HB 165 passed the House yesterday, despite its serious problems. Rep. Paul Baumbach and I worked hard to amend the bill to fix some of these problems, but our amendments were defeated. "The bill passed by a narrow 7-6 vote during the House Education Committee meeting June 5, with many lawmakers concerned about the creation of the fund. The fund has a cap of $5 million state dollars designed to help qualified charter schools with high-quality plans for start-up expansion or to serve high-need students. "During budget mark-up in May, the Joint Finance Committee allocated $2 million for the fund in the governor’s recommended Fiscal Year 2014 budget — before the legislation was filed or introduced... "Rep. John A. Kowalko, D-Newark, who introduced an amendment to eliminate the fund completely, did not vote to release the bill during the education committee last week. "He said the money is unfairly distributed to charter schools and comparatively, estimated the state would need to allocate a fund worth $57 million for traditional schools’ students to match the fund for charter students." delaware.newszap/centraldelaware/123185-70/house-approves-charter-school-reform-legislation
Posted on: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 14:31:41 +0000