Montana Code 20-6-802. Public charter schools — legislative findings and intent
20-6-802. Public charter schools — legislative findings and intent. (1) The legislature finds that:
Terms Used In Montana Code 20-6-802
- Board of public education: means the board created by Article X, section 9(3), of the Montana constitution and 2-15-1507. See Montana Code 20-6-803
- Governing board: means the elected board of trustees of a public charter school district exercising supervision and control over a charter school or the local school board that is a party to the charter contract with the board of public education and that exercises supervision and control over a charter school pursuant to the charter contract. See Montana Code 20-6-803
- Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- school: means an institution for the teaching of children that is established and maintained under the laws of the state of Montana at public expense. See Montana Code 20-6-501
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- Student: means a child who is eligible for attendance in a public school in the state. See Montana Code 20-6-803
- System: means the Montana university system. See Montana Code 20-1-101
- Trustees: means the governing board of a district. See Montana Code 20-1-101
(a)parents desire education options for their children;
(b)expanding educational opportunities for K-12 education within the state is a necessary and valid public purpose; and
(c)creating options that assist parents and encourage students to develop their full educational potential is vital to the economic competitiveness of the state.
(2)It is the legislature’s intent to establish public charter schools that are under the supervision and control of trustees who are elected by qualified electors pursuant to Article IV, section 2, and Article X, section 8, of the Montana constitution for the purposes of:
(a)enhancing Montana’s system of education to develop the full educational potential of each person;
(b)enabling parents to make decisions on how best to educate their children;
(c)providing other public educational opportunities for all students, especially those at risk of academic failure;
(d)encouraging and inspiring the use of different models of teaching, governing, scheduling, and providing instruction in both public charter schools and noncharter public schools to meet a variety of student needs;
(e)advancing Montana’s commitment to the preservation of American Indian cultural identity, pursuant to Article X, section 1(2), of the Montana constitution, and to the elimination of the American Indian achievement gap by encouraging students, parents, and community members in Indian country to pursue alternative educational opportunities through public charter schools; and
(f)ensuring accountability to the qualified electors and taxpayers in the community in which the charter school is located.
(3)It is the legislature’s intent to create innovative and high-performing public charter schools under the general supervision of the board of public education and under the supervision and control of trustees of the governing board who are elected by qualified electors in the community where the charter school is located.