Public School Finance Legislation & its Impact on Charters

The full Senate gave approval to SB 256, the School Finance Act bill, on Friday. The bill now goes to the House Education committee for hearing. Numerous provisions in the bill pertain to charter schools in general and also specifically to state Charter School Institute schools.

The bill is online and the Assistant Commissioner for Public School Finance has a summary.

Here's a list of some of the charter school provisions:
* Eliminates the Instructional Supplies and Materials and the Capital/Insurance Reserve minimums.
* Gives CSI schools at-risk funding, centers of excellence funding and online funding on a per student basis calculated on their district of residence's funding.
* Changes the formula for distributing Charter School Capital Construction from a set pool of funds divided by the number of eligible charter school students to $140 per pupil in FY 2009-10 and $160 per pupil in FY 2010-11. This equates to $7.2 million in the next fiscal year.
* Requires charter schools to report students qualifying for at-risk funding and requires certain minimum levels of funding for at-risk student strategies.
* Requires students enrolled in 6th grade, on the day of enrollment, to be registered in College in Colorado, but stipulates communication with the student cannot occur until the student enrolls in 9th grade.