Charter Schools in Utah

Law:   Passed in 1998

Rank:   15th Weakest of the nation's 40 charter laws

CER Grade:   C

Schools:   12

Students:   1,259

DEVELOPMENTS:

LIFT YOUR CAP: While we've barely finished a quarter of 2003, this state has already wrapped up its legislative action, with good news for charter fans. On the last day of the session, lawmakers approved a bill that will modestly raise the charter school cap and will also provide $1.5 million for a revolving facilities loan fund. The bill raises the number of charters that the state board can approve from 16 to 24 in 2003-04 with an additional eight in each subsequent year. CER Newswire March 11, 2003.
FRONT AND CENTER: Utah's Center City School was one of only eleven schools nationwide selected to be the first project schools in the First Amendment Schools initiative. This multi-year reform effort, sponsored by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and the First Amendment Center, is designed to transform how schools model and teach the rights and responsibilities of the First Amendment, and help students become active and engaged citizens. The schools were chosen from a national grant competition and include only three middle schools of which Center City is one. CER Newswire, May 7, 2002.
COURTING SUCCESS: Utah's charter law is indeed constitutional, according to the state's Supreme Court. The Utah School Boards Association challenged the constitutionality of a 1998 law authorizing as many as eight charter schools for a three-year experiment with rigorous controls. Eight was evidently too many for the school boards association, but the Utah Supreme Court rejected the argument, and called the challenge by the school board association "unreasonable," making it the 12th law to be upheld by a state's high court against the wishes of the school boards association in that state. CER Newswire, January 23, 2001.
MONEY MATTERS: Utah makes grant monies available to charter school for start-up costs at the discretion of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Once a charter school has secured a facility in the form of a written agreement for the use of space, the Superintendent can then award a one-time grant to the charter school of $62,500. Solving the Charter School Financing Conundrum

RESOURCES:

Profile of Utah Charter School Law .

Links to Utah Charter School Websites .

SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS:

Utah Charter School Association 1431 W Green Ave Provo, UT 84604	Contact: Nathan Rathbun Phone: 801-319-9201 Fax: 801-785-9690 Email: nathan@utahcharterschools.org
Website: http://utahcharterschools.org/
Dedicated to furthering the cause of charter schools in Utah.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION:

Utah Charter Schools Task Force Utah State Office of Education 250 E. 500 S. Salt Lake City, UT 84111	Tel: 801-538-7500 Fax: 801-538-7521
Website: http://www.usoe.k12.ut.us/charterschools/