Senate Grants Final Passage to the School Choice and Student Opportunity Act

MONTGOMERY, Ala – The Alabama Senate tonight voted to give final passage to Senate Bill 45. The vote will send the School Choice and Student Opportunity Act to Governor Robert Bentley to be signed into law.

This legislation is a key piece of the Alabama Senate’s “Paving a Path to the Future” Legislative agenda.

The School Choice and Student Opportunity Act is designed to create an application process for local school boards so that they may establish public charter schools, both new and conversion, giving parents the ability to choose the education that is best for their child.

A public charter school is defined as a public school that has autonomy over key decisions like finance, personnel and schedule curriculum.  In return, the school must meet strict performance and accountability standards.

All charter schools in Alabama will be held to the highest level of accountability. Excellence will be demanded. If a school does not meet the expectations set in their charter, they will be closed. In addition, to meeting performance standards, they would also be required to submit their school’s finances for independent audit on an annual basis.

A cap of 10 new public charters may be created during a single fiscal year, for the first five years.

There is no limit on conversion charters, however all decisions to approve or reject these types of charters are made by local school board.

Senate Majority Leader Greg Reed (R-Jasper) applauded the passage of the Schools Choice and Student Opportunity Act.

“In the first few weeks of the regular session we have addressed specific agenda items put forward by Members of the Alabama Senate including legislation related to charter schools,” Senator Reed said. “We will continue to focus on legislation that is part of the expansive 2015 Alabama Senate legislative agenda.”

Senator Del Marsh (R-Anniston) said that he looked forward to the School Choice and Student Opportunity Act becoming law.

“I want to thank all those who were involved in the process of passing this legislation. I am glad we were able to bring so many to the table to give Alabama parents the best educational options possible,” Senator Marsh said. “Throughout this whole process, we worked closely with the Executive and the Legislative branches and I look forward to Governor Bentley signing the School Choice and Student Opportunity Act.”

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Courtesy of alprotem.com

House Approves School Choice and Student Opportunity Act

Montgomery – The House of Representatives on Wednesday awarded its approval to the “School Choice and Student Opportunity Act,” a measure sponsored in the House by State Rep. Terri Collins (R – Decatur) and designed to empower parents and expand school choice options through the creation of public charter schools in Alabama.

The bill is part of the House Republican Caucus’s “Alabama First” legislative agenda.

“Every child in Alabama deserves a high quality education, and the School Choice and Student Opportunity Act empowers parents with another choice for their child’s education,” Collins said. “It is time for Alabama to join the other 42 states that provide this innovative option to educators, parents, and students.”

Collins, who chairs the House Education Policy Committee, noted that legislators had the benefit of looking at legislation in 42 states across the nation to create the best possible public charter bill for Alabama.  In fact, the National Association of Charter School Authorizers stated SB45 is “one of the most accountability focused charter school laws in the country.”

Public charter schools are open to any Alabama student, and their administrators have autonomy over key decisions like finance, personnel, schedule, and curriculum.  In return, the schools are held to the highest levels of accountability.

The bill would allow for conversion public charter schools, which are existing public schools that wish to operate as a charter, and start-up public charter schools, which are newly created public charter schools.  A limit of 10 new public charter schools could be created in each fiscal year for the first five years of implementation.  The number of conversion public charter schools that may be approved is unlimited.

Public charter school applications must exhibit community support and the local school board has the right of first refusal it comes to bringing a charter to their system.  The bill also creates the Alabama Public Charter Commission, which is appointed by the State Board of Education, to hear appeals of start-up charter school applications that have been denied.

“We must continue to be innovative and expand our educational options until every single child in Alabama is graduating from our schools with the skills they need for additional education or a career,” Collins said.  “While there is no silver bullet to fix our educational issues, I believe that the School Choice and Student Opportunity Act will give more Alabama families the chance at a better education for their children.”

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Courtesy of alhousegop.com

House Minority Leader Craig Ford Statement On Passage of Charter School Bill

"Charter schools have been a legislative priority for the Republican leadership, so it is no surprise that this bill was passed. But just like with the budget crisis, legislative leaders are avoiding the problem; they are not actually helping or fixing failing schools. The experience in other states has proven that charter schools are a scam: they have bilked the taxpayers out of at least $130 million dollars, and failed to produce better academic results. The charter school bill we passed today does not solve these problems. For the sake of our children and the taxpayers, I hope Gov. Bentley will veto this terrible bill.”