H422: Charter School Reform

Tuesday, 2/27/24:

Gov. Brad Little reported today that he has signed H422, the Accelerating Charter Schools Act.

Monday, 2/19/24:

H422 passed the Senate last Friday 32-1-2 and is on its way to the governor’s desk.

Tuesday, 2/13/24:

H422 was presented in the Senate Education Committee last Wednesday and passed. It now sits on the Senate 3rd reading calendar.

Tuesday, 1/30/24:

H422 was debated on the House floor Tuesday morning and passed 66-3-1. It now heads to the Senate where it will likely face a hearing in Senate Ed.

Friday, 1/26/24:

Rep. Boyle and Alex Adams presented H422 to the House Education Committee on Thursday morning. Adams is the budget director for Governor Little, but he also spent time as the interim director of the Idaho Public Charter School Commission.

After nearly two hours of testimony and debate, the committee voted to send H422 to the floor with a do pass recommendation. Notable testimony against the bill came from former state senator and superintendent candidate Branden Durst, who argued that a provision in the bill that prohibits money going to religious schools is unconstitutional. Read his guest editorial here.

Tuesday, 1/23/24:

Rep. Boyle has reintroduced this bill as RS 30982. It was approved by House Ed and printed as House Bill 422.

Thursday, 1/11/24:

Update: Rep. Boyle’s bill is on the website as H386. Click the link to read the full text. Sen. Lori Den Hartog will carry the bill on the Senate side, should it pass the House.

Rep. Judy Boyle is introducing RS 30856 in House Education this morning, a bill related to charter schools.

Rep. Boyle quit House Ed last year due to frustration with the way in which the committee was refusing to hear good bills. However, she appears to be back on the committee as the session begins.

Rep. Boyle says this is a comprehensive bill to clarify things regarding charter school regulations. Chairwoman Julie Yamamoto says that if the bill is printed, she will bring it before the committee in a few weeks to give enough time to gather testimony.

Rep. Steve Berch asked for a summary of changes in the bill. Yamamoto suggested he refer to the paperwork. Boyle agreed to craft a longer summary.

Rep. Chris Mathias proposed a substitute motion to hold the RS until the next meeting so he could have time to speak to additional stakeholders who might suggest changes to the bill. Rep. Berch seconded the substitute motion. Rep. Jack Nelson agreed with the Democrats’ motion, but clarified that he still supported the bill. Rep. Lance Clow suggested that holding an RS before printing would set a bad precedent. Rep. Ron Mendive, who initially moved to introduce the bill, also spoke against the substitute motion.

The substitute motion failed on a voice vote.

Rep. Lori McCann, vice chair of the committee, seemed to agree with Clow about the precedent, but she also suggested that she agreed with the spirit of Mathias’ idea to hold it until next week. Yamamoto reminded her that she had already indicated she planned to wait a few weeks before holding a full hearing.

Berch seemed offended that he was apparently excluded from reading the RS prior to today’s print hearing. He implied that Boyle disrespected him by not sharing the text with him prior to today.

The RS passed and will be printed shortly.