Citations Affected: IC 20-5.5; IC 20-7.5; noncode.
Synopsis: Charter schools. Allows a sponsor to issue a charter to an
organizer to establish a charter school. Defines a "sponsor" as: (1) the
governing body of a school corporation; (2) two or more school
corporations acting jointly; (3) a public university that has an
accredited school of education; or (4) the mayor of a consolidated city.
Sets forth the organization, powers, method of establishment, charter
contents, policies, oversight, and restrictions for charter schools.
Provides that a decision concerning the establishment of a charter
school may not be restrained by a collective bargaining agreement.
Allows the employees of a charter school to organize and collectively
bargain. Requires 100% of the teachers in a charter school to hold a
license to teach in a public school; however, provides a transitional
provision that allows 25% of the teachers in a charter school to be
unlicensed until the professional standards board implements a system
of alternative teacher licensing. Provides that if a school corporation
eliminates a teaching position in a noncharter school because of a
charter school, the legal or contractual provisions, if any, otherwise
applicable to the teacher whose contract is canceled continue to apply
to that teacher. Allows the conversion of an existing public school to
a charter school if at least 51% of the teachers and 51% of the parents
approve of the conversion. Provides that only the governing body of the
school corporation in which a conversion charter school is located may
act as sponsor for the school. Makes conforming amendments to related
statutes.
Effective: Upon passage.
January 10, 2000, read first time and referred to Committee on Education.
January 27, 2000, amended, reported favorably _ Do Pass.
January 31, 2000, read second time, amended, ordered engrossed.
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
education.
SECTION 1. IC 20-5.5 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE AS
A NEW ARTICLE TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE UPON
PASSAGE]:
ARTICLE 5.5. CHARTER SCHOOLS
Chapter 1. Definitions
Sec. 1. The definitions in this chapter apply throughout this
article.
Sec. 2. "Board" refers to the Indiana state board of education
established by IC 20-1-1-1.
Sec. 3. "Charter" means a contract between an organizer and
a sponsor for the establishment of a charter school.
Sec. 4. "Charter school" means a public elementary school or
secondary school established under this article that:
(1) is nonsectarian and nonreligious; and
(2) operates under a charter.
Sec. 5. "Department" refers to the department of education
established by IC 20-1-1.1-2.
Sec. 6. "Elementary school" has the meaning set forth in
IC 20-10.1-1-15.
Sec. 7. "Governing body" has the meaning set forth in
IC 20-5-1-3(b).
Sec. 8. "Home based instruction" means instruction that:
(1) a parent establishes, organizes, and directs for education
of the parent's child; and
(2) excuses a child from compulsory school attendance under
IC 20-8.1-3-34.
Sec. 9. "Organizer" means a group or an entity that enters into
a contract under this article to operate a charter school.
Sec. 10. "Parent" has the meaning set forth in IC 20-1-1.8-8.
Sec. 11. "Proposal" refers to a proposal from an organizer to
establish a charter school.
Sec. 12. "Public school" has the meaning set forth in
IC 20-10.1-1-2.
Sec. 13. "Regional charter school" means a charter school
established jointly by two (2) or more school corporations.
Sec. 14. "School corporation" has the meaning set forth in
IC 20-5-1-3(a).
Sec. 15. "Secondary school" means a high school (as defined in
IC 20-10.1-1-16).
Sec. 16. "Sponsor" means the following:
(1) For a charter school, one (1) of the following:
(A) A governing body.
(B) A state educational institution (as defined in
IC 20-12-0.5-1) that has an accredited school of education.
(C) The executive (as defined in IC 36-1-2-5) of a
consolidated city.
(2) For a regional charter school, two (2) or more governing
bodies acting jointly.
Sec. 17. "Teacher" has the meaning set forth in IC 20-6.1-1-8.
Chapter 2. Description
Sec. 1. A charter school may be established under this article to
provide innovative and autonomous programs that do the
following:
(1) Serve the different learning styles and needs of public
school students.
