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An Act To Require the Department of Education To Report on the Costs and Sources of Funding of Charter Schools
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §2403, sub-§7, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 414, §5, is amended to read:
 
7. Reports.   Four years after public charter schools have been in operation, the commissioner shall issue to the Governor, the Legislature and the public a report on the State's public charter school program, drawing from the annual reports submitted by every authorizer pursuant to section 2405, subsection 4, as well as any additional relevant data compiled by the commissioner up to the school year ending in the preceding calendar year. The report must include an assessment of the public charter school program's successes, challenges and areas for improvement in meeting the purposes of this chapter and any suggested changes in state law or policy necessary to strengthen the public charter school program. The commissioner shall issue a similar report after 8 years of operation of public charter schools.
 
On or before July 1st of each year, the commissioner shall report to the Governor, the Legislature and the public the overall cost of all public charter schools in the State and the source of all funds supporting all public charter schools and the overall cost of each public charter school and the source of all funds supporting each public charter school. This report must include the source of funds for an authorizer if the authorizer is a source of funds for a public charter school under this chapter.
Sec. 2. 20-A MRSA §2405, sub-§4, ¶D, as amended by PL 2011, c. 570, §5, is further amended to read:
 
D. The oversight and services provided by the authorizer to the public charter schools under the authorizer's purview; and
Sec. 3. 20-A MRSA §2405, sub-§4, ¶E, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 570, §6, is amended to read:
 
E. The total amount of funds collected from each public charter school the authorizer authorized pursuant to subsection 5, paragraph B and the costs incurred by the authorizer to oversee each public charter school.; and
Sec. 4.  20-A MRSA §2405, sub-§4, ¶F  is enacted to read:
 
F.  The total amount of funds expended by each public charter school overseen by the authorizer and the authorizer in support of the public charter school and the source of those funds, including the source of funds for the authorizer if the authorizer provides any funds for the public charter school.
 
SUMMARY
This bill directs an authorizer of public charter schools to report yearly to the Commissioner of Education the total amount of funds expended by each public charter school authorized by that authorizer and the source of those funds and directs the Department of Education to report by July 1st of each year to the Governor, the Legislature and the public the overall cost and source of funds for all public charter schools in the State and the overall cost and source of funds for each public charter school.