House passes charter school bill, would allow non-profits to start charters

The House has voted 48-19 in favor of HB 221, the charter school governance bill, which would make a series of changes, including allowing charter schools in Idaho to be authorized by private or public colleges and non-profit corporations. Currently they’re only chartered by the state or local school districts. The bill is a companion piece to HB 206, the charter school facilities funding bill, which passed the House yesterday; it directs state funds to charter schools through a per-student formula to cover part of their building costs, and also requires charter schools to pay annual fees to their authorizing entities. Both measures now move to the Senate side.

Here’s how House members voted on HB 221:

Voting yes: Reps. Agidius, Anderson(01), Anderson(31), Anderst, Barbieri, Bateman, Batt, Bedke, Bell, Bolz, Boyle, Clow, Collins, Crane, Dayley, DeMordaunt, Denney, Eskridge, Gestrin, Harris, Hartgen, Henderson, Hixon, Holtzclaw, Kauffman, Malek, McMillan, Mendive, Miller, Monks, Morse, Moyle, Nielsen, Packer, Palmer, Patterson, Perry, Raybould, Romrell, Shepherd, Sims, Stevenson, Trujillo, VanOrden, Vander Woude, Wood(27), Wood(35), Youngblood

Voting no: Reps. Andrus, Barrett, Burgoyne, Chew, Erpelding, Gannon, Gibbs, Hancey, King, Kloc, Loerscher, Luker, Meline, Pence, Ringo, Rusche, Smith, Ward-Engelking, and Woodings.