(2) Offer public school students appropriate and innovative
choices.
(3) Afford varied opportunities for professional educators.
(4) Allow public schools freedom and flexibility in exchange
for exceptional levels of accountability.
(5) Provide parents, students, community members, and local
entities with an expanded opportunity for involvement in the
public school system.
Sec. 2. A charter school is subject to all federal and state laws
and constitutional provisions that prohibit discrimination on the
basis of the following:
(1) Disability.
(2) Race.
(3) Color.
(4) Gender.
(5) National origin.
(6) Religion.
(7) Ancestry.
Chapter 3. Establishment
Sec. 1. A sponsor may grant a charter to an organizer to operate
a charter school under this article.
Sec. 2. A sponsor may not grant a charter to a for-profit
organizer.
Sec. 3. An organizer may submit to the sponsor a proposal to
establish a charter school. A proposal must contain at least the
following information:
(1) Identification of the organizer.
(2) A description of the organizer's organizational structure
and governance plan.
(3) The following information for the proposed charter
school:
(A) Name.
(B) Purposes.
(C) Governance structure.
(D) Management structure.
(E) Educational mission goals.
(F) Curriculum and instructional methods.
(G) Methods of pupil assessment.
(H) Admission policy and criteria, subject to IC 20-5.5-5.
(I) School calendar.
(J) Age or grade range of pupils to be enrolled.
(K) A description of staff responsibilities.
(L) A description and the address of the physical plant.
(M) Budget and financial plans.
(N) Personnel plan, including methods for selection,
retention, and compensation of employees.
(O) Transportation plan.
(P) Discipline program.
(Q) Plan for compliance with any applicable desegregation
order.
(R) The date when the charter school is expected to:
(i) begin school operations; and
(ii) have students in attendance at the charter school.
(S) The arrangement for providing teachers and other staff
with health insurance, retirement benefits, liability
insurance, and other benefits.
(4) The manner in which an annual audit of the program
operations of the charter school is to be conducted by the
sponsor.
Sec. 4. (a) This subsection applies only to a sponsor that is the
executive of a consolidated city. Before issuing a charter, the
sponsor must:
(1) receive the approval of a majority of the members of the
legislative body (as defined in IC 36-1-2-9) of the consolidated
city for the establishment of a charter school; and
(2) comply with the requirements of subsection (b).
The sponsor may issue charters only for charter schools in a school
corporation that is located in whole or in part in the most populous
township in the consolidated city and that serves the largest
geographical territory of any school corporation in the township.
(b) Before issuing a charter, a sponsor that is not the governing
body of the school corporation in which the proposed charter
school is located must do the following:
(1) Notify the school corporation in which the proposed
charter school is to be located of the pending charter school
application.
(2) Not later than thirty (30) days before the public hearing
required under subdivision (5), provide the school corporation
identified in subdivision (1) with a copy of the charter school
proposal submitted under section 3 of this chapter.
(3) Give notice under IC 5-3-1-2(b) of the public hearing
required under this section.
(4) Make available to the public copies of the charter school
application, or require the organizer to make copies available
to the public.
(5) Hold a public hearing reasonably close to the location of
the proposed charter school, at which testimony must be
allowed from the organizer, the school corporation identified
in subdivision (1), and members of the public.
(6) Conduct any meeting pertaining to the authorization or
denial of a charter school proposal in settings that are open
and reasonably available to the public.
(c) A sponsor that is the governing body of the school
corporation in which the proposed charter school is located must
comply with the following:
(1) Make available to the public copies of the charter school
application, or require the organizer to make copies available
to the public.
(2) Give notice under IC 5-3-1-2(b) of the public hearing
required under this section.
(3) Hold a public hearing reasonably close to the location of
the proposed charter school, at which testimony must be
allowed from the organizer and members of the public.
Sec. 5. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), if a governing
body grants a charter to establish a charter school, the governing
body must provide a noncharter school that students of the same
age or grade levels may attend.
