Increases the cap on the total number of charter schools in the state to four hundred; permits operation of schools for different grades at additional sites; provides that the incorporation period run with the school year.

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S6339-2009 Actions

• Jan 6, 2010: REFERRED TO EDUCATION
• Dec 11, 2009: REFERRED TO RULES

S6339-2009 Memo

 BILL NUMBER:  S6339               REVISED 12/21/09

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the education law, in relation to increasing the cap
on the total number of charter schools in the state to four hundred;
permitting charter schools to house grades at additional sites; and in
relation to the authorized period of incorporation


 PURPOSE :

To amend current law to increase the current charter school cap; allow
charter schools to contract directly with BOCES, allow a single
charter school board to oversee multiple sites and amend the current
duration of charter incorporation to be 5 instructional years.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1: Increases the charter cap from two hundred to four hundred.

Section 2: Authorizes charter schools to house a single grade at more
than one site, with each additional site counted toward the existing
cap of charter schools.

Sections 3 & 4: Clarifies that the period of incorporation for a
charter school shall comprise 5 instructional years.

Section 5: Allow BOCES to enter into contract and provide services to
charter schools.

 JUSTIFICATION :

The provisions included in this legislative proposal would serve to
increase New York's already competitive position for Race to the Top
funding.

Under current law, there are less than 40 charters still available to
be issued. Given the growth and success of charter schools in New York
State, it is reasonable to believe that the current cap will be
reached early in the coming year. Therefore, it is necessary to raise
the cap to allow for future growth. Increasing the cap could also help
New York State to achieve maximum competitiveness in pursuit of Race
to the Top funding.

Authorizing a charter school to house a grade at more than one site,
subject to the approval of a charter authorizer, will enable
replication of successful charter schools and expand opportunities for
parents to send their children to proven educational models,
especially for high school grades.  This is critical to encourage more
charter high school opportunities for students, which generally have
higher operating costs, particularly those students in similar
programs ending at the middle school level. It is important to note
that a charter school housing a single grade at more than one site, as
provided by this bill, would count each additional site toward the
exiting cap of 200 charters issued.

Under current law, charter schools are authorized to incorporate for
five years after initial approval, and then must reapply. Since
opening a school is a complex endeavor, many charter school boards
take a year or more to hire staff, find a location and plan before
opening for instruction. Allowing the education corporation to
incorporate immediately after approval is necessary to allow for the
normal business that is necessary to open a school, such as acquiring
space and entering into contracts with teachers. By making this
change, charter schools will be able to take the necessary steps to
open the school, while at the same time ensuring that there is
adequate pupil data available for review upon their application for
renewal.

Finally, by allowing charter schools to purchase services directly
from BOCES, charter schools will be better positioned to achieve cost
saving through the economy of scale achieved through shared services.
Further, allowing these contracts will put charter schools in a far
stronger position to provide services to English language learners and
students with disabilities.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

This is a new bill.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

To be determined.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
Section 1 would take effect July 1, 2010. The remaining sections would
take effect 90 days after enactment.

S6339-2009 Text

                      S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
  ________________________________________________________________________

                                    6339

                         2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                              I N  SENATE

                              December 11, 2009
                                 ___________

  Introduced by Sens. SMITH, ESPADA -- read twice and ordered printed, and
    when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules

  AN  ACT to amend the education law, in relation to increasing the cap on
    the total number of charter schools in  the  state  to  four  hundred;
    permitting charter schools to house grades at additional sites; and in
    relation to the authorized period of incorporation

    THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
  BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


    Section 1. Subdivision 9 of section 2852  of  the  education  law,  as
  amended  by  section 2 of part D-2 of chapter 57 of the laws of 2007, is
  amended to read as follows:

    9. The total number of charters issued pursuant to this article  shall
  not  exceed [two] FOUR hundred. [One] TWO hundred of such charters shall
  be issued on the recommendation of the charter entity described in para-
  graph (b) of subdivision three of section twenty-eight hundred fifty-one
  of this article, and [one] TWO hundred of such charters shall be  issued
  on  the recommendation of the other charter entities set forth in subdi-
  vision three of section twenty-eight hundred fifty-one of this  article,
  provided  that  up  to fifty of the additional charters authorized to be
  issued by [the] chapter FIFTY-SEVEN of the laws of  two  thousand  seven
  [which  amended  this  subdivision  effective  July  first, two thousand
  seven] shall be reserved for a city school district of a city  having  a
  population  of one million or more. The failure of any body to issue the
  regulations authorized pursuant  to  this  article  shall  not  [effect]
  AFFECT  the  authority  of  a charter entity to propose a charter to the
  board of regents or the board of regents' authority to grant such  char-
  ter.  A  conversion  of an existing public school to a charter school or
  the renewal or extension of a charter shall not be  counted  toward  the
  numerical limits established by this subdivision.

   EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                        [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                             LBD15078-01-9

 S. 6339                             2

    S 2. Paragraph (b-1) of subdivision 1 of section 2853 of the education
  law,  as  added  by chapter 4 of the laws of 1998, is amended to read as
  follows:

    (b-1) An education corporation operating a charter school shall not be
  authorized to operate more than one school [or] BUT MAY BE AUTHORIZED TO
  house any grade at more than one site[, provided that:
    (A)  a].  A CHARTER SCHOOL HOUSING TWO OR MORE GRADES AT MORE THAN ONE
  SITE SHALL HAVE EACH SUCH ADDITIONAL SITE DEEMED AS A CHARTER ISSUED FOR
  THE PURPOSES OF SUBDIVISION NINE OF SECTION TWENTY-EIGHT HUNDRED  FIFTY-
  TWO  OF  THIS ARTICLE. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF THIS CHAP-
  TER, APPROVAL OF REVISIONS TO A CHARTER  OR  CHARTERS  TO  AUTHORIZE  AN
  EDUCATION  CORPORATION  TO  HOUSE  ANY  GRADE OR GRADES AT MORE THAN ONE
  SITE, INCLUDING THE MERGER OR CONSOLIDATION OF EXISTING EDUCATION CORPO-
  RATIONS OPERATING CHARTER SCHOOLS TO  A  SINGLE  EDUCATION  CORPORATION,
  SHALL  BE  MADE IN ACCORDANCE WITH PARAGRAPH (A) OF SUBDIVISION SEVEN OF
  SECTION TWENTY-EIGHT HUNDRED FIFTY-TWO OF THIS ARTICLE. UPON SUCH MERGER
  OR CONSOLIDATION, THE SURVIVING OR CONSOLIDATED  EDUCATION  CORPORATION,
  PLUS  ANY  SUCH  ADDITIONAL  SITES,  SHALL  EACH BE COUNTED AS A CHARTER
  ISSUED FOR THE PURPOSES OF  SUBDIVISION  NINE  OF  SECTION  TWENTY-EIGHT
  HUNDRED FIFTY-TWO OF THIS ARTICLE. IF A CHARTER SCHOOL HAS EMPLOYEES WHO
  ARE  MEMBERS OF A COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ORGANIZATION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE
  FOURTEEN OF THE CIVIL SERVICE LAW THAT MERGES  OR  CONSOLIDATES  WITH  A
  CHARTER  SCHOOL WHOSE EMPLOYEES ARE NOT MEMBERS OF A COLLECTIVE BARGAIN-
  ING ORGANIZATION, EMPLOYEES OF THE MERGED OR CONSOLIDATED CHARTER SCHOOL
  SHALL BE MEMBERS OF THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ORGANIZATION THAT  REPRES-
  ENTED  LIKE  POSITIONS,  IF ANY, PRIOR TO THE MERGER OR CONSOLIDATION. A
  charter school may operate in more than one building at a  single  site;
  and
    [(B)]  a  charter school which provides instruction to its students at
  different locations for a portion of their school day shall be deemed to
  be operating at a single site; AND A CHARTER SCHOOL  OPERATING  AT  MORE
  THAN  ONE  SITE  BUT  WHICH  HOUSES EACH GRADE AT A SINGLE SITE SHALL BE
  DEEMED TO BE OPERATING AT A SINGLE SITE.
    S 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 2853 of  the  education
  law,  as  added  by chapter 4 of the laws of 1998, is amended to read as
  follows:

    (a) Upon the approval of a charter by the board of regents, the  board
  of  regents  shall incorporate the charter school as an education corpo-
  ration for a term not to exceed five SCHOOL 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.    Such  certificate  of  incorporation shall not modify or
  limit any terms of the charter approved by the board  of  regents.  Upon
  approval  of  an  application  to  renew a charter, the board of regents
  shall extend the certificate of incorporation for a term not  to  exceed
  five  SCHOOL  years, PLUS THE PERIOD, IF ANY, COMMENCING WITH THE EFFEC-
  TIVE DATE OF THE RENEWAL CHARTER AND ENDING WITH THE FIRST  DAY  OF  THE
  FIRST  FULL  SCHOOL  YEAR  IN  WHICH  INSTRUCTION  IS PROVIDED UNDER THE
  RENEWAL CHARTER. Upon termination or nonrenewal  of  the  charter  of  a
  charter  school  pursuant  to section twenty-eight hundred fifty-five of
  this article, the certificate of incorporation  of  the  charter  school
  shall be revoked by the board of regents pursuant to section two hundred
  nineteen  of  this chapter, provided that compliance with the notice and
  hearing requirements of such section twenty-eight hundred fifty-five  of
  this  article shall be deemed to satisfy the notice and hearing require-
  ments of such section two hundred nineteen. It shall be the duty of  the

 S. 6339                             3

  trustees  of  the  charter school to obtain federal tax-exempt status no
  later than one year following approval of a charter school by the  board
  of regents. For purposes of this article, "certificate of incorporation"
  shall  mean  the  provisional  charter issued by the board of regents to
  form the charter  school  as  an  educational  corporation  pursuant  to
  sections two hundred sixteen and two hundred seventeen of this chapter.
    S  4.  Paragraph (p) of subdivision 2 of section 2851 of the education
  law, as added by chapter 4 of the laws of 1998, is amended  to  read  as
  follows:

    (p)  The  term  of  the  proposed charter, which shall not exceed five
  SCHOOL years IN WHICH INSTRUCTION IS PROVIDED TO PUPILS, PLUS ANY  ADDI-
  TIONAL PERIOD AUTHORIZED PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH (A) OF SUBDIVISION ONE OF
  SECTION TWENTY-EIGHT HUNDRED FIFTY-THREE OF THIS ARTICLE.
    S 5. Paragraph h of subdivision 4 of section 1950 of the education law
  is amended by adding a new subparagraph 8 to read as follows:

    (8) TO ENTER INTO CONTRACTS WITH CHARTER SCHOOLS AUTHORIZED BY ARTICLE
  FIFTY-SIX  OF  THIS  CHAPTER,  TO PROVIDE SERVICES AS AUTHORIZED BY THIS
  SECTION.
    S 6. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
  have  become  a  law;  provided  that section one of this act shall take
  effect July 1, 2010.