Amendment ID: S2350-29

Amendment 29

Charter School Policy Review Commission

Ms. Comerford and Mr. Hinds move that the proposed new draft be amended by adding the following section:

“SECTION xx. (a) There shall be a Charter School Policy Review Commission to study the fiscal and educational impact of the Commonwealth’s policy for charter schools and make policy recommendations in the form of legislation for equitably maximizing educational achievement for all students in the Commonwealth.

(b) The members of the commission shall be

(1) The house and senate chairs of the joint committee on education, who shall be co-chairs of the commission;

(2) Two additional members of the senate, one appointed by the senate president, and one appointed by the senate minority leader;

(3) Two additional members of the house of representatives, one appointed by the speaker, and one appointed by the house minority leader;

(4) The commissioner of the department of elementary and secondary education;

(5) A public school teacher appointed by the Massachusetts Teachers Association;

(6) A public school teacher appointed by the American Federation of Teachers, Massachusetts;

(7) A school district superintendent appointed by the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents;

(8) A representative of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees;

(9) Four local government representatives, including one person appointed by the Massachusetts Municipal Association; and three people appointed by the co-chairs of the commission: one representing a gateway city, one representing a town participating in a regional school district; and one person representing a city or town which spends more than 7 percent of its net education funding on charter schools;

(10) A representative of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center;

(11) A representative of a business organization selected by the co-chairs;

(12) A representative of the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association;

(13) Two parents or guardians of children in school, chosen by the Massachusetts PTA, one of whom has a child in a charter school.

(c)  The commission shall review state charter school oversight and funding policies, and make policy recommendations, including proposed legislation, for consideration by the General Court. The commission’s review shall consider the impact on individual schools and municipalities, on regions of the commonwealth and on the commonwealth as a whole towards equitably maximizing educational achievement for all students in the commonwealth of the following policy questions:

(1) the extent to which charter schools serve a broad diversity of students reflective of the school-age population of the commonwealth, including diversity among the student body in terms of race and ethnic background, poverty level, immigrant status, native language and other factors, and the impact of current funding formulas on districts sending students to charter schools in light of the differences in student population make-up among charter schools and sending districts;

(2) the impact on educational achievement of permitting the granting of additional charters as authorized under section 89 of chapter 71 of the General Laws prior to fully providing the school assistance and charter school funding levels as intended by this act;

(3) how to provide for accountability of charter schools to the public, to local school boards, and to municipal leadership of localities sending students to the school;

(4) the extent to which the current charter reimbursements to sending schools takes into account all of the costs remaining or imposed on the sending school despite the student attending a charter school;

(5) the  extent to which charter schools equitable advance the broad education goals of the commonwealth, including educational goals not captured by standardized tests or other achievement metrics;

(6) whether the current charter school funding system sufficiently takes into account the cost and other impacts on districts of special education students, English learner and low-income students not going to charter school, including the intensity of the needs of the students remaining in a district compared to those going to charter schools;

(7) whether the legislative process for determining charter funding and reimbursement levels appropriately takes into account the total budgetary needs of elementary and secondary education and other state spending priorities, including a consideration of the advantages of allocating charter funding via an independent budgetary line item;

(8) whether state educational and funding policy adequately takes into account the transfer of students from charter schools back to their sending district schools, including students who are suspended or unenrolled from their charter school;

(9) if the current charter funding formula produces an inequitable disparate regional impact.

(e) All meetings of the commission shall comply with sections 18 to 25 of chapter 30A of the General Laws. As part of its deliberations, the commission shall hold at least 4 public hearings, including one in the central and one in the western part of the commonwealth.

(f) The commission may engage an outside group with expertise in municipal finance to conduct research and consult with the commission. Funding for public hearings and for such consulting shall be provided by the department of elementary and secondary education.

(g) The commission shall issue its report no later than 9 months following the enactment of this section. Copies of the report shall be filed with the clerks of the house of representatives and senate, and provided to the committees on education and ways and means.

(h) Notwithstanding section (i) of chapter 89 of the General Laws, the board of elementary and secondary education shall not approve any new charter schools from the date of the enactment of this section until 9 months following the delivery of the report under subsection (g)."