SUPPORT Senate Bill 57

Senator Joe Thomas
February 9, 2009

Charter School Funding: Senate Bill 57

• Charter schools are public schools that provide valuable education options to Alaska families.

• The existing school funding law results in charter schools that enroll fewer than 150 students receiving 30% to 45% less state funding than neighborhood schools of their same size.

• Inequitable funding limits communities’ ability to create and sustain these schools.

• Charter schools may have fewer than 150 students because:

- Community factors result in a an unexpected and temporary dip below150

- A new school may have difficulty reaching 150 in its first year

- The targeted student population the school is designed to help is not sufficiently large (e.g., at-risk middle schoolers)

- A charter school with more than 150 would have an adverse impact on the community’s neighborhood schools

- A small school size is critical to the success of the program.

• There is a dramatic decrease in funding ($500,000 - $700,000 loss) when a charter school’s enrollment drops from 150 students to 149, which creates a financial crisis for both the school and its host district.

• Senate Bill 57 solves the funding problem in an equitable, fiscally responsible manner.

• SB 57 funds charter schools with fewer than 150 students at the same per-student rate as neighborhood schools with 400 students.

• SB 57 contains a one-year, hold-harmless provision for charter schools that are either in their first year of operation or had more than 150 students the previous year, reducing the financial damage to their district.

• SB 57 will allow school districts to carry out the intent of the legislature in creating the charter school law, by increasing quality education options available to Alaska families.

• SB 57 is supported by the Alaska Association of School Boards, and superintendents and parents of charter school students from across the state. The bill has been co-sponsored by Senators Thomas, Stevens, Elton, and Davis.