SB508 - Alabama Innovative Charter Schools Act

• Establishes the Alabama Innovative Charter Schools Act to create public charter schools authorized by registered local school boards and the State Board of Education, with charter schools operating as public schools under fixed-term renewable contracts.

• Requires local school boards to register with the State Department of Education to become charter authorizers, and establishes processes for charter school application approval, renewal, and revocation based on performance frameworks and accountability measures.

• Prohibits private schools from converting to or applying for charter status; charter schools must be nonsectarian, cannot charge tuition, cannot discriminate on basis of race/ethnicity/disability/national origin, and must use random selection if enrollment exceeds capacity.

• Provides that charter schools receive 100 percent of state funding formula amounts for enrolled students from local school districts, are subject to same civil rights/health/safety/accountability standards as traditional public schools, and must comply with open meetings and open records laws.

• Exempts charter schools from most state education statutes while requiring compliance with federal laws, state content standards, competitive bidding, and building codes; specifies charter school governance structure with independent governing boards and requires annual independent financial audits.