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Senate advances bill to change charter-school authorizer funding, sets year for phased implementation
Summary
Senate Education Committee voted 3–1 to send Senate Bill 267, which would alter how charter-school authorizers are funded and encourage multiple authorizers, out with a favorable recommendation after hours of testimony from supporters and critics.
Senate Education Committee on Feb. 14 approved, by a 3–1 vote, a recommendation that the full Senate consider Senate Bill 267, a measure sponsored by Senator Johnson to change how charter-school authorizers in Utah are funded and to encourage more entities to serve as authorizers.
The bill would shift part of the cost of authorizing charter schools from a single state-funded authorizer to a model in which authorizers could charge schools a per-pupil fee, phased in over time. “If we want a more vibrant and dynamic authorizer ecosystem in Utah, we simply must change the way we fund authorizers,” Senator Johnson said in presenting the bill, calling the change “long overdue.”
Supporters, including former state charter school board members and representatives of charter-school organizations, argued the current model concentrates authorizing work in a single state entity that is effectively providing a free service to schools. “It’s…
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