Maine Won't Have First Charter School Until at Least July 2012

Maine now has its first charter school law, but there won’t be a charter school until at least July 2012, and a start-up application may be submitted only to an authorizer that has issued a request for proposals, according to the new law.

A State Charter School Commission will be appointed by the state Board of Education, and details of how the 29-page law will work remain to be determined. A status report covering issues such as major rules for implementing the law must be submitted by the state Department of Education to the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs of the state legislature by Nov. 1, 2011.

An Act to Create a Public Charter School Program in Maine, which was signed on June 29, 2011, and takes effect at the end of September 2011, outlines what constitutes a charter school, including start-ups and conversions. It also outlines evaluation requirements, conflicts of interest, standards for governance, provisions for collective bargaining, payment schedules for funding schools, and provisions for participation in competitive athletics, among other issues.

The law provides for three types of authorizers. The State Charter School Commission will serve as a statewide authorizer, and local school boards will be able to authorize charter schools within their jurisdiction. Also, a collaborative of authorizing entities will be allowed to set up a regional charter school.

Only the commission will be able to authorize a completely virtual charter school, but local school boards can authorize a charter school that mixes online and on-site instruction.

The law calls for a 10-year transition period, during which only 10 charter schools may be approved by authorizers other than local school boards. Once the cap is reached, only local school boards may approve charters until the end of the transition period.

Authorizers will be able to charge up to 3 percent of annual per-pupil allocations to fund their operations.

Limits are set on the percentage of a school district’s students who can be enrolled in a charter school. For example, unless authorized to do so, a charter school in a district with more than 500 students may not enroll more than 10 percent of the district’s noncharter school students per grade level in each of the first three years of the school’s operation. A charter school can enroll students from outside the state and charge tuition.

Initial charter terms are for five years, with renewal terms of no more than 15 years, depending on performance.

A charter school applicant may submit an application only to an authorizer that has issued a request for proposals and a particular proposal can go to only one authorizer at a time, according to the law.

Converting a traditional public school to a charter school will require two petitions: one signed by a majority of the teachers in the existing school and the other signed by a majority of the parents of the school’s students. If the school is the only one in the district, the approval of voters in the district is required.

The law outlines the latitude charter schools will have, including exemption (although there are exceptions) from all statutes and rules applicable to a noncharter public school, local school board, or a school administrative unit.

Charter schools authorized by local districts will not be their own Local Education Agency (LEA). The local district administrative unit will, for example, maintain responsibility for the provision of special education. One exception will be that charter schools will serve as their own LEA when it comes to applying for competitive federal grants.

Charter schools authorized by the commission will be their own LEA, but those charter schools will not be barred from forming links for services with the local district.

All full-time charter school teachers must either have appropriate teaching certification or become certified within three years, unless they have an advanced degree or unique expertise.

The law grants to charter schools the right of first refusal to purchase or lease at or below fair market value a closed or an unused portion of a public school facility if the district decides to lease or sell the property.