(b) The department may waive the requirement that a
governing body provide a noncharter school under subsection (a)
upon the request of the governing body.
Sec. 6. The sponsor may revoke the charter of a charter school
that does not, by the date specified in the charter:
(1) begin school operations; and
(2) have students in attendance at the charter school.
Sec. 7. Before granting a charter under which more than fifty
percent (50%) of the students in the school corporation will attend
a charter school, a governing body must receive the approval of the
department.
Sec. 8. (a) A governing body must notify the department of the
following:
(1) The receipt of a proposal.
(2) The acceptance of a proposal.
(3) The rejection of a proposal, including the reasons for the
rejection, the number of members of the governing body
favoring the proposal, and the number of members of the
governing body not favoring the proposal.
(b) The department shall annually do the following:
(1) Compile the information received under subsection (a)
into a report.
(2) Submit the report to the legislative council.
Sec. 9. If a sponsor rejects a charter school proposal, the
organizer may:
(1) amend the charter school proposal and resubmit the
proposal to the same sponsor; or
and describe the process for amending the charter.
(11) Describe specific operating requirements, including all of
the matters set forth in the application for the charter.
(12) Specify a date when the charter school will:
(A) begin school operations; and
(B) have students in attendance at the charter school.
(13) Specify that records of a charter school relating to the
school's operation and charter are subject to inspection and
copying to the same extent that records of a public school are
subject to inspection and copying under IC 5-14-3.
(14) Specify that records provided by the charter school to the
department or sponsor that relate to compliance by the
operator with the terms of the charter or applicable state or
federal laws are subject to inspection and copying in
accordance with IC 5-14-3.
(15) Specify that the charter school is subject to the
requirements of IC 5-14-1.5.
Chapter 5. Student Admissions and Enrollment
Sec. 1. Except as provided in this chapter, a charter school must
be open to any student who resides in Indiana.
Sec. 2. Except as provided in this chapter, a charter school may
not establish admission policies or limit student admissions on the
basis of:
(1) intellectual ability;
(2) a measure of achievement or aptitude; or
(3) athletic ability.
Sec. 3. (a) Except as provided in subsections (b) and (c), a
charter school must enroll any eligible student who submits a
timely application for enrollment.
(b) This subsection applies if the number of applications for a
program, class, grade level, or building exceeds the capacity of the
program, class, grade level, or building. If a charter school receives
a greater number of applications than there are spaces for
students, each timely applicant must be given an equal chance of
admission.
(c) A charter school may limit new admissions to the charter
school to:
(1) ensure that a student who attends the charter school
during a school year may continue to attend the charter
school in subsequent years; and
(2) allow the siblings of a student who attends a charter school
to attend the charter school.
Chapter 6. Employment
within the school corporation shall continue to apply to that
teacher.
Sec. 8. The governing body must grant a transfer of not more
than five (5) years to a teacher of a noncharter school in the school
corporation who wishes to teach and has been accepted to teach at
a charter school sponsored by the governing body within the school
corporation. During the term of the transfer:
(1) the teacher's seniority status under law continues as if the
teacher were an employee of a noncharter school in the school
corporation; and
(2) the teacher's years as a charter school employee shall not
be considered for purposes of permanent or semipermanent
status with the school corporation under IC 20-6.1-4.
Chapter 7. Fiscal Matters
Sec. 1. (a) The organizer is the fiscal agent for the charter
school.
(b) The organizer has exclusive control of:
(1) funds received by the charter school; and
(2) financial matters of the charter school.
(c) The organizer shall maintain separate accountings of all
funds received and disbursed by the charter school.
Sec. 2. For purposes of computing:
(1) state tuition support;
(2) state funding for any purpose; or
(3) local funding for any purpose except capital projects;
a charter school student is counted in the same manner as a student
of the school corporation in which the charter school student
resides.
Sec. 3. (a) Not later than the date established by the department
for determining average daily membership under
IC 21-3-1.6-1.1(d), the organizer shall submit to the department the
following information:
(1) The number of students enrolled in the charter school.
