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Bill Status: Senate Finance Assembly Education

MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT

S. 2450 (Flanagan) A. 4315 (Camara)

AN ACT: to amend the education law, in relation to charter schools providing special education services.

On behalf of our member charter schools, the Northeast Charter Schools Network strongly supports passage of S.2450/A.4315. This legislation would enable charter schools to serve more students with disabilities, as well as English language learners, by allowing charter schools to establish consortia and contract with Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES). This bill clarifies existing language in the Charter Schools Act to ensure charter schools can contract with other charter schools to serve students with disabilities and English language learners either on-site or at another location, and amends Education Law 1950 to authorize BOCES to contract directly with charter schools. Amendments to the Charters Schools Act in 2010 established the requirement that charter schools demonstrate “good faith efforts to attract and retain” at-risk students in comparable percentages as the school district in which the charter school resides. While charter schools in New York unquestionably serve at-risk students, and many have established enrollment preferences to serve specific at-risk student populations, there are acknowledged barriers to providing services for students with disabilities and English language learners, including the inability to contract with BOCES and the inability to work with another charter school to provide services at a separate location. As mentioned in the authorizers’ recent briefing memo1, these limitations arguably impact the ability to best serve students with disabilities and English language learners, and can result in students returning to their host district to receive services. S.2450/A.4315 would eliminate both of these barriers.

                                                                                                                         1  May  10,  1012  memorandum  to  NYS  Charter  School  Leaders  and  Board  Chairs,  from  Susan  Miller  Barker  and  Sally  Bachofer,  titled:  “Proposed  Methodology  for  Establishing  Enrollment  and  Retention  Targets.”  

 

 

The ability to combine resources and provide services to students in a central location has already been extended to schools via the charter merger and consolidation process. One of the stated benefits to merger, which in effect consolidates multiple schools under a common governance structure, and is expected to be used most often by Charter Management Organizations, is that “Students with disabilities or English language learners can now be integrated from different schools into classes at one site and receive the appropriate setting, resources and instructors.”2 NECSN believes this opportunity should be available to all schools, not just those that have merged.

This bill does not change the status of charter schools for special education purposes. Charter school students’ Individualized Education Plans will continue to be written by the host district’s Committee on Special Education. It does not include BOCES aid for charter schools, and does not otherwise change funding formulas. This bill simply allows charter schools the chance to contract with BOCES and/or other charter schools to serve students in a more effective way, and thus removes the barriers which currently disadvantage charter school operators seeking to enroll and retain all students and meet their good faith obligations under the law.

For these reasons, the Northeast Charter Schools Network strongly supports the passage of this bill.

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For more information, contact NECSN at (518) 694-3110.

March 19, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                         2  March  12,  2012  memorandum  to  Members  of  the  Board  of  Trustee’s  Education,  College  Readiness  and  Success  Committee,  from  Susan  Miller  Barker,  Charter  Schools  Institute,  titled:  “Merger  and  Consolidation  of  Existing  Charter  Schools.”