Brief (1)
Senate Sub. for HB 2357 amends the state's charter school law to do the following.
Limitation on Total Number of Charter Schools. The limit on the number of charter schools that may be approved by the State Board of Education is increased from 15 to 30.
Limitation on Number of Charter Schools Operated by a School District. The limit of two on the number of charter schools that may be operated by any school district is removed.
Background
HB 2357 proposed to create the Kansas Postsecondary Education Savings Program. In fact, such legislation was enacted in 1999 in SB 45, the Tax Reform and Relief Act of 1999.
The Senate Committee on Education initially amended HB 2357 by removing the Kansas Postsecondary Education Savings Program provisions and inserting an amendment of the state's charter school law to remove the cap on the number of schools that may be approved by the State Board of Education. Thus, the resulting Senate Sub. for HB 2357 then contained one of the substantive provisions previously found in the House Committee of the Whole amendments to HB 2810, but which were removed from that bill by Senate Committee on Education amendments. During discussion in the House Committee of the Whole, it was noted that the current cap (15) on the number of charter schools results in making Kansas ineligible to compete with other states for federal funding that is available to provide seed money for initiation of charter schools. Removing (or increasing) the cap would allow Kansas to engage in the competition for these federal funds.
Subsequently, the Senate Committee on Education amended the substitute bill to increase the cap on the number of charter schools to 30 and to eliminate the two-school limit on the number of charter schools a school district may operate.
At hearings before the Senate Education Committee, patrons of the St. Joe Ost elementary school in the Renwick school district (USD 267) expressed support for the bill. These patrons explained efforts that have been made to maintain and continue operation of this small elementary school which, according to the patrons, the school board prefers to close. These patrons believe that the charter school alternative could be helpful to them in preserving the school. The Kansas National Education Association expressed support for the bill and urged the addition of an appeals process. The Kansas Association of School Boards endorsed the concept contained in the substitute bill and urged broadening of the authority of charter schools to operate outside the limitation of many state statutes.
1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/bill_search.html