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SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that would change the makeup of the State Charter School Board passed the Senate Education Committee Wednesday.
Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Salt Lake, is sponsoring SB140, which would require three of the seven members of the board to have previous experience in administering or creating a charter school.
There is expertise and experience out there that we should absolutely take advantage of.
–Chris Bleak
Stephenson said he supports charter schools and wants anyone seeking to form one to have as much valuable help as possible.
"They do need the kind of counseling … from people who really know what it's been like so they don't enter into this blindly," he said.
The State Charter School Board is tasked with making funding recommendations for charter schools to the Legislature and the Utah State School Board, and annually reviewing the progress of schools, among other duties.
Currently, statute requires that the governor appoint a state board comprised of two members with expertise in finance or small business, two members appointed from a pool of candidates nominated by the Utah State Board of Education, and three from a pool nominated by the state's charter schools. Stephenson's bill would change that last requirement to be three people nominated by an organization that represents Utah's charter schools who "have expertise or experience in developing or administering a charter school."
Chris Bleak, president of the Utah Association of Public Charter Schools, thanked Stephenson for the bill, saying it will be beneficial as new schools are created statewide.
"There is expertise and experience out there that we should absolutely take advantage of," Bleak said.
The bill passed with no opposition or discussion by the committee. It now moves on to the Senate floor.
E-mail: mfarmer@desnews.com
