Pub. 5 2015-2016 Issue 1

10 Legislative Update I t’s been a busy policy summer for Utah charter schools. The “Charter School Funding Task Force” (CFTF) has been meeting regularly, as has the State Board of Education and the State Charter School Board. By attending and participating in their meetings, UAPCS works to make sure statute, rule and policy protects and nurtures Utah charter schools. The CFTF: Show Me the Money! The Legislature’s CFTF continues to churn through the nuances of the never- ending formulas and variables that drive charter school funding. While they have yet to take any final votes, their discus- sions and straw poll results indicate they will recommend that funding charter schools based on average daily member- ship plus growth, instead of based on the October 1 headcount. This change in policy could cost Utah charter schools about $6 million. However, the CFTF members have also shown that they want to provide appropriate hold harmless mechanisms for Utah’s charter schools. The CFTF continues to examine a variety of hold harmless mechanisms, so the exact form these changes will take remains unknown. Nevertheless, it is difficult to imagine a scenario where charter schools will suffer financially from the conversion to ADM plus growth. One other point seems salient. The CFTF is only estimating how much charter schools might lose under ADM plus growth. By replacing a student leaving a charter school mid year with another student from the school’s waiting list, a charter school can maintain exist- ing funding. Backfilling charter schools’ enrollment with students from charter school waiting lists (as the switch to ADM encourages) may mean the school districts’ ADM counts decrease, but that outcome is the natural result of parent choices. The State Board of Education (SBE) has spent much of the summer focused on several strategic priori- ties. First, they are implementing the Legislature’s “School Turnaround” process. Second, they are looking at how to make student competency the center piece of Utah’s education system. BY ROYCE VAN TASSELL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF UAPCS