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STATUS:A8370 Hoyt No Same as

Education Law

TITLE....Relates to providing for charter school facilities aid06/15/11 referred to education

SUMMARY:

Bill Summary Information Not Found

BILL TEXT:

STATE OF NEW YORK

________________________________________________________________________

8370

2011-2012 Regular Sessions

IN ASSEMBLY

June 15, 2011___________

Introduced by M. of A. HOYT -- read once and referred to the

Committee

on Education

AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to providing forcharter

school facilities aid

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and

Assem-bly, do enact as follows:

1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section

2858

2 to read as follows:

3 2858. Charter schools facilities aid. 1. Charter schools shallbe4 eligible to receive an apportionment pursuant to this section

for

5 current year approved expenditures for debt service relating tothe

6 construction, acquisition, reconstruction, rehabilitation orimprovement

7 of any charter school building used for instruction; forapproved

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8 expenditures for capital outlays for such purposes, which shall beaida-

9 ble as debt service through an assumed amortization to the sameextent

10 and under the same conditions as school district capital outlayspursu-

11 ant to subdivision six of section thirty-six hundred two of this

chap-12 ter; for annual payments to the dormitory authority pursuant to

any

13 lease, sublease or other agreement relating to the financing or

refi-

14 nancing of an eligible charter school construction project underthe

15 provisions of section sixteen hundred eighty of the publicauthorities

16 law, and for current year approved expenditures for lease, lease-

pur-17 chase or other annual payments to a school district or person,

partner-

18 ship or corporation for a charter school building used forinstruction.

19 Approved expenditures for the lease or other annual payments shallnot

20 include the costs of heat, electricity, water or other utilities orthe

21 costs of operation or maintenance of the leased facility. An

apportion-22 ment shall be available pursuant to this subdivision for

construction,23 reconstruction, rehabilitation or improvement in a building, or

portion

24 thereof, being leased by a charter school only if the lease is fora

25 term of at least ten years subsequent to the date of thegeneral

EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in

brackets

[] is old law to be omitted.LBD13040-

01-1

A. 8370 2

1 construction contract for such construction, reconstruction,

rehabili-2 tation or improvement.

3 2. The apportionment pursuant to this section shall be computedin

4 accordance with subdivision six of section thirty-six hundred twoof

5 this chapter, as modified by this section, and all the requirements

of

6 such subdivision six shall apply, except that a five-year capital

facil-7 ities plan shall not be required as a condition of aid. In

computing

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8 such apportionment, the aid ratio for the charter school shall bedeemed

9 to be the aid ratio of the district in which the charter schoolis

10 located, and the assumed interest rate for bonds or notes issued bythe

11 charter school shall be the interest rate computed pursuant to

clause12 (b) of subparagraph five of paragraph e of subdivision six of

section

13 thirty-six hundred two of this chapter.14 3. The commissioner shall be authorized to pay up to seventy

percent15 of the sum appropriated for purposes of this section prior to

April16 first of the school year for which such monies are available, with

the

17 remainder payable on or after such date.18 4. Where an apportionment is paid to a charter school pursuant to

this

19 section based on an assumed amortization, and the charter school'schar-

20 ter is revoked or is not renewed or the charter school otherwisecloses

21 prior to the end of the period of assumed amortization, the stateshall

22 have a lien on the charter school building in the full amount of the

aid23 paid pursuant to this section and any transfer of such building to

a24 school district or another charter school upon dissolution of the

char-

25 ter school shall be subject to the state's lien. Notwithstandingany

26 provision of law to the contrary, upon request by the attorneygeneral,

27 the court in a proceeding pursuant to section two hundred twenty of

this28 chapter shall be authorized to direct the sale of such school

building29 in order to pay off the lien of the state.30 5. Any capital improvements made in a charter school financed

with

31 charter school facilities aid, stimulus funds or any other source

of32 state funding shall be deemed to be a public works project for

the

33 purposes of article eight of the labor law, and all the provisionsof

34 article eight of the labor law shall be applicable to theconstruction

35 work involved in the construction of such capital improvements, and

any

36 contract entered into by the charter school for such capital

improve-37 ments shall contain a clause to that effect, and if no such clause

is

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38 contained in such contract, the courts, in any action to enforcethe

39 provisions of article eight of the labor law with reference tosuch

40 contract, shall deem such clause to be incorporated in such contract.

41 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

SPONSORS MEMO:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY

MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION

submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(e)

BILL NUMBER: A8370

SPONSOR: Hoyt

TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the education law, in relation to

providing for charter school facilities aid

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: Charter schools in NYS currently

receive operating aid but no facilities aid from the State. Theresources that charter schools receive are less than the resources

available to other public schools in the same school district. Charterschools are an important option in public education and this legislationwill allow for these schools to receive charter facilities aid so that

children are learning in the most conducive environment possible andthat all charter school operating funds are going towards the student's

education.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS: Section 1 amends education law by

adding a new section 2858 that allows Charter schools to be eligible to

receive current year approved expenditures for debt service relating tothe construction, acquisition, reconstruction, rehabilitation orimprovement of any charter school building used for instruction.

Paragraph 2 of section 2858 as amended will allow for the apportionment

to be computed in accordance with subdivision six of section thirty sixhundred two of this chapter and all the requirements of subdivision sixshall apply except that a five year capital facilities plan shall not be

required as a condition of aid.

Paragraph 3 states the commissioner shall be authorized to pay up toseventy percent of the sum appropriated for purposes of this section

prior to April first of the school year for which such monies are avail-able, with the remainder payable on or after such date.

Paragraph 4 states that if a charter school closes or has there licenserevoked the state will file a lien on the charter school building in thefull amount of the aid and that the court in accordance with section two

hundred twenty of this chapter will be directed to sell the facility topay off the state's lien.

Paragraph 5 Any capital improvements made in a charter school financed

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with charter school facilities aid, stimulus funds, or any other state

funding will be considered a public works project and subject to all the

provisions of article eight of the labor law.

Section 2 is the effective date.

JUSTIFICATION: By law, charter schools are public schools in New York

State. Their students are public school students, and they use public

funds to educate the students they enroll.

Despite this fact, the law does not provide public charter schools with

the capital financing that other public schools receive. As a result,

public charter schools must use funds intended for instruction on their

capital needs, thus reducing the quality of the education their studentsreceive.

In New York City, the lack of capital funding for public charter schoolshas forced them to share space in Department of Education buildings.

This solution, while justified given their public school status, has

lead to many community disputes over how space is to be shared and whichbuildings should be used for such "co-locations."

To provide public charter school students with the funding their schools

are entitled to, the state of New York should provide public charterschools with access to the same capital financing options as traditionalpublic schools. The children in public charter schools are no less

worthy of this support, and doing so would greatly reduce, if not elimi-nate, the need for alternative arrangements that have caused so much

community unrest.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: This is a new bill

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: To be determined

EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect immediately