Maryland’s House Ways and Means Committee heard testimony today on the Governor’s Charter School legislation, as amended and passed by the Maryland Senate. Senate Bill 595 The Public Charter School Improvement Act of 2015, as amended:
- Provides some operational flexibility to charter schools following several years of successful operation;
- Clarifies that the State Board of Education may direct a County Board of Education to grant a charter upon appeal; and
- Requires a study of charter school funding.
The Maryland Association of Boards of Education (MABE) testimony states that,
. . . through the lengthy deliberations conducted in the Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee, Senate Bill 595 has been substantially amended to reflect a balanced approach to preserving what is working under the current law, and adopting new provisions to allow high performing charter schools to enjoy greater flexibility and autonomy in their operations.
MABE’s testimony emphasized two of four proposed amendments, one of which was to extend the deadline for the funding study until later in 2016. Read MABE’s full testimony here.
For more information about the bill, see the bill information page and our previous posts.
