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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Papen

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/20/2007

3/13/2007 HB

SHORT TITLE Charter School Employment Provisions

SB 189/aSFl/aHEC

ANALYST Aguilar

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Public Education Department (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HEC Amendment

The House Education Committee amendment to Senate Bill 189 strikes Senate Floor

Amendment #1 and restores the original language in the bill.

Synopsis of SFl Amendment

Senate Floor amendment number one to Senate Bill 189 removes the provision that the head

administrator of a charter school shall employ, fix the salaries of, assign, terminate and discharge

all employees of a charter school.

SB-189/aSFL#1 restores language currently in statute that a charter school may determine by

indicating in its charter that either its governing body or head administrator shall make all

employment decisions.

Synopsis of Original Bill

Senate Bill 189 provides for the head administrator of a charter school to make all employment,

assignment, terminations and discharge decisions for the charter school. Additionally the head

administrator shall fix employee salaries.

Senate Bill 189/aSFl/aHEC– Page

2

The bill also provides that the head administrator will not initially employ or approve the initial

employment in any capacity relatives to the governing board or the head administrator.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

PED notes that the bill would make the hiring practices of charter schools align with current

hiring practices of school districts by requiring all decisions to hire, fix salaries, assign, terminate

or discharge employees of a charter school to be made by that school’s head administrator. The

head administrator could not initially employ in any capacity certain enumerated relatives of the

head administrator or governing body. However, the bill would give the governing body the

authority to waive prohibited employment of relatives of the head administrator just as current

law allows a local board that waiver as to a district superintendent.

PA/mt