Charter schools: authorization: petition: signatures.

(1) The Charter Schools Act of 1992 allows one or more persons seeking to establish a charter school within a school district to circulate a petition to that effect. The act allows a charter petition to be submitted to the governing board of a school district for review after the petition is signed by a number of parents or legal guardians of pupils that is equivalent to at least 12 of the number of pupils that the charter school estimates will enroll in the charter school for its first year of operation or is signed by a number of teachers that is equivalent to at least 12 of the number of teachers that the charter school estimates will be employed at the charter school during its first year of operation. This bill, with respect to charter petitions signed by teachers, would require instead that the petition be signed by a number of nonsupervisorial certificated staff and classified employees that combined is equivalent to at least 12 of the total number of nonsupervisorial certificated staff and classified employees that the charter school estimates will be employed at the school