Pub. 5 2015-2016 Issue 2

12 On Tuesday, March 8, Kristi Swett, a board member of the Utah School Boards Association (USBA), testified in favor of HB 193. It was perhaps the most improbable and least heralded moment in the twists and turns that led the Legislature to approve funding equity for Utah charter schools. By now, Charterology readers have no doubt heard of SB38; only a handful of our readers probably know what HB 193 is, and why Ms. Swett’s testimony was so unlikely. By the time Ms. Swett testified in support of HB 193 (which was identical to SB 38), UAPCS knew SB 38 would pass because House and Senate leadership had invited us to represent charter schools in key meetings throughout the General Session. FROM CFTF TO SB 38 Passage of charter funding equity began with the 2015 Charter Funding Task Force (CFTF), which focused on three elements of charter school funding. First, they evaluated whether the Legislature should continue to fund charter schools based on a school’s October 1 headcount, or based on “average daily membership” (ADM) school districts use. In their initial meeting the CFTF reiterated previous legislative commitments to shift charter schools to ADM. Second, they asked how best to create greater transpar- ency and public accountability for the portion of charter school funding local school districts contributed (the school FIGHTING FOR CHARTER EQUITY BY ROYCE VAN TASSELL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, UAPCS