The End Private Charter Schools Act

Whereas, education should not be privately owned or operated while receiving public funding,

Whereas, experimentation and school choice can still be practically implemented with public ownership of education,

Whereas, some charter school teaching methods are harmful and should be reformed and/or standardized,

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Great Lakes the following,

SECTION I. DEFINITIONS. Charter school shall be defined as: a school privately owned or operated but funded and regulated by the state which is issued a limited charter for educating students.

SECTION II. BRINGING UNDER PUBLIC OWNERSHIP. The Department of Education is hereby ordered to bring under state control all charter schools. Charter schools shall have up to August 1, 2017 to bring themselves under state control. Charter schools that fail to meet the aforementioned deadline shall have their charter license immediately suspended and all students relocated to other schools. All Charter Schools are to be brought under the control of the Department of Education on the day the lease for the building they occupy from the State expires.

SECTION III. CHARTER SCHOOL STANDARDIZATION AND EXPERIMENTATION. The Department of Education shall investigate the pedagogical methods of all charter schools and shall make appropriate standardizations and reforms. Charter schools which have been brought under public ownership shall be standardized and reformed as minimally as possible so as to preserve experimentation in public education.

SECTION IV. CHARTER SCHOOL LICENSE AND CHARTER ISSUANCE. No new charter schools may be granted a charter or license. The process for creating a new public school shall be simplified. No charter school licenses or charters shall be renewed after August 1, 2017.

SECTION V. ZONING. No municipal school district may restrict students based on where they live from attending a school in their municipal school district. Every student shall be guaranteed placement in a public school within five miles of their residence. Students who do not reside within five miles of a public schools shall be given either transportation assistance or a fixed monthly benefit for the purpose of paying for tuition at a private school or being homeschooled. The Department of Education shall ensure that every student has a reasonable choice of attending a public or a charter school.

SECTION VI. ENACTMENT. This legislation shall be enacted 90 days after passage.