Charter school bill heads to House chamber for vote

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ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Gov. Larry Hogan's charter school measure is heading to the House of Delegates with a few extra marks.

On Friday the House Ways and Means Committee voted to give the amended bill a favorable report, clearing the way for the governor's charter education initiative to be voted on by the full chamber.

The bill was dramatically amended from its original form by a Senate committee — Hogan has used the term "gutted" — but only a handful of changes were added by the House committee.

"Overall, we feel this creates the pathway, sort of opens up the pathway, for charter schools in terms of its flexibility and its innovation in terms of trying some new things," Hogan special adviser Keiffer Mitchell said. "Is it a perfect bill? No, but it is a step in the right direction."

Maryland has about 50 charter schools today, most in Baltimore City. The state adopted its charter school law in 2003.

Charter schools are publicly funded schools that have more freedom than conventional schools to establish their curriculum and set policies. They are often operated by nonprofit organizations or groups of parents.

Among the House committee's changes was the addition of language saying that decision by a local chartering authority about an admission system based partly on residence cannot be appealed to the state.

The amendment reflects changes made by the Senate to direct chartering authority to the local level, rather than the state level, which had been one of the efforts in Hogan's bill.

Another amendment pushes back the deadline for a final report of a school funding study by about one year. The funding study was another amendment added by the Senate.

Earlier this week the Maryland Senate passed its version of the charter school bill, which repealed many of Hogan's attempts to give more authority to charter school operators and more flexibility in terms of collective bargaining and certification.