AB 51

Under current law, school boards may enter into contracts with individuals,

groups, businesses, or governmental bodies to establish charter schools, which

operate with fewer constraints than traditional public schools. Current law also

permits the University of Wisconsin (UW)-Milwaukee, UW-Parkside, the

Milwaukee Area Technical College, and the city of Milwaukee to operate charter

schools (independent charter schools) directly or to contract for the operation of

charter schools. In general, only pupils who reside in the school district in which an

independent charter school is located may attend the charter school. No entity

authorized to establish an independent charter school may establish a virtual

charter school.

This bill allows a cooperative educational service agency to establish an

independent charter school. The bill also creates an independent state agency, the

Charter School Authorizing Board (CSAB), and authorizes it to contract for the

establishment of independent charter schools. The CSAB consists of nine members,

of whom three are appointed by the governor, three by the senate majority leader,

and three by the speaker of the assembly. The bill prohibits the CSAB from

promulgating administrative rules.

The bill requires that every charter school be operated by a governing board and

that every contract for the establishment of a charter school be with a nonprofit

corporation. The bill removes the restrictions that limit who may attend an

independent charter school and allows an entity that is authorized to establish an

independent charter school to establish a virtual charter school. The bill eliminates

the cap on the number of pupils who may attend virtual charter schools through the

Open Enrollment Program, currently set at 5,250.

The bill allows a charter school contract to provide for more than one charter

school, and allows a charter school governing board to enter into more than one

contract. The bill provides that a charter school authorizer is immune from civil and

criminal liability for the activities of the charter schools with which it has contracted.

The bill requires every charter school under contract with the CSAB to pay an

annual fee to the CSAB. The bill allows every charter school under contract with the

CSAB to provide health care for its employees under the Group Insurance Board

health coverage plan for local government employees. Although a charter school's

employees are not state employees and may not be local government employees, the

bill provides that a charter school's governing board may elect to become a

participating employer under the Wisconsin Retirement System.

The bill directs the Department of Public Instruction to promulgate rules

establishing a charter school teaching license that allows the licensee to teach

multiple subjects in a charter school. The rules must require the applicant to

demonstrate competence in each subject and must provide the applicant several

means of doing so.