S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                  1861

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                            January 12, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced by M. of A. NOLAN, O'DONNELL -- read once and referred to the
  Committee on Education

AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to charter schools

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

  Section 1.  Subdivision 3 of section 2851 of  the  education  law,  as
added  by  chapter 4 of the laws of 1998 and paragraph (a) as amended by
section 6 of part B of chapter 57 of the laws of  2008,  is  amended  to
read as follows:
  3.  An  applicant shall submit the application to a charter entity for
approval. For purposes of this article, a charter entity shall be:
  (a) The board of education of a school district eligible for an appor-
tionment of aid under [subdivision four of] section  thirty-six  hundred
two  of  this  chapter,  provided  that  a  board of education shall not
approve an application for a school to be operated  outside  the  school
district's  geographic  boundaries  and  further provided that in a city
having a population of one million or more, the chancellor of  any  such
city  school  district  shall  be the charter entity established by this
paragraph;
  (b) The BOARD OF REGENTS, FOR  CHARTERS  WHERE  THE  ORIGINAL  CHARTER
ENTITY WAS THE board of trustees of the state university of New York; or
  (c) The board of regents.
  The  board  of  regents shall be the only entity authorized to issue a
charter pursuant to this article. Notwithstanding any provision of  this
subdivision  to  the  contrary,  an application for the conversion of an
existing public school to a charter school shall be  submitted  to,  and
may  only  be approved by, the charter entity set forth in paragraph (a)
of this subdivision.  Any  such  application  for  conversion  shall  be
consistent  with this section, and the charter entity shall require that
the parents or guardians of a majority of the students then enrolled  in

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD01392-01-9

              

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the  existing  public school vote in favor of converting the school to a
charter school.
  S 2. Subdivision 5-b of section 2852 of the education law, as added by
chapter 4 of the laws of 1998, is amended to read as follows:
  5-b. If the board of regents returns a proposed charter to the charter
entity pursuant to the provisions of subdivision five-a of this section,
such  charter  entity shall reconsider the proposed charter, taking into
consideration the comments and recommendation of the board  of  regents.
Thereafter,  the  charter  entity shall resubmit the proposed charter to
the board of regents with modifications,  provided  that  the  applicant
consents in writing to such modifications, resubmit the proposed charter
to  the  board of regents without modifications, or abandon the proposed
charter. The  board  of  regents  shall  review  each  such  resubmitted
proposed charter in accordance with the provisions of subdivision five-a
of  this  section[;  provided, however, that it shall be the duty of the
board of regents to approve and issue a proposed charter resubmitted  by
the  charter  entity  described in paragraph (b) of subdivision three of
section twenty-eight hundred fifty-one of  this  article  within  thirty
days of the resubmission of such proposed charter or such proposed char-
ter  shall be deemed approved and issued at the expiration of such peri-
od].
  S 3. This act shall take effect on the first of July  next  succeeding
the date on which it shall have become a law.