SPONSOR: |
Sen. Townsend & Rep. Baumbach & Rep. Scott
& Rep. K. Williams |
|
Reps.
Kowalko, Jaques, Bennett, Osienski, Bolden, Potter, B. Short |
DELAWARE STATE SENATE 147th GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
SENATE BILL NO. 147 |
AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14, CHAPTER 5 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO REPORTING AND OVERSIGHT, INNOVATION, AND COLLABORATION OF CHARTER SCHOOLS. |
Section
1. Amend § 513, Title 14 of the Delaware
Code by making insertions as shown by underlining and deletions as shown by
strike through as follows:
§ 513. Reporting
and oversight.
(a) On or
before November 1, each charter school shall produce an annual report for the
school year ending the previous June, which shall: (1) discuss the
school's progress in meeting overall student performance goals and standards;
(2) discuss the innovation occurring at the charter school, including but not
limited to the areas of curriculum development, instruction, student culture
and discipline, community and parental involvement, teacher and staff
development, school operations and management, and extracurricular and
after-school programming; and (3) contain a financial statement
setting forth by appropriate categories the school's revenues and expenditures
and assets and liabilities. To ensure that such reports provide parents and
approving authorities with clear and comparable information about the
performance of charter schools, the Department of Education shall prescribe a
uniform format for such reports, which may be supplemented by requirements set
by the approving authority for schools it has chartered. The charter school
shall contract to have an audit of the business and financial transactions,
records, and accounts after July 1 for the prior fiscal year. The results of
the audit shall be shared with the Department of Education. A charter school
shall display on its website the annual report including financial statement
and audit required by this subsection.
Section
2. Amend § 514, Title 14 of the Delaware
Code by making insertions as shown by underlining and deletions as shown by
strike through as follows:
§ 514. State
reports on the charter school program.
Annually, the
Department shall prepare a report for the Governor and the General Assembly on
the success or failure of charter schools and propose changes in state law
necessary to improve or change the charter school program. Such report shall
contain a section comparing the per student expenditures of charter schools,
considering all sources of such expenditures, with those of other public
schools. Such report shall also
contain: (1) the Secretary of Education's analysis of, recommendations relating
to, and proposed changes relating to Delaware education laws, in light of the
content of annual reports submitted pursuant to Section 513 of Title 14; and
(2) the Secretary's assessment of specific opportunities and barriers relating
to the implementation of charters schools' innovations in the broader Delaware
public education school system.
Section 3.
The Task Force for Promoting Charter-District Collaboration (hereinafter “Task
Force”) is hereby established to consider the current state of collaboration
between public charter schools and traditional public schools and to develop
recommendations for strengthening such collaboration. At a minimum, the
recommendations will include:
1. Development of an ongoing, sustainable
mechanism for sharing effective practices between public charter schools and
traditional public schools; and
2.
Development of requirements for documenting and sharing effective practices for
any recipients of the Charter Performance Fund.
The Task Force shall be composed of the
following members, who shall be appointed by the appointing authority:
1. A representative of the Delaware Department
of Education, appointed by the Secretary of the Department of Education, who
shall act as chairperson of the Committee;
2. Two
representatives of the Delaware State Senate appointed by the President Pro
Tempore of the State Senate;
3. Two
representatives of the Delaware State House of Representatives appointed by the
Speaker of the House of Representatives;
4. Three
representatives of the Delaware Association of School Administrators, one from
each county, appointed by the president of the Delaware Association of School
Administrators;
5. Three representatives of the Chief School
Officers Association, one from each county, appointed by the president of the
Chief School Officers Association;
6. Three
representatives of public charter schools, one from each county, appointed by
the president of the Charter Schools Network;
7. Two
teachers appointed by the president of the Delaware State Education
Association;
8. Two
experts in promoting the sharing of effective practices across schools,
appointed by the Secretary of the Delaware Department of Education;
9. A
representative of the Delaware State Board of Education, appointed by the
President of the Delaware State Board of Education;
10. A
representative of the Delaware School Boards Association, appointed by the
president of the Delaware School Boards Association;
11. A representative of the Charter Schools
Network appointed by the president of the Charter Schools Network;
12. A
representative from the Delaware Business Roundtable appointed by the chair of
the Delaware Business Roundtable Education Committee; and
13. A representative from the Office of the
Governor appointed by the Governor.
The Committee shall present a final report of
its findings and recommendations to the Governor, the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate by January 31,
2014. The Task Force shall cease
to exist on January 31, 2014, absent further action by the General Assembly.
Section
4. The Act shall become effective on
July 1, 2013.
SYNOPSIS
This bill encourages the sharing of best practices by requiring that charter schools include innovation information in their annual reports and that the Secretary of Education report on how successes at charter schools can be implemented throughout Delaware’s public education system. It further establishes a “Committee for Promoting Charter-District Collaboration” to consider the current state of collaboration between public charter schools and traditional public schools and to develop recommendations for strengthening such collaboration. |
Author: Senator Townsend