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Charter leaders ask lawmakers for funding parity, expanded loan fund and authorizer reforms
Summary
New Mexico charter-school representatives told the Legislative Education Study Committee they seek funding parity with district schools, changes so at-risk funds can be generated at school level, relief for first-year transportation costs, authorizer reforms and a larger public charter revolving loan fund (request: +$30M).
Representatives of New Mexico charter schools told the Legislative Education Study Committee they need changes to achieve funding equity with district-run schools and to address startup and oversight challenges.
A charter-sector presenter (name not given in the transcript) said New Mexico charter schools begin with roughly 98% of a traditional district allocation because authorizers take a 2% oversight fee, and requested several fixes including a school-level at-risk funding generation model, relief for the first year of transportation funding when charters must prove routes' viability, and options to receive state funds more directly to avoid overhead reductions levied by local districts.
The presenter asked the committee to increase the public charter school revolving loan fund, which currently holds $10,000,000, by $30,000,000 to better support multiple projects. He also raised concerns about NMPSIA insurance-rate increases that followed prior sessions, which he said strained budgets statewide.
Charter representatives cautioned that restoring a state school board or folding authorizer functions into a broader state body could undermine the Public Education Commission’s focus on charter authorization. The charter presenter and others suggested other governance options such as carving an independent authorizer into a larger structure or maintaining a separate authorizer while creating a state board.
During Q&A legislators pressed charter leaders on audit findings and internal controls after the Legislative Finance Committee reported a spike in audit findings associated with charters. The charter representative said the community is pursuing training for governing councils and business offices and emphasized that charters are working to improve fiscal management and oversight.
The committee did not vote on specific charter proposals; members said they will continue negotiating the balance between oversight and operational flexibility as bills and budget requests are developed.
