Charter bill raises question about using state general funds to subsidize non-profit corporation

Senate Education Chairman John Goedde, R-Coeur d’Alene, had this question for charter schools lobbyist Ken Burgess about the “authorizer fees” in HB 206 and the increased types of authorizers, including 501c3 non-profit corporations, allowed in HB 221: “So now we are using general fund money to subsidize a non-profit corporation, is that correct?”

Burgess, lobbyist for the Idaho Charter School Network, responded that the new “authorizer fees” are intended to cover the oversight costs for the authorizing entity, and the charter school is require to pay them to the authorizer, whether that’s a school district, the state charter commission, a college or university or a nonprofit corporation. “It is true that their school would have to pay that authorizer that fee,” he said.

That was just one of an array of questions from Senate Education Committee members this afternoon as Burgess walks the committee through HB 221, which is 27 pages long.