NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6112
SPONSOR: Benedetto TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to providing the Board of
Regents with final approval authority over all proposed and renewed
charter schools
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends subdivision 5-b of section 2852 of the education law to
provide that no resubmitted proposed charter shall be approved by the
charter entity unless all recommendations of the board of regents are
made to the satisfaction of the board of regents in such resubmission.
This section also provides that no such charter shall be approved if the
board of regents recommends that the charter be abandoned.
Section 2 provides the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Pursuant to Education Law, only the Board of Regents, the State Univer-
sity of New York (SUNY) Board of Trustees, and local school boards of
education may act as a charter entity and approve charter school appli-
cations. However, the Board of Regents is the only entity that is
authorized to issue charters. Under Education Law, the Board of Regents
is required to provide oversight of all charter schools regardless of
the authorizer to "ensure that the charter school is in compliance with
all applicable laws, regulations and charter provisions."
In order to carry out these oversight responsibilities, the Education
Law requires the Board of Regents to review the proposed charter and
either: approve and issue the charter or return the proposed charter to
the charter entity for reconsideration with written comments and recom-
mendations. If the Board of Regents returns a proposed charter to the
charter entity, the charter entity must either: 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 aban-
don the proposed charter.
Without an enforcement mechanism, a charter entity can continue to move
forward a proposed charter despite the recommendations of the Board of
Regents. Recently, SUNY has moved forward with new charter applications,
renewals, and revisions despite the Board of Regents expressing serious
concerns and voting to reject such applications. This bill would ensure
accountability by preventing a charter entity from resubmitting a
proposed charter back to the Board of Regents without making the neces-
sary amendments to the proposed charter to ensure compliance with the
law.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
01/12/22 A. 08801 Referred to education
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have
become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6112
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 26, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BENEDETTO -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to providing the Board of
Regents with final approval authority over all proposed and renewed
charter schools
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 5-b of section 2852 of the education law, as
2 added by chapter 4 of the laws of 1998, is amended to read as follows:
3 5-b. If the board of regents returns a proposed charter to the charter
4 entity pursuant to the provisions of subdivision five-a of this section,
5 such charter entity shall reconsider the proposed charter, taking into
6 consideration the comments and recommendation of the board of regents.
7 Thereafter, the charter entity shall resubmit the proposed charter to
8 the board of regents with modifications, provided that the applicant
9 consents in writing to such modifications, [resubmit the proposed char-
10 ter to the board of regents without modifications,] or abandon the
11 proposed charter. The board of regents shall review each such resubmit-
12 ted proposed charter in accordance with the provisions of subdivision
13 five-a of this section[; provided, however, that it shall be the duty of
14 the board of regents to approve and issue a proposed charter resubmitted
15 by the charter entity described in paragraph (b) of subdivision three of
16 section twenty-eight hundred fifty-one of this article within thirty
17 days of the resubmission of such proposed charter or such proposed char-
18 ter shall be deemed approved and issued at the expiration of such peri-
19 od]. No resubmitted proposed charter shall be approved by the charter
20 entity unless all recommendations of the board of regents are made to
21 the satisfaction of the board of regents in such resubmission. Such
22 charter shall not be approved if the board of regents recommends that
23 the charter be abandoned.
24 § 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
25 have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00533-01-5
