Bill Description: Senate Bill 1291 would allow teachers who work at public charter schools to pursue charter school teaching certificates instead of statewide public school certificates.

Rating: +1

Amendment Analysis: The amendment to Senate Bill 1291 does not change the rating or analysis.

Does the bill decrease barriers to entry for teachers and other education professionals or services, thus incentivizing entrepreneurship and increasing the supply of options for education services in the marketplace? (+) Conversely, does the bill create barriers to entry into the education marketplace? (-)

Statewide teacher certification is a barrier to entry for excellent educators and hampers the marketplace from creating new, innovative standards serving the needs of individual schools and their customers — families and students. Senate Bill 1291 would allow teachers at public charter schools to pursue an alternative form of teacher certification. Instead of being certified according to statewide public school requirements, certification decisions would be decentralized to individual charter schools, allowing them to offer independently developed teaching certificates valid only at public charter schools. In addition, the bill gives public charter schools flexibility to “substitute [their] own ongoing education and professional development requirements in place of those” required by the State Board of Education. Allowing public charter schools to create independent teacher certification requirements equips them to meet the unique needs of the students and community they serve. 

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