of the laws of 2010, are amended to read as follows:

(d) Admission policies and procedures for the school, which shall be consistent with the requirements of subdivision two of section twentyeight hundred fifty-four of this article. For charter renewals, such policies and procedures shall include plans for ensuring the student enrollment of the charter school includes a comparable percentage of students on free lunch, students with disabilities and English language learners as the school district in which the charter school is located.

(h) The rules and procedures by which students may be disciplined, including but not limited to expulsion or suspension from the school, which shall be consistent with the requirements of due process and with federal laws and regulations governing the placement of students with disabilities. Such rules and procedures shall include the provision of educational services to any student on long term suspension or expulsion.

(p) The term of the proposed charter, which shall not exceed five years during which instruction is provided to pupils; provided however, in the case of charters issued pursuant to subdivision nine-a of section twenty-eight hundred fifty-two of this article the term of such proposed charter shall not exceed five years in which instruction is provided to pupils plus the period commencing with the effective date of the charter and ending with the opening of the school for instruction.

(v) A code of ethics for the charter school, setting forth for the guidance of its trustees, officers and employees the standards of conduct expected of them including standards with respect to disclosure of conflicts of interest regarding any matter brought before the board of trustees. Such code of ethics shall be in compliance with section eight hundred six of the general municipal law.

§ 4. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 4 of section 2851 of the education law, as added by chapter 4 of the laws of 1998, is amended to read as follows:

(a) A report of the progress of the charter school in achieving the educational objectives set forth in the charter. Such report shall include disaggregated student performance data for all student subgroups.

§ 5. Paragraphs (c) and (d) of subdivision 2 of section 2852 of the education law, paragraph (c) as amended and paragraph (d) as added by section 2 of part D-2 of chapter 57 of the laws of 2007, are amended and two new paragraphs (e) and (f) are added to read as follows:

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(c) granting the application is likely to improve student learning and achievement and materially further the purposes set out in subdivision two of section twenty-eight hundred fifty of this article; [and]

(d) in a school district where the total enrollment of resident students attending charter schools in the base year is greater than five percent of the total public school enrollment of the school district in the base year [(i)] granting the application would have a significant educational benefit to the students expected to attend the proposed charter school [or (ii) the school district in which the charter school will be located consents to such application]. For purposes of this paragraph, in a city having a population of one million or more, the school district shall be the community school district;

(e) the application for the charter school is approved by the board of education of the school district where the charter school is to be located; and

(f) the charter entity shall not approve an application that would have the effect of increasing the racial isolation of a school district.

§ 6. Subdivision 5-b of section 2852 of the education law, as added by chapter 4 of the laws of 1998, is amended to read as follows:

5-b. If the board of regents returns a proposed charter to the charter entity pursuant to the provisions of subdivision five-a of this section, such charter entity shall reconsider the proposed charter, taking into consideration the comments and recommendation of the board of regents. Thereafter, the charter entity shall resubmit the proposed charter to the board of regents with modifications, provided that the applicant consents in writing to such modifications, resubmit the proposed charter to the board of regents without modifications with an explanation why the modifications are not being made, or abandon the proposed charter. The board of regents shall review each such resubmitted proposed charter in accordance with the provisions of subdivision five-a of this section[; provided, however, that it shall be the duty of the board of regents to approve and issue a proposed charter resubmitted by the charter entity described in paragraph (b) of subdivision three of section twenty-eight hundred fifty-one of this article within thirty days of the resubmission of such proposed charter or such proposed charter shall be deemed approved and issued at the expiration of such period].

§ 7. Subdivision 7 of section 2852 of the education law is amended by adding a new paragraph (c) to read as follows:

(c) When a revision of a charter involves an increase in enrollment which brings total enrollment in charter schools in the school district of location above five percent the revision shall be denied unless the school district of location approves the revision or the residents of the school district approve the revision through a referendum of the eligible voters to be held in conjunction with the annual budget vote. For purposes of this paragraph in a city having a population of one million or more the school district of location shall be the community school district where the charter school is located.

§ 8. Subdivision 10 of section 2852 of the education law, as added by section 3 of part D-2 of chapter 57 of the laws of 2007, is amended to read as follows:

10. Except in the case of a charter school formed by a school district as a charter entity pursuant to paragraph (a) of subdivision three of section twenty-eight hundred fifty-one of this article, a charter school formed by approval of the regents or by operation of law on or after [March] January fifteenth in any school year shall not commence instruction until July of the second school year next following.

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§ 9. Subdivision 2 of section 2853 of the education law, as added by chapter 4 of the laws of 1998, is amended to read as follows:

2. The board of regents and charter entity shall oversee each school approved by such entity, and may visit, examine into and inspect any charter school, including the records of such school, under its oversight. Oversight by a charter entity and the board of regents shall be sufficient to ensure that the charter school is in compliance with all applicable laws, regulations and charter provisions. The department shall include charter schools in any review or audit of state assessment administration or scoring.

§ 10. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 2853 of the education law, as amended by chapter 101 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows:

(a) A charter school may be located in part of an existing public school building, in space provided on a private work site, in a public building or in any other suitable location, provided, however, a charter school shall not be located in any part of an existing school building when such sharing would impact the public school's ability to meet the class size targets established pursuant to section two hundred eleven-d of this chapter. Provided, however, before a charter school may be located in part of an existing public school building, the charter entity shall provide notice to the parents or guardians of the students then enrolled in the existing school building and shall hold a public hearing for purposes of discussing the location of the charter school. A charter school may own, lease or rent its space.

§ 11. Subdivision 3 of section 2853 of the education law is amended by adding two new paragraphs (f) and (g) to read as follows:

(f) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, any capital facility, or other improvements made in public school buildings or equipment with a period of probable usefulness of five or more years, with public or private funds, to accommodate charter schools, shall require matching or comparable improvements be made for other district schools located in the same building.

(g) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, any construction or capital improvement made in accordance with this article shall be made in accordance with and subject to the provisions of articles eight and nine of the labor law.

§ 12. Paragraphs (c) and (e) of subdivision 1 of section 2854 of the education law, paragraph (c) as amended by section 10-b of part A of chapter 56 of the laws of 2014 and paragraph (e) as added by chapter 4 of the laws of 1998, are amended to read as follows:

(c) A charter school shall be subject to the financial audits, the audit procedures, and the audit requirements set forth in the charter, and [shall] may be subject to audits of the comptroller of the city school district of the city of New York for charter schools located in New York city, [and] to the audits of the comptroller of the state of New York for charter schools located in the rest of the state, [at his or her discretion] or the charter entity, with respect to the school's financial operations. Such procedures and standards shall be consistent with generally accepted accounting and audit standards. Independent fiscal audits shall be required at least once annually.

(e) A charter school shall be subject to the provisions of articles six and seven of the public officers law in the same manner as public school districts.

§ 13. Subdivision 1 of section 2854 of the education law is amended by adding a new paragraph (g) to read as follows:

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(g) A charter school shall be subject to the provisions of section eight hundred six of the general municipal law.

§ 14. Subdivision 2 of section 2854 of the education law, as added by chapter 4 of the laws of 1998, paragraph (a) as amended by chapter 101 of the laws of 2010, and paragraph (b) as amended by section 3 of subpart A of part B of chapter 20 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows: