THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2574
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2010
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating to charter schools.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has made billions of dollars in federal funding available to the states to invest in innovative strategies that are intended to spur meaningful reform in public education.  The legislature further finds that it is the federal government's intent for education expenditures in the federal stimulus package to lead to improved results for students, long-term gains in school and school system capacity, and increased productivity and effectiveness.

     The legislature also finds that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 includes the Race to the Top Program, a competitive grant that will make $4,350,000,000 in federal funding available to states for education.  Race to the Top moneys will be awarded to states that comply with specific conditions for education innovation and reform.

     President Obama has identified that one of the key areas of innovation currently taking place in the public education system is occurring within public charter schools.  Therefore, the President has called on states to eliminate barriers to public charter school growth by removing legal impediments that limit the number of high-performing public charter schools allowed to operate within the state.  The President's guidance to states on public charter schools has been reiterated by the United States Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, who has affirmed that states that place a limit on the number of public charter schools will be at a competitive disadvantage in the Race to the Top Program.

     The legislature finds that during the 2008-2009 school year, there were over 2,800 students on the Hawaii charter school wait list and that the State does not have the capacity to meet the educational needs of these students within the existing charter school system.  The demand for quality charter schools in Hawaii has consistently exceeded the supply.  The legislature finds that changes are immediately needed to facilitate quality charter school growth.

     The purpose of this Act is to improve the State's educational system by removing barriers to charter school innovation and expansion, and to improve Hawaii's ability to rigorously compete for federal funding by repealing the limit on the number of new start-up and conversion charter schools allowed in the State.

     SECTION 2.  Section 302B-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§302B‑4  [Limits] No limit on number of charter schools.  [The panel may authorize one new start-up charter school for each existing start-up charter school that has received a three-year or longer accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges or a comparable accreditation authority as determined by the panel, or for each start-up charter school whose charter is revoked.  The total number of conversion charter schools authorized by the panel shall not exceed twenty-five.]  There shall be no limit on the number of conversion or start-up charter schools in the State."

     SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

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Report Title:

Charter Schools; No Limit on Number

Description:

Requires no limit on the number of start-up or conversion charter schools in the State.

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