An Act To Ensure That No Maine Child Is Left behind by Improving the Overall Education of Disadvantaged Children and Complying with New Federal Education Funding Requirements
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 1374
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: GLYNN
Amends: 20-A MRSA §2951, 20-A MRSA §5205

Legislative Document 
No. 1374 
H.P.1009 
House of Representatives, March 18,2003 
An Act To Ensure That No Maine Child Is Left behind by 
Improving the Overall Education of Disadvantaged Children and 
Complying with New Federal Education Funding Requirements 
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed. 
Presented by Representative GLYNN of South Portland. 
Printed on recycled paper 
!Jl~ 
frl.77!O£~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA c.112 is enacted to read: 
CHAPTER 112 
CHARTER SCHOOLS 
§241l. 
Charter schools authorized 
Charter schools are authorized as public schools of this 
State. 
Charter schools may be created to meet the learning needs 
of students. to provide academic choices to parents and students, 
to provide professional opportunities for educators and for other 
educational purposes. 
Individual charter schools must be created 
by acts of the Legislature. 
Sec. 2. 20-A MRSA §2951, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1981, c. 
693, §§5 and 8, is repealed. 
Sec. 3. 20-A MRSA §5205, sub-§6, as amended by PL 1991, c . 
365, §2, is further amended to read: 
6. 
Transfer students. 
The following provisions apply to 
transfers of students from one school administrative unit to 
another or between a school administrative unit and a private 
school approved for tuition purposes under section 2951. 
A. 
Twa 
Except 
as 
provided 
in 
subsection 
9, 
superintendents may approve the transfer of a student from 
one 
school 
administrative 
unit 
to 
another 
or 
a 
superintendent 
and 
the 
headmaster 
of 
a 
private 
school 
approved for tuition purposes under section 2951 may approve 
the transfer of a 
student between the 
schools if the 
school to which transfer is sought is within 50 miles of the 
school the student currently attends and: 
(1) 
They find that a transfer is in the student's best 
interest; and 
(2) 
The student's parent approves. 
The superintendents or superintendent and headmaster shall 
notify the commissioner of any transfer approved under this 
paragraph. 
B. 
On the request of the parent of a student requesting 
transfer under paragraph A, 
the commissioner shall review 
the transfer. 
The commissioner's decision shall be final 
and binding. 
Page l-LRl040(1) 
C. 
The 
superintendents or superintendent and headmaster 
shall annually review any transfer under this subsection. 
D. 
For purposes of the state school subsidy, in the case of 
a transfer of a student from one school administrative unit 
to another, a student transferred under this subsection is 
considered a resident of the school administrative unit to 
which transferred. 
Upon request of the superintendent of 
schools 
in the 
unit in which 
a 
student is placed in 
accordance with this subsection, the state share percentage 
for 
subsidized 
educational 
costs 
for 
that 
student 
is 
equivalent to the state share percentage of the unit in 
which the student's parent or legal guardian resides or the 
average state share percentage, whichever is greater. 
If 
the parent or legal guardian does not reside in the State or 
can not be located or in the case of a transfer to a private 
school approved for tuition purposes under section 2951, the 
subsidy is the state average subsidy. 
E. 
A school administrative unit or private school approved 
for tuition purposes 
under 
section 2951 
may 
not charge 
tuition for a transfer approved under this subsection. 
Sec. 4. 20-A MRSA §5205, sub-§9 is enacted to read: 
9. 
Educationally disadvantaged students from low-performing 
public 
schools. 
In 
accordance 
with 
subsection 
6, 
superintendents or 
a 
superintendent 
and 
the headmaster of 
a 
private school approved for tuition purposes under section 2951 
shall approve the transfer of a student from one public school to 
another or from a public school to a private school approved for 
tuition purposes under section 2951 if the student has failed to 
meet state academic and student achievement standards and the 
school from which the student is applying to transfer has failed 
to achieve adeguate yearly progress and the school to which the 
student is applying to transfer has achieved adeguate yearly 
progress. 
For the purposes of this subsection, the terms "state 
academic and student achievement standards" and "adeguate yearly 
progress" have the same meaning as in the federal No Child Left 
Behind Act of 2001, 20 United States Code, Chapter 70, Subchapter 
.L.. 
Sec. 5. 
Implementation. 
In 
carrying 
out 
this 
Act, 
the 
Department of Education is guided by the following principles. 
1. 
Child' s best interests. 
Parents are best equipped to 
make 
decisions 
for 
their 
child, 
including 
choosing 
the 
educational setting that best serves the educational needs and 
interests of that child. 
2. 
Right 
to 
quality 
education. 
Parents 
of 
children 
attenqing proven underperforming schools have a right to send 
their children to schools that have demonstrated a higher level 
of educational performance, whether those are public schools or 
private schools approved for tuition purposes. 
3. 
Expanding educational options. 
In areas of the State 
where 
public 
school 
choice 
is 
limited, 
the 
possibility of 
attending a quality private school approved for tuition purposes 
provides a 
necessary educational option to parents and their 
children 
while 
underperforming 
public 
schools 
improve 
their 
effectiveness. 
Private school choice provided under this Act is 
consistent with the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, 20 
United States Code, Chapter 70, Subchapter I. 
4. 
Home schooling not impacted. 
This Act does not apply to 
home schooling or home schools. 
SUMMARY 
This bill proposes several changes in law to improve school 
choice in order to address the educational needs of a wider range 
of students. 
The bill provides for the establishment of charter 
schools that may serve the unique educational needs of students 
by act of the Legislature. 
The bill also expands the current law 
governing transfer of students between public schools through the 
process known as "superintendents' agreement" to include a wider 
range of public schools and to include transfers between public 
schools and private schools approved for tuition purposes. 
Such 
transfers are required under the bill if the student has failed 
to meet state academic and student achievement standards and the 
school from which the student requests to transfer has failed to 
make adequate yearly progress as defined in the federal No Child 
Left Behind Act of 2001 and the school to which transfer is 
sought has met those standards. 
The bill also increases the 
number 
of private 
schools eligible 
for 
student transfer 
by 
removing the requirement that private schools be nonsectarian in 
order to be eligible for tuition payment. 
Finally, the bill 
establishes principles to guide the Department of Education in 
implementing the law. 
The bill does not apply to homeschooling 
or homeschooled students.