(2) The name of each student and the school corporation in
which the student resides.
(b) After verifying the accuracy of the information reported
under subsection (a), the department shall distribute the following
to the organizer:
(1) Tuition support and other state funding for any purpose
for students in the charter school.
(2) A proportionate share of state and federal funds received
for students with disabilities or staff services for students with
disabilities for the students with disabilities enrolled in the
charter school.
(3) A proportionate share of funds received under federal or
state categorical aid programs for students who are eligible
for the federal or state aid enrolled in the charter school.
(c) Not later than the date established by the department for
determining average daily membership under IC 21-3-1.6-1.1(d),
the organizer shall submit to each governing body a report of the
total number and names of students from the governing body's
school corporation enrolled in the charter school. Upon verifying
the accuracy of the information reported, the governing body shall
distribute to the organizer a proportionate share of local support
for the students enrolled in the charter school in an amount
determined under STEP THREE of the following formula:
STEP ONE: Add the revenues obtained by the school
corporation's:
(A) general fund property tax levy; and
(B) general fund auto excise and financial institutions tax.
STEP TWO: Divide the sum determined under STEP ONE by
the total number of students enrolled in the school
corporation.
STEP THREE: Multiply the quotient determined under STEP
TWO by the number of students enrolled in the charter
school.
Sec. 4. (a) Services that a school corporation provides to a
charter school, including transportation, may be provided at not
more than one hundred three percent (103%) of the actual cost of
the services.
(b) This subsection applies to a sponsor that is a state
educational institution described in IC 20-5.5-1-16(1)(B). A state
educational institution may receive from a governing body an
administrative fee equal to not more than five percent (5%) of the
total amount the governing body distributes under section 3(c) of
this chapter to the organizer of a charter school sponsored by the
state educational institution.
Sec. 5. An organizer may apply for and accept for a charter
school:
(1) independent financial grants; or
(2) funds from public or private sources other than the
department.
Sec. 6. With the approval of a majority of the members of the
governing body, a school corporation may distribute a
proportionate share of the school corporation's capital project
fund to a charter school.
under the following statutes apply to a charter school:
(1) IC 20-1-1.5 (unified accounting system).
(2) IC 20-1-6 (special education).
(3) IC 20-5-2-3 (subject to laws requiring regulation by state
agencies).
(4) IC 20-6.1-4-15 (void teacher contract when two (2)
contracts are signed).
(5) IC 20-6.1-6-11 (nondiscrimination for teacher marital
status).
(6) IC 20-6.1-6-13 (teacher freedom of association).
(7) IC 20-6.1-6-15 (school counselor immunity).
(8) IC 20-8.1-3 (compulsory school attendance).
(9) IC 20-8.1-5.1-13, IC 20-8.1-5.1-15, and IC 20-8.1-5.1-15.5
(student due process and judicial review).
(10) IC 20-8.1-7 and IC 20-8.1-8 (health and safety measures).
(11) IC 20-8.1-9-3 (exemption from school fees for eligible
families and fee reimbursement).
(12) IC 20-8.1-9-5 (notice to parents concerning financial
assistance).
(13) IC 20-8.1-12 (reporting of student violations of law).
(14) IC 20-10.1-2-4 and IC 20-10.1-2-6 (patriotic
commemorative observances).
(15) IC 20-10.1-16, IC 20-10.1-17, or any other statute, rule,
or guideline related to standardized testing (assessment
programs, including remediation under the assessment
programs).
(16) IC 20-10.1-22.4 (parental access to education records).
(17) IC 5-11-1-9 (requiring audit by state board of accounts).
Chapter 9. Oversight and Revocation
Sec. 1. An organizer that has established a charter school shall
submit an annual report to the department for informational and
research purposes.
Sec. 2. An annual report under this chapter must contain the
following information for a charter school:
(1) Results of all standardized testing.
(2) A description of the educational methods and teaching
methods employed.
(3) Daily attendance records.
