AL HJR313

Urges local boards of education to elect to become charter school authorizers by September 1, 2015, following the enactment of the Alabama School Choice and Student Opportunity Act (Act 2015-3) on March 19, 2015.

Requires local school boards choosing to be authorizers to submit a written application to the state Department of Education detailing their capacity, strategic vision for charter schools, plan for soliciting applicants, and performance framework for monitoring charter schools.

Establishes key implementation deadlines: application format to be available by June 1, 2015; State Board of Education to adopt regulations by June 10, 2015; and boards choosing to authorize to issue charter school requests for proposals within 120 days of enactment (by July 17, 2015).

Urges the Alabama Public Charter School Commission to allow sufficient time to develop its rules as an appellate body and high-quality charter school authorizer before hearing appeals from applications denied at the local level.