SENATE, No. 358

SECTION 1. Notwithstanding any General Law to the contrary the Board of Education shall not grant a commonwealth charter to any applicant for a period of three years, retroactive to January 1, 2007. Further, the Board of Education shall not authorize additional enrollment beyond the enrollment specified in the charter of any previously approved commonwealth charter school for a period of three years, as of January 1, 2007.

SECTION 2. The legislature shall establish a 13 member special commission to study the commonwealth charter school funding formula and funding sources. The commission shall also evaluate the budgetary impact on local school districts and the feasibility of designating commonwealth charter school tuition as a separate line item in the state budget. The commission may also review the academic performance of commonwealth charter schools, the demographics of charter school enrollment, and the adequacy of the Department of Education’s oversight of commonwealth charter schools.
Said commission shall consist of six legislators including the House and Senate chairs of the Joint Committee on Education, Arts and Humanities, and two members appointed by the President of the Senate and two members appointed by the Speaker of the House, including one member in each chamber from the minority party; two members appointed by the governor and one representative each from the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, the Massachusetts Charter School Association, the Massachusetts Teachers Association, and the Massachusetts Federation of Teachers.
The special commission shall submit its report and recommendations, if any, to the legislature by December 1, 2008.