Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that authorizes public charter schools in any school district.

Highlights:

• Authorizes public charter schools that meet the following requirements (Secs. 3 & 8):
• The schools are governed by an independent school board;
• The schools are operated for specific objectives defined by a charter contract;
• The schools are non-mandatory schools;
• The schools are nonprofit organizations; and
• The schools do not charge tuition.

• Authorizes public schools to become public charter schools (Sec. 3).

• Requires public charter schools to be open to any student residing in the state and meet certain requirements including, but not limited to, the following (Sec. 4):
• Schools with insufficient capacity to enroll all applying students must select students through a lottery system;
• Schools must enroll comparable percentages of “at-risk students” to the percentages found in nearby public schools; and
• Schools may limit enrollment if they are designed to serve a specific population including, but not limited to, the following:
• Students with disabilities; or
• Students of the same gender.

• Defines “at-risk students” as students that participate in the federal free lunch program (Sec. 3).

• Establishes a 7 member Mississippi Public School Authorizer Board to authorize and supervise public charter schools (Sec. 5).

• Requires public charter schools to meet certain performance guidelines including, but not limited to, the following (Sec. 7):
• Student academic proficiency and growth;
• Attendance;
• Recurrent enrollment;
• Postsecondary “readiness” for high schools; and
• Financial performance and sustainability.

• Specifies that public charter school employees have the same rights and privileges as public school employees but are not members of the Public Employees’ Retirement System (Sec. 8).

• Specifies that the funding for public charter schools will come from taxes based on the per pupil support given to the school district which the student resides (Sec. 9).

• Prohibits state funds from being used for virtual public charter schools (Sec. 9).

Full Bill Text