Assembly Bill A7540

                                BILL NUMBER:A7540

TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to notice to school
districts regarding intent to attend a charter school

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To provide notification to a school district when a parent or guardian
intends to send a child to a charter school

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
This bill would amend subdivision 2 of §2854 of the education law to
provide that a parent or guardian shall, by the first of April preceding
the next school year, give notice to the school district in which the
child resides of the intent for that child to attend a charter school.

JUSTIFICATION:
It is imperative that public school districts be notified of a child's
intention to leave the public school and attend a charter school in a
timely manner so that the school district budget can be adjusted to
reflect the departure.

For example, in 2001 a city school district in New York State gave
approximately $8,000, to the local charter school for each child who
chose to attend the charter school. School district staff created the
2001 budget assuming that the charter school would have some student
              

vacancies. Instead the charter school was filled to capacity on opening
day. Consequently, the city school district had a revenue shortfall of
nearly $1.2 million. This budget error could have been avoided had the
parents or guardians notified the school district of their students'
intended charter school enrollment.

In April 2001, there were 23 charter schools operating in New York
State, with approximately 6,000 students enrolled. By January 2002, that
number nearly doubled to 41 charter schools. The average expenditure per
student in New York State is $9,192 so when this figure is multiplied by
the ever increasing number of students enrolling in charter schools, the
financial impact on the public school system is enormous.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
Similar to the following previous bills
A.2423A and S.1549A of 2007/2008
A.4475 and S.786 of 2005/2006
A.64389 and S.4580 of 2003/2004
A.10609 and S.6188 of 2001/2002

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.