(4) Graduation statistics.
(5) Student enrollment data, including the following:
(A) The number of students enrolled.
(B) The number of students expelled.
(C) The number of students who discontinued attendance
at the charter school and the reasons for the
discontinuation.
Sec. 3. The sponsor shall oversee a charter school's compliance
with:
(1) the charter; and
(2) all applicable laws.
Sec. 4. Notwithstanding the provisions of the charter, a sponsor
that grants a charter may revoke the charter at any time before the
expiration of the term of the charter if the sponsor determines that
at least one (1) of the following occurs:
(1) The organizer fails to comply with the conditions
established in the charter.
(2) The charter school established by the organizer fails to
meet the educational goals set forth in the charter.
(3) The organizer fails to comply with all applicable laws.
(4) The organizer fails to meet generally accepted government
accounting principles.
(5) One (1) or more grounds for revocation exist as specified
in the charter.
Sec. 5. A charter school shall report the following to the
sponsor:
(1) Attendance records.
(2) Student performance data.
(3) Financial information.
(4) Any information necessary to comply with state and
federal government requirements.
(5) Any other information specified in the charter.
Sec. 6. The organizer of a charter school shall publish an annual
performance report that provides the information required under
IC 20-1-21-8 in the same manner that a school corporation
publishes an annual report under IC 20-1-21.
Chapter 10. Student Transfers From Charter Schools
Sec. 1. A public noncharter school that receives a transfer
student from a charter school may not discriminate against the
student in any way, including placing the student:
(1) in an inappropriate age group according to the student's
ability;
(2) below the student's abilities; or
(3) in a class where the student has already mastered the
subject matter.
Chapter 11. Conversion of Existing Schools Into Charter
Schools
Sec. 1. An existing public elementary or secondary school may
be converted into a charter school if the following conditions apply:
(1) At least fifty-one percent (51%) of the teachers at the
school have signed a petition requesting the conversion.
(2) At least fifty-one percent (51%) of the parents of students
at the school have signed a petition requesting the conversion.
Sec. 2. If the conditions of section 1 of this chapter are met, the
teachers and parents may appoint a committee to act as organizers
for the charter school.
Sec. 3. The organizers shall submit a proposal under IC 20-5.5-3
to the governing body of the school corporation in which an
existing elementary or secondary school is located
to convert the
existing school into a charter school.
Sec. 4. Only the governing body of the school corporation in
which an existing public elementary or secondary school that seeks
conversion to a charter school is located may act as the sponsor of
the conversion charter school.
Sec. 5.
An existing public school that is converted into a charter
school remains subject to an existing collective bargaining
agreement unless at least fifty-one percent (51%) of the certificated
staff of the school vote to remove the school from the collective
bargaining agreement.
Chapter 12. Regional Charter Schools
Sec. 1. The governing bodies of two (2) or more school
corporations may grant a charter to an organizer to operate a
regional charter school under this article.
Sec. 2. An organizer may submit to the governing bodies of two
(2) or more school corporations a proposal to establish a regional
charter school. A proposal must contain at least the following
information:
(1) Identification of the organizer.
(2) A description of the organizer's organizational structure
and governance plan.
(3) The following information for the proposed charter
school:
(A) Name.
(B) Purposes.
(C) Governance structure.
(D) Management structure.
(E) Educational mission goals.
(F) Curriculum and instructional methods.
(G) Methods of pupil assessment.
(H) Admission policy and criteria, subject to IC 20-5.5-5.
(I) School calendar.
(J) Age or grade range of pupils to be enrolled.
(K) A description of staff responsibilities.
(L) A description and the address of the physical plant.
(M) Budget and financial plans.
(N) Personnel plan, including methods for selection,
retention, and compensation of employees.
(O) Transportation plan.
(P) Discipline program.
(Q) Plan for compliance with any applicable desegregation
order.
(R) The date the charter school is expected to:
(i) begin school operations; and
(ii) have students in attendance at the charter school.
