The provision raises serious legal questions about whether the state can interfere with the local electoral process, as initiated by school districts, and whether the state can preordain how a local political entity spends its local tax money. And the provision ignores the balance struck in the Charter Schools Act of 1993. In exchange for receiving no money for buildings, charters are exempt from many state laws and regulations. Charters, typically formed by parent groups unhappy with neighborhood schools, now receive from school districts 95 percent of operating revenues that other district schools get. While we strongly support school choice, this push to suddenly infuse millions of dollars into charter construction came without full public discourse or review.
Legislators have a duty to ensure that the laws they make are legal and equitable.
The provision at issue in SB 237 is neither. It should be repealed, not merely delayed.