State Superintendent Zais Praises Passage of Public Charter School Bill

COLUMBIA, SC – May 2, 2012 – State Superintendent of Education MickZais issued the following statement after the General Assembly adoptedthe conference report accompanying H.3241, a bill to strengthen publiccharter schools in South Carolina, on Tuesday, May 1.  The Senateadopted the conference report by a bipartisan vote of 40-0, and theHouse adopted by the conference report by a bipartisan vote of 87-15.
 
Dr. Zais said, “The General Assembly has renewed its commitment toproviding parents a choice in the school their children attend.  Aone-size-fits-all model of education simply doesn’t work for manystudents.  Public charter schools are laboratories of innovation wherethe interests of students come first.  I thank the General Assembly forpassing this legislation with strong bipartisan support.  I urgeGovernor Haley, an ardent public charter school supporter, to sign thebill at the earliest convenience.”
 
Policy highlights of the legislation, H.3241, include the following:
 

• Permits the creation of single-gender public charter schools (all boys or all girls schools).
• Permits institutions of higher education to sponsor public charter schools.
• Permits public charter school board members to serve more than a one-year term and may serve multiple terms.
• Permits public charter school students to participate inextracurricular activities, including athletics, at their residentpublic school if that activity or athletic team is not offered by thepublic charter school they attend.  A “resident public school” is thepublic school the student would attend if they were not enrolled intheir public charter school.  Students will be required to pay any feesthat other students pay to participate and are eligible for fee waiversavailable to other students.
• Changes the composition of the Charter School Advisory Committee toinclude a public charter school principal and a public charter schoolboard member.  This committee, a separate entity from the SCDE,determines whether or not a public charter school application is incompliance with state public charter school law before the applicationcan be considered by a public charter school sponsor.
• Requires the Charter School Advisory Committee to notify the countylegislative delegation in which a proposed public charter school is tobe located upon receipt of a public charter school application.
• Prohibits a governing board or a school district employee who hascontrol over personnel actions from taking unlawful reprisal againstanother employee of the school district because the employee is directlyor indirectly involved in an application to establish a public charterschool.
• Requires school districts to release funds for public charterschools in a timely manner.  Failure to release funds in a timely mannermay result in a fine levied on the school district in an amountequivalent to the withheld funds.