NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A3289A
SPONSOR: Bichotte (MS) TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the education law, in relation to the
enrollment of students at charter schools, the suspension of students at
charter schools and the administration of charter schools
PURPOSE:
To increase transparency and accountability of charter schools operating
in this State.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 would require charter schools to include a code of conduct
with their application, and discipline their students in accordance with
disciplinary procedures applicable to public school students. This
section also requires that applications to establish a charter school in
New York City must specify the community school district where the char-
ter school will be located and whether the applicant will request to be
co-located in an existing school facility or will be located in a
private space. If the application is approved, the charter school can
only be located in the community school district listed on the applica-
tion.
Section 2 would require any renewal application to include an audit
report on whether the charter school during the term of the charter
complied with all applicable laws, including the not-forprofit corpo-
ration laws.
Section 3 provides that a charter cannot be renewed for any charter
school that, during the term of the charter, failed to: (1) meet the
goals set forth in the application; (2) improve student achievement; (3)
meet the statutory objectives of a charter school; (4) maintain the
enrollment, suspension, and attrition rates of either all students or
English language learner (ELL) students, whom are eligible for the free
or reduced price lunch program or are student with disabilities, within
5% of the rates for the school district, or the community school
district for New York City, where the charter school is located; (5)
pass an audit that finds the charter school has been encouraging
students to leave or pushing students out for illegitimate reasons; or
(6) comply with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Law,
Personal Privacy Protection Law, and Open Meetings Law.
Section 4 would require any student withdrawal to be accompanied by a
written certification that the student withdrew voluntarily without
undue influence by school officials.
Section 5 sets forth the procedures for suspending a student enrolled in
a charter school. Such procedures are consistent with those applicable
to the suspension of public school students. A charter school must also
provide full-time alternative instruction for a student that is
suspended and the charter school must provide notice of the time and
location of the alternative instruction to the student and the student's
parents or legal guardians.
Section 5 also requires a charter school to post its charter and poli-
cies on its website in a conspicuous location and make them available
within 5 days upon request. A charter school must also post on its
website a clear and simple process to file complaints and appeals. Addi-
tionally, within three years of the effective date, half of the board
membership of a charter school must be comprised of parents or guardians
of the enrolled students.
Section 6 would authorize the State Comptroller to audit student attend-
ance and to recover any payments made to a charter school on behalf of
students who have been dismissed or withdrew from the school during the
school year. A charter school would be required to use the same methods
used by the school district the charter school is located in to ensure
blind scoring of state exams as well as other methods used by school
district to ensure the integrity of the results. The State Comptroller
and the New York City Comptroller would be authorized to conduct
performance audits to review a charter school's performance.
Section 6 would also require charter schools to comply with the Freedom
of Information Law, Personal Privacy Protection Law, and Open Meetings
Law.
Section 7 would authorize the charter entity to revoke the charter of
any school that equals or falls below the level that would allow the
commissioner to revoke the registration of a public school; or that
fails to comply with special education, ELL or free and reduced price
lunch program student targets; or fails to maintain the enrollment,
suspension, and attrition rates of all students or ELL students that are
eligible for the free or reduced price lunch program, or students with
disabilities; or an audit reveals that students were encouraged to leave
or pushed out for illegitimate reasons; or fails to comply with the
Freedom of Information Law, Personal Privacy Protection Law, and Open
Meetings Law.
Section 8 would add measures to be included in the school report card of
a charter school, including:
* number of openings for new students prior to beginning of the new
school year, by grade;
* number of students, including those that are ELL or are free and
reduced price lunch program students or students with disabilities, who
withdrew, dropped out or were dismissed and the reasons therefore;
* number of teachers and administrators employed at the beginning of the
school year, and their salaries, other compensation or bonuses; and *
number of teachers and administrators who left during or at the end of
the school year, and the reasons therefore.
Section 8 would also require the commissioner to issue a report by
December 31, 2020, and every two years thereafter, which shall include
withdrawal and dismissal rates of students enrolled in charter schools;
the number of special education, ELL and free and reduced lunch students
enrolled at each school; and the total amount of spent on administration
by each charter school, as compared with public schools.
Section 8 would also require charter schools to submit a report by
August 1, annually, to the State Education Department that details the
preceding school year's enrollment, suspension, and attrition rates of
all students, including those that are ELLs, eligible for the free or
reduced price lunch program, or are students with disabilities, and the
reasons for the suspension, dismissal, or withdrawal. The reporting of
suspension rates must include the number of in-school and out-of school
suspensions, the total number of suspensions, and the number of individ-
ual students who receive suspensions.
Section 8 would also require the commissioner to issue a report by
December 31, annually, the enrollment, suspension, and attrition rates
of all students, including those that are ELLs, eligible for the free or
reduced price lunch program, or are students with disabilities, and the
reasons for the suspension, dismissal, or withdrawal. Additionally, by
December 31, 2020, and every two years thereafter, the State Comp-
troller, for charter schools outside of New York City, and the New York
City Comptroller, for charter schools within New York City, would be
required to audit such information provided by each charter school. A
component of these audits must include a sampling of students who were
dismiss or withdrew from charter schools to assess the accuracy of the
reported reasons for dismissal or withdrawal.
Section 8 would require the State Education Department to appoint an
ombudsperson to support and advise parents and guardians of charter
school students who have specific issues and complaints, and to investi-
gate and resolve those complaints. The ombudsperson would be required to
report the number of complaints received, the types of complaints, and
if and how the complaints were resolved.
Section 9 would require charter schools to receive the approval of the
local board of education where the charter school will be located, or
community education council if the charter school would be located in
New York City, prior to submitting an application to charter.
Section 10 sets forth the severability clause.
Section 11 provides that the act shall take effect immediately.
JUSTIFICATION:
The original concept of charter schools is that when they are author-
ized, they would be given increased autonomy in return for greater
accountability for improving and advancing student achievement. When the
New York State charter school laws were first enacted in 1998, its stat-
utory purpose was, among other goals, to improve student learning and
achievement, and to increase learning opportunities for all students,
with special emphasis on expanded learning experiences for students who
are at-risk of academic failure.
Almost twenty years later, there remains an on-going debate whether
charter schools in this State are in fact achieving their statutory
goals; in particular, educating and retaining ELL students, students
with disabilities, and students from under-served families, the very
students that charter schools were created to serve. There is also a
growing concern that charter schools routinely suspend or expel low
performing students, or pressure them to withdraw from the school.
Despite repeated inquiry and requests, charter schools have not been
forthcoming in providing the necessary data to determine the accuracy of
these criticisms. Any form of accountability relies on transparency and
the communication of accurate, relevant information. This bill would,
among other things:
1. Increase the reporting requirements of charter schools and the
Commissioner of Education;
2. Require charter schools to adhere to the same disciplinary rules and
procedures as those imposed on public schools; and
3. Clarify that charter schools that do not meet their statutory and
contractual goals should not have their charters renewed.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2017-2018: A3791 - Referred to Education
2015-2016: A10304 - Referred to Education/S.7703 - Referred to Education
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Minimal
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately
