S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  6251

                       2011-2012 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                             March 10, 2011
                               ___________

Introduced by M. of A. MAISEL -- read once and referred to the Committee
  on Education

AN  ACT  to  amend  the  education law, in relation to requiring charter
  schools to enroll children  with  disabilities  and  English  language
  learners in comparable numbers to those enrolled in public schools

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Paragraph a of subdivision 2 of section 2854 of the  educa-
tion  law,  as amended by chapter 101 of the laws of 2010, is amended to
read as follows:
  2. Admissions; enrollment; students.  (a) A charter  school  shall  be
nonsectarian  in its programs, admission policies, employment practices,
and all other operations and shall not charge tuition or fees;  provided
that  a charter school may require the payment of fees on the same basis
and to the same extent as other public schools. A charter  school  shall
not  discriminate  against  any student, employee or any other person on
the basis of ethnicity, national origin, gender, or  disability  or  any
other  ground  that  would be unlawful if done by a school. Admission of
students shall not be limited on  the  basis  of  intellectual  ability,
measures of achievement or aptitude, athletic ability, disability, race,
creed,  gender, national origin, religion, or ancestry; provided, howev-
er, that nothing in this article  shall  be  construed  to  prevent  the
establishment  of  a  single-sex  charter  school  or  a  charter school
designed to provide expanded learning opportunities for students at-risk
of academic failure or students with disabilities and  English  language
learners;  and  provided,  further,  that  [the] A charter school [shall
demonstrate good faith efforts to attract and  retain  a  comparable  or
greater  enrollment  of] MUST ENROLL THE SAME OR A GREATER PERCENTAGE OF
students with disabilities, English language learners, and students  who
are  eligible  applicants  for  the free and reduced price lunch program
when compared to the enrollment figures for such students in the  school

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD08002-01-1
              

A. 6251                             2

district  in  which the charter school is located. FAILURE TO COMPLY FOR
TWO CONSECUTIVE YEARS SHALL BE DEEMED  GROUNDS  FOR  REVOCATION  OF  THE
CHARTER. A charter shall not be issued to any school that would be whol-
ly  or  in  part under the control or direction of any religious denomi-
nation, or in which  any  denominational  tenet  or  doctrine  would  be
taught.
  S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.