Bill Text: NJ A2142 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires Commissioner of Education to accept charter school applications throughout the calendar year and expedites approval of charter school applications.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-02-11 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee [A2142 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-A2142-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman MILA M. JASEY
District 27 (Essex)
Assemblywoman ELEASE EVANS
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Requires Commissioner of Education to accept charter school applications throughout the calendar year and expedites approval of charter school applications.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning charter school applications and amending P.L. 1995, c.426.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 4 of P.L.1995, c.426 (C.18A:36A-4) is amended to read as follows:
4. a. A charter school may be established by teaching staff members, parents with children attending the schools of the district, or a combination of teaching staff members and parents. A charter school may also be established by an institution of higher education or a private entity located within the State in conjunction with teaching staff members and parents of children attending the schools of the district. If the charter school is established by a private entity, representatives of the private entity shall not constitute a majority of the trustees of the school, and the charter shall specify the extent to which the private entity shall be involved in the operation of the school. The name of the charter school shall not include the name or identification of the private entity, and the private entity shall not realize a net profit from its operation of a charter school. A private or parochial school shall not be eligible for charter school status.
b. A currently existing public school is eligible to become a charter school if the following criteria are met:
(1) At least 51% of the teaching staff in the school shall have signed a petition in support of the school becoming a charter school; and
(2) At least 51% of the parents or guardians of pupils attending that public school shall have signed a petition in support of the school becoming a charter school.
c. An application to establish a charter school shall be submitted to the commissioner and the local board of education or State district superintendent, in the case of a [State-operated] school district under full State intervention [, in the school year preceding the school year in which the charter school will be established] . An application may be submitted at any time during the calendar year . Notice of the filing of the application shall be sent immediately by the commissioner to the members of the State Legislature, school superintendents, and mayors and governing bodies of all legislative districts, school districts, or municipalities in which there are students who will be eligible for enrollment in the charter school. The board of education or State district superintendent shall review the application and forward a recommendation to the commissioner within 60 days of receipt of the application. The commissioner shall have final authority to grant or reject a charter application and shall make a decision on an application within 90 days of receipt of the application .
d. The local board of education or a charter school applicant may appeal the decision of the commissioner to the [State Board of Education. The State board shall render a decision within 30 days of the date of the receipt of the appeal. If the State board does not render a decision within 30 days, the decision of the commissioner shall be deemed final] Appellate Division of the Superior Court .
e. A charter school established during the 48 months following the effective date of this act, other than a currently existing public school which becomes a charter school pursuant to the provisions of subsection b. of section 4 of this act, shall not have an enrollment in excess of 500 students or greater than 25% of the student body of the school district in which the charter school is established, whichever is less.
Any two charter schools within the same public school district that are not operating the same grade levels may petition the commissioner to amend their charters and consolidate into one school. The commissioner may approve an amendment to consolidate, provided that the basis for consolidation is to accommodate the transfer of students who would otherwise be subject to the random selection process pursuant to section 8 of P.L.1995, c.426 (C.18A:36A-8).
(cf: P.L.2002, c.123, s.1)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
Under current law, an application to establish a charter school is submitted to the Commissioner of Education and to the local board of education or State district superintendent, in the case of a school district under full State intervention, in the school year preceding the school year in which the charter school will be established. Current regulations further require that the application be submitted by March 31st (N.J.A.C. 6A:11-2.1). The commissioner makes a decision on an application submitted by March 31st by September 30th, allowing an approved charter school a full planning year before opening the following September. The Department of Education is currently proposing amendments to these regulations that would establish an expedited approval process for charter school applications. Under the proposed regulations, the commissioner will make a decision on an application submitted by October 15th by January 15th, allowing an approved charter school to open the following September.
This bill directs the commissioner to accept an application at any time during the calendar year and removes the requirement that an application be submitted in the school year preceding the school year in which the charter school will be established. The bill requires the commissioner to make a decision on an application within 90 days of its receipt.
The bill also makes a number of technical changes to conform its provisions to more recently enacted law.