(S) The arrangement for providing teachers and other staff
with health insurance, retirement benefits, liability
insurance, and other benefits.
(4) Identification of the school corporation in which the
regional charter school will be located.
(5) The manner in which an annual audit of the program
operations of the regional charter school is to be conducted by
the sponsoring governing bodies.
Sec. 3. Before issuing a charter, the governing bodies of the
school corporations seeking to sponsor the proposed charter school
must do the following:
(1) Make available to the public copies of the charter school
application, or require the organizer to make copies available
to the public.
(2) Give notice under IC 5-3-1-2(b) of the public hearing
required under this section.
(3) Hold a public hearing reasonably close to the location of
the proposed charter school, at which testimony must be
allowed from the organizer and members of the public.
Sec. 4. A proposal to establish a regional charter school must be
approved by a majority of the members of each governing body to
which the proposal was submitted.
Sec. 5. (a) The governing bodies of each school corporation that
has granted a charter for a regional charter school must act jointly
to revoke the charter of a regional charter school that does not, by
the date specified in the charter:
(1) begin school operations; and
(2) have students in attendance at the regional charter school.
(b) If the governing body of one (1) school corporation that has
granted a charter for a regional charter school wishes to cease
participation in the regional charter school, the governing bodies
of any school corporations that wish to continue participation in
the regional charter school must grant a new charter to an
organizer to operate a regional charter school under this article.
Sec. 6. (a) Each governing body must notify the department of
the following concerning a regional charter school:
(1) The receipt of a proposal.
(2) The acceptance of a proposal.
(3) The rejection of a proposal, including the reasons for the
rejection, the number of members of the governing body
favoring the proposal, and the number of members of the
governing body not favoring the proposal.
(b) The department shall annually do the following:
(1) Compile the information received under subsection (a)
into a report.
(2) Submit the report to the legislative council.
Sec. 7. A governing body must include a regional charter school
in which the school corporation participates when complying with
public notice requirements affecting public schools.
SECTION 2. IC 20-7.5-1-2 IS AMENDED TO READ AS
FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE UPON PASSAGE]: Sec. 2. As used in this
chapter:
(a) "School corporation" means any local public school corporation
established under Indiana law and, in the case of public vocational
schools or schools for children with disabilities established or
maintained by two (2) or more school corporations, shall refer to such
schools.
(b) "Governing body" shall mean: means:
(1) the board or commission charged by law with the
responsibility of administering the affairs of the school
corporation; or
(2) the body that administers a charter school established
under IC 20-5.5.
(c) "School employer" means:
(1) the governing body of each:
(A) school corporation; or
(B) charter school established under IC 20-5.5; and
(2) any person or persons authorized to act for the governing body
of the school employer in dealing with its employees.
(d) "Superintendent" shall mean:
(1) the chief administrative officer of any:
(A) school corporation; or
(B) charter school established under IC 20-5.5; or
(2) any person or persons designated by the officer or by the
governing body to act in the officer's behalf in dealing with school
employees.
(e) "School employee" means any full-time
certificated person in the
employment of the school employer. A school employee shall be
considered full time even though the employee does not work during
school vacation periods, and accordingly works less than a full year.
There shall be excluded from the meaning of school employee
supervisors, confidential employees, employees performing security
work and noncertificated employees.
(f) "Certificated employee" means a person:
(1) whose contract with the school corporation requires that he
the person hold a license or permit from the state board of
education or a commission thereof as provided in IC 20-6.1; or
(2) employed as a teacher by a charter school established
under IC 20-5.5.
(g) "Noncertificated employee" means any school employee whose
employment is not dependent upon the holding of a license or permit
as provided in IC 20-6.1.
(h) "Supervisor" means any individual who has:
(1) authority, acting for the school corporation, to hire, transfer,
suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or
discipline school employees;
(2) responsibility to direct school employees and adjust their
grievances; or
(3) responsibility to effectively recommend the action described
in subsections subdivisions (1) through (2);
that is not of a merely routine or clerical nature but requires the use of
independent judgment. The term includes superintendents, assistant
superintendents, business managers and supervisors, directors with
school corporation-wide responsibilities, principals and vice principals,
and department heads who have responsibility for evaluating teachers.
