Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that amends charter school regulations.

Highlights:

-Specifies that the following organizations may authorize one or more charter schools (Sec. 1):

-A school board; -An intermediate school district school board; -An education district; -A charitable organization excluding nonpublic sectarian or religious organizations; -A Minnesota private college that grants two- or four-year degrees and is registered with the Minnesota Office of Higher Education; community college, state college or technical college that is governed by the Minnesota Board of Trustees of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities; or the University of Minnesota; -A nonprofit corporation, as long as the corporation has existed for at least 25 years and the charter school seeking authorization has operated for at least 3 years under a different authorizer; and -No more than 3 single-purpose sponsors that are charitable, nonsectarian organizations and incorporated in the state of Minnesota and whose sole purpose is to charter schools.

-Prohibits any board member or employee of an eligible organization from also being an employee, contractor or board member of an eligible school (Sec. 1). -Prohibits any charter school from merging with another charter school without approval from the commissioner (Sec. 2). -Prohibits any charter school board member from receiving any remuneration, such as a fee-for-service, as part of a financial transaction involving the charter school (Sec. 3). -Specifies that a charter school employee can receive remuneration, such as a fee-for-service, as part of a financial transaction involving the charter school only if the services for which the remuneration was paid are in addition to those services the employee already agreed to provide to the charter school and if the charter school board of directors approves the remuneration (Sec. 3). -Requires any charter school seeking endorsement from the Charter School Facilities Authority for a proposed facility that requires an expenditure in excess of $1,400,000 to comply with the requirements of this Act (Sec. 5). -Prohibits charter schools from leasing space if the primary purpose of the organization proposing to lease the space is to provide a facility for the charter school and the organization has financed the acquisition of the school facility through rent paid by the charter school for building lease aid, or if the organization is maintaining the facility on behalf of the charter school through rent paid by the charter school's building lease aid (Sec. 6). -Requires the commissioner of education and the commissioner of administration to publish an annual list of vacant and unused buildings owned by the state or by school districts in the state that may be suitable for charter school operation (Sec. 9). -Requires that the general education revenue for a charter school receiving facilities aid must be reduced by an amount equal to the greater of zero or the difference between the school's facility aid and the product of the pupil units served times (Sec. 10):

-For a school receiving building lease aid for fiscal year 2010, the lesser of $1,120 or the school's building lease aid per pupil unit served for fiscal year 2010; or -For a school not receiving building lease aid for fiscal year 2010, $1,120.

-Requires that an endorsed charter school reserve at least $100 per pupil of its annual operating capital revenue for capital repairs and replacement (Sec. 11). -Specifies that any charter school that received more than $1,120 per pupil in lease aid for fiscal year 2010 must continue to receive that amount until June 30, 2011 (Sec. 12). -Establishes a charter school credit enhancement account in the special revenue fund in the state treasury to provide credit enhancement to charter school facilities financed with bonds (Sec. 14). -Requires 6 percent of an endorsed charter school's loan payments to be applied to principal or interest payments on bonds to be deducted annually from the charter school's operating capital revenue for that year and credited to the charter school credit enhancement account (Sec. 14). -Authorizes eligible charter schools to apply for building lease transition aid (Sec. 16). -Establishes the Charter School Facilities Authority to manage the financing of charter school facilities (Sec. 20, 20). -Authorizes a charter school that has been enrolling students for at least 8 years to seek endorsement from the authority to construct a facility (Sec. 20). -Defines "endorsed charter school" as any charter school that has received authority to purchase, purchase and renovate or construct a school facility through the issuance of bonds (Sec. 21). -Authorizes the Charter School Facilities Authority to sell and issue state revenue bonds in anticipation of the collection of facilities aid revenue (Sec. 23). -Specifies that the bonds issued by the Charter School Facilities Authority are not public debt of the state, and that the full faith and credit and taxing power of the state may not be pledged for the payment of the debt obligations (Sec. 23). -Requires that, if a charter school is unable to pay, on the date the payment is due, the amount sufficient to permit the Charter School Facilities Authority to make a principal or interest payment on an outstanding debt obligation, the school notify the commissioner of education not less than 15 days before the payment is due (Sec. 24). -Appropriates for building lease aid under Minnesota statues, $40.45 million for 2010 and $4.26 million for 2011 (Sec. 26). -Appropriates $20.94 million for 2010 for the Department of Education, to come out of the general fund, and $20.95 million for 2011 (Sec. 27). -Specifies that no charter school will be eligible for startup aid during its first year of operation (Sec. 29). -Appropriates $258,000 for the fiscal year 2012 and $608,000 for the fiscal year 2013, to come out of the general fund and to go to the Department of Management and Budget to initially capitalize the charter schools facilities credit enhancement account (Sec. 30).

Full Bill Text