Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools
LAPCS 2010 End of Session Report

The gavel went down at 6 pm on Monday, June 21st, marking the end of a long and eventful (!) legislative session. An end-of-session report of all charter-specific
bills follows.

Also, look out for our Annual Legislative Report that includes a complete breakdown of the session as well as voting records, which will be completed later this summer and made available online.

As always, please don't hesitate to contact us with any questions.
 
HOUSE BILLS
 
PASSED          HB 1 STATE BUDGET (Author: Fannin)
 
This bill does include all the requisite monies for the RSD to pay property insurance for all of its schools, including charter schools. However, it was made abundantly clear that these monies will likely be unavailable in future years, and we are already working on potential alternatives.  We will keep you informed.
 
 
PASSED          HB 388 LEAVE OF ABSENCE  (Author: P. Smith)
 
This bill removes from the law the leave of absence provision that requires a local school board to grant a leave of absence, not to exceed three years, to any employee in its school system requesting such leave in order to be employed in a charter school. It also provides that the transfer of a local school board employee to a Type 4 charter school shall be governed by the transfer policy of the local school board.
 
 
PASSED          HB 420 CHARTER SCHOOL FUNDING  (Author: Leger)
 
This legislation is specific to Type 1, 2, 3 and 4 charter schools.  It requires the MFP to be calculated based on "projected prior year revenues" rather than current year amounts, and deletes the provision which permitted these schools to receive a "higher than" calculation for their MFP dollars.  Furthermore, the bill requires charter schools in district facilities to pay the bond debt associated with the district facility.  (Those charter schools not housed in district facilities will not service their local district's bond debt.)
 
NOTE: In June, BESE changed its funding policy for Type 5 charters to mirror this legislation; specifically, the MFP for Type 5 schools will now be calculated based on "projected prior year revenue" as well.
 
 
DEAD             HB 658 MANDATES CHARTER SCHOOLS PARTICIPATE IN TEACHER
                       RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF LA (Author: Ritchie)
 
 
PASSED          HB 1033 TEACHER EVALUATION (Author: Hoffman)
 
This bill originally impacted public schools only; however, as it wound through the legislative process, it was amended to include charter schools. Current law permits charter school governing authorities to determine if the charter school faculty and staff will participate in any state-required assessment and evaluation program.  New law requires all public school districts, including a charter school's governing authority, to annually evaluate every teacher at the school.
 
In addition, it provides that by the 2012-13 school year, 50% of each teacher's evaluation shall be based on evidence of growth in student achievement using a value-added assessment model (as determined by BESE) for each subject in which value-added data is available. The bill also requires BESE to establish measures of student growth for grades and subjects for which value-added data is not available.  Moreover, any teacher or principal receiving less than satisfactory evaluations for three consecutive years must be terminated.
 
Furthermore, BESE must adopt a policy to invalidate such student growth data for any teacher when a school temporarily closes due to natural disaster or any other unexpected events. The value-added model shall take into account special education, eligibility for free or reduced price meals, student attendance, and student discipline. Plus, this bill permits the state superintendent of education to make this school-level data available to the public for conducting statistical analyses.
 
 
PASSED          HB 1487 SPECIAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS (Author: Leger)
 
This bill requires charter schools to comply with two existing state statutes:  RS 17:3911, which mandates all LEA's across the state collect and submit student-specific data information, including but not limited to suspension and expulsion data; and RS 17:252, which mandates all LEA's across the state adhere to BESE's Model Master Plan for Positive Behavioral Supports.
 
 
SENATE BILLS

 
PASSED          SB 66 CREATION OF ATTENDANCE ZONES (Author: Morrell)

NOTE: This bill was ultimately amended onto Leger's HB 1487.
 
This bill permits charter schools that serve elementary and/or middle school students to request an attendance zone; such a request must be approved by the petitioning school's authorizer before it can take effect.
 