(i) "Confidential employee" means a school employee whose
unrestricted access to confidential personnel files or whose functional
responsibilities or knowledge in connection with the issues involved in
dealings between the school corporation and its employees would make
the confidential employee's membership in a school employee
organization incompatible with the employee's official duties.
(j) "Employees performing security work" means any school
employee whose primary responsibility is the protection of personal
and real property owned or leased by the school corporation or who
performs police or quasi-police powers.
(k) "School employee organization" means any organization which
has school employees as members and one (1) of whose primary
purposes is representing school employees in dealing with their school
employer, and includes any person or persons authorized to act on
behalf of such organizations.
(l) "Exclusive representative" means the school employee
organization which has been certified for the purposes of this chapter
by the board or recognized by a school employer as the exclusive
representative of the employees in an appropriate unit as provided in
section 10 of this chapter, or the person or persons duly authorized to
act on behalf of such representative.
(m) "Board" means the Indiana education employment relations
board provided by this chapter.
(n) "Bargain collectively" means the performance of the mutual
obligation of the school employer and the exclusive representative to
meet at reasonable times to negotiate in good faith with respect to items
enumerated in section 4 of this chapter and to execute a written
contract incorporating any agreement relating to such matters. Such
obligation shall not include the final approval of any contract
concerning these or any other items. Agreements reached through
collective bargaining are binding as a contract only if ratified by the
governing body of the school corporation and the exclusive
representative. The obligation to bargain collectively does not require
the school employer or the exclusive representative to agree to a
proposal of the other or to make a concession to the other.
(o) "Discuss" means the performance of the mutual obligation of the
school corporation through its superintendent and the exclusive
representative to meet at reasonable times to discuss, to provide
meaningful input, to exchange points of view, with respect to items
enumerated in section 5 of this chapter. This obligation shall not,
however, require either party to enter into a contract, to agree to a
proposal, or to require the making of a concession. A failure to reach
an agreement on any matter of discussion shall not require the use of
any part of the impasse procedure, as provided in section 13 of this
chapter. Neither the obligation to bargain collectively nor to discuss
any matter shall prevent any school employee from petitioning the
school employer, the governing body, or the superintendent for a
redress of the employee's grievances either individually or through the
exclusive representative, nor shall either such obligation prevent the
school employer or the superintendent from conferring with any
citizen, taxpayer, student, school employee, or other person considering
the operation of the schools and the school corporation.
(p) "Strike" means concerted failure to report for duty, willful
absence from one's position, stoppage of work, or abstinence in whole
or in part from the full, faithful, and proper performance of the duties
of employment, without the lawful approval of the school employer, or
in any concerted manner interfering with the operation of the school
employer for any purpose.
(q) "Deficit financing" with respect to any budget year shall mean
expenditures in excess of money legally available to the employer.
SECTION 3. [EFFECTIVE UPON PASSAGE] (a)
Notwithstanding IC 20-5.5-6-4, as added by this act, until the end
of the school year in which the professional standards board
(established by IC 20-1-1.4-2) implements an alternative method of
beginning teacher licensure, the following apply to teachers in a
charter school:
(1) A teacher must have a four (4) year college degree from an
accredited institution.
(2) At least seventy-five percent (75%) of the teachers in a
charter school must hold a license to teach in a public school.
(3) Not more than twenty-five percent (25%) of a charter
school's teaching staff may be individuals who:
(A) are not licensed to teach in a public school; and
(B) possess specific knowledge or skills that are critical to
the mission of the charter school.
(4) A charter school teacher described in subdivision (3) is
subject to:
(A) regular performance reviews; and
(B) professional development activities;
as determined and identified by the organizer.
(b) This SECTION expires June 30, 2005.
SECTION 4. An emergency is declared for this act.