|
LAW |
|
Year Passed |
1998; last amended in 2008.
|
|
Rank |
11th strongest of the nation's 41 charter laws. |
|
Grade |
B |
|
GENERAL DATA |
|
|
State Charter Board is less autonomous than originally designed
• Freedoms are limited but funding base is strong |
|
INDEPENDENT OR MULTIPLE AUTHORIZERS - YES (2) |
|
Approval |
School boards and the Utah State Charter School Board. (This board is
independent but gains its authority from the State Board of Education and
has become more bureaucratic.) |
|
Appeal |
Yes. Applications denied by the school board or the Utah State Charter
School Board may be appealed to the State Board of Education. The state
board’s decision is final. |
|
NUMBER OF SCHOOLS ALLOWED |
|
Cap |
No cap on schools. There is an enrollment cap on the total number of
students that may attend charters, which is now around 35,000 students.
Each year, the cap increases by 1.4 percent of total school district
enrollment. Because of enrollment cap, if a school board wants to approve a
charter, it must first notify the State Charter Board to ensure there is room. |
|
OPERATIONAL AUTONOMY |
|
State |
Limited.Waiver requests considered on a case-by-case basis. State
restrictions such as curriculum and scheduling rules, keeps charters from
being truly independent. Virtual schools are allowed.Management contracts
with ESPs are not restricted. |
|
Local |
Limited.Waiver requests considered on a case-by-case basis Employment
and personnel decisions are left up to the charter school. |
|
Teacher Freedom |
Yes. Teachers are employees of charter school, and are not required to be
district employees. Charter schools may participate in state’s retirement
system, or may opt out of the state’s system and establish their own
retirement system for its employees. |
|
EQUITY |
|
Student Funding |
Schools receive same funding streams as conventional public schools.
• Funds pass through the state. State sends local share directly to schools
after deducting from the district.
"Except as provided in Subsection (3)(b), a charter school shall receive state funds, as applicable, on the same basis as a school district receives funds. (b) In distributing funds under Title 53A, Chapter 17a, Minimum School Program Act, to charter schools, charter school pupils shall be weighted, where applicable, as follows: (4) (a) (i) Except as provided in Subsection (4)(a)(ii), a school district shall allocate a portion of school district revenues for each resident student of the school district who is enrolled in a charter school on October 1 equal to 25% of the lesser of
(b) The State Board of Education shall: (i) deduct an amount equal to the allocation provided under Subsection (4)(a) from state funds the school district is authorized to receive under Title 53A, Chapter 17a, Minimum School Program Act; (ii) remit the money to the student's charter school.
" [Utah Code Ann. ง 53A-1a-513] |
|
Facilities Funding |
Yes. The Local Revenue Replacement Program provides per pupil funding to
replace some of the local property tax revenue charters do not receive. A
minimum of 10 percent of this money must be used on facilities. For FY
2009, charters received $143 per pupil. [Utah Code Ann. §53A-21-401] |