NOTE:  In May, BESE passed an executive recommendation for staff to review and make recommendations regarding attendance zones for Recovery Schools District schools.
 
 
DEAD             SB 74 CHARTER SCHOOL ADVISORY BOARDS (Author: Morrell)
 
 
PASSED          SB 240 OPSB $9 MILLION CARVE-OUT (Author: Murray)
 
This legislation allows the Orleans Parish School Board to withhold up to $6 million of the voter approved millage for certain legacy costs across ALL public school students. The bill is extremely prescriptive and includes dollars for the following: workers compensation claims prior to August 25, 2005; legal claims directly associated with Hurricane Katrina; retiree insurance; the cost of borrowing to allow for forward funding of the MFP to all public schools; and, $1.2 million from OPSB to the RSD for alternative education schools. The result will be approximately $160 per student for all public schools.
 
 
PASSED          SB 274 TRSL MANDATE ONLY FOR FORMER DISTRICT TEACHERS AT                         CHARTER SCHOOLS (Author: Heitmeier)
 
This bill permits charter schools to request an amendment from their authorizers such that teachers previously enrolled in TRSL (due to prior employment with a school district) may continue active membership in TRSL throughout the duration of their employment at the charter school.  A teacher who was never enrolled in TRSL before beginning employment with the charter school may not be eligible to participate in TRSL.
 
Additionally, this bill provides a buy-back for prior service (i.e., a service credit) for those teachers who may return to a district school after working at a charter school that does not provide TRSL.  TRSL teachers who leave a district and subsequently teach at a nonpublic school are able to avail themselves of such service credits when they return to a district public school.
 
NOTE: This bill cannot take effect until after the IRS approves it.  A request seeking such approval was submitted by TRSL in mid-March and continues to await decision.  We will keep you posted.
 
 
PASSED          SB 344 LOCAL AUTHORIZER TRANSPARENCY & AUTOMOATIC
                        RENEWALS (Author: Duplessis)
 
NOTE:  HB 962, authored by Rep. Steve Carter, was the companion bill on the House side, and mirrors the exact language of this bill.
 
This bill expands the transparency of local authorizers during the approval and renewal process. Specifically, for the approval process, local authorizers now must furnish all application requirements on the local district's website, must review all applications over a 90-day period, and must issue all decisions in writing no later than May 31st of each year.
 
For the renewal process, local authorizers must notify a charter operator in writing of any decisions made relative to the renewal or non-renewal of a school's charter not later than January 31st of the year in which the charter would expire.
 
Additionally, a charter school which has met or exceeded the benchmarks established for it in accordance with the school and district accountability system, has demonstrated growth in student achievement, and has had no significant audit findings for the three consecutive years prior to its consideration for renewal shall be deemed a high-performing school and its charter shall be automatically renewed (the term of such renewal, however, is not automatic and must be determined by the school's authorizer).
 
Finally, this bill contains language impacting Type 2 conversion charter schools, in particular, payment of a proportionate share of bond indebtedness and payment of rent up to the facility's fair market value.
 
 
DEAD             SB 353 NO LOCAL FUNDS TO TYPE 2 SCHOOLS UNLESS A SPECIAL
                       ELECTION SO PERMITS (Author: Nevers)
 
 
PASSED          SB 492 FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE (Author: Nevers)
 
This bill requires each member of the governing authority or management board of a charter school to file a "Tier 3" financial disclosure report as required by current Ethics Law.

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Other News of Interest:

Still need a hotel room for the National Charter Schools Conference in Chicago June 28-July1?  Please contact Dr. Rosalind Pijeaux Hale, Chair of the Department of Education at Xavier University, who is trying to give away her room that she reserved for the charter schools conference, as she cannot attend. Her numbers at Xavier are 504 520 7536 and 504 520 7498.

School Siting Summit Registration is now open!  Registration is now available for the School Siting Summit taking place on July 21st in New Orleans.  Please visit http://www.coweninstitute.com/sitingsummit/ for registration and additional information about the summit.