HB677 - Alabama Innovative Charter Schools Act Summary

• Establishes the Alabama Innovative Charter Schools Act, creating a framework for public charter schools authorized by registered local school boards and the State Board of Education with autonomy over finances, personnel, curriculum, and instruction.

• Requires local school boards to register with the department to become charter authorizers and sets standards for authorizer performance, including application review, charter contract negotiation, and ongoing school monitoring with annual reporting to the department.

• Charter schools must be nonprofit, open-enrollment public schools that cannot discriminate, charge tuition, or convert from private schools; they must use random selection if enrollment exceeds capacity and provide the same number of instructional days and civil rights protections as traditional public schools.

• Establishes charter contract terms of up to five years with renewal options, performance frameworks measuring student achievement and financial sustainability, and processes for contract renewal, nonrenewal, and revocation with specific procedural protections for charter schools.

• Charter schools receive 100 percent of state funding formula amounts per student from their local school district, must employ certified teachers (75 percent minimum), participate in state retirement systems, and undergo annual independent financial audits.