HB189 - Alabama Innovative Charter Schools Act

• Establishes the Alabama Innovative Charter Schools Act to create public K-12 charter schools authorized by registered local school boards and the State Board of Education under specified conditions.

• Prohibits private schools from applying to become or converting to charter school status; requires charter schools to be nonprofit public schools open to all eligible students with admission by random selection if capacity is exceeded.

• Sets up authorizer registration process for local school boards, charter application and approval procedures, performance frameworks for evaluating schools, and processes for charter renewal, nonrenewal, and revocation.

• Exempts charter schools from most state education law requirements while requiring compliance with civil rights, health, safety, state content standards, accountability, assessments, competitive bidding, open meetings, and open records laws.

• Provides charter school funding equal to 100 percent of per-student state funding formula amounts, requires annual independent audits, mandates at least 75 percent certified teachers and participation in state retirement/health insurance systems, and establishes facility acquisition and building code requirements.