Number
150171
Version
Substitute 1
Reference
Sponsor
Ald. Zielinski
Title
A substitute ordinance relating to the chartering of schools by the city.
Sections
330-4 cr
Analysis
This ordinance establishes a 5-year moratorium during which the City of Milwaukee will grant no school charters to schools not currently chartered by the City.
Body
Whereas, The granting of school charters, which are intended to provide innovative educational programs to help struggling students succeed, requires considerable expertise and an in-depth knowledge of the latest innovations in education; and
Whereas, While the City of Milwaukee relies upon the expertise of the Charter School Review Committee when granting school charters, the City itself has no direct expertise in education policy innovations and school operations; and
Whereas, Many of the schools chartered by the City are struggling and are either underperforming their public-school counterparts or are not performing significantly better than public schools; and
Whereas, The lagging performance of schools chartered by the City may suggest the City is not sufficiently knowledgeable about education policy and innovation to be the best judge of which school proposals are most likely to succeed and should be chartered by the City; now, therefore
The Mayor and Common Council of the City of Milwaukee do ordain as follows:
Part 1. Section 330-4 of the code is created to read:
330-4. Moratorium. 1. PURPOSE. The city recognizes that many of the schools chartered by the city are either under-performing the available public schools, or are not performing significantly better than public schools, and acknowledges this underperformance may indicate an inadequacy in the city's school chartering process. The city further acknowledges, given the paramount role of education to the children of the community, that the most prudent action for the public good is to establish a moratorium on city-granted school charters to give the city time to evaluate its school chartering process before proceeding to grant any additional school charters.
2. Moratorium. A moratorium on the granting of school charters to schools not chartered by the city as of the effective date of this section [city clerk to insert date] is established commencing on the effective date of this section [city clerk to insert date] and terminating on the first business day following the fifth anniversary of the effective date [city clerk to insert date].
LRB
APPROVED AS TO FORM
____________________________
Legislative Reference Bureau
Date: ______________________
Attorney
IT IS OUR OPINION THAT THE ORDINANCE
IS LEGAL AND ENFORCEABLE
____________________________
Office of the City Attorney
Date: ______________________
Requestor
Drafter
LRB# 158127-2
Aaron Cadle
May 28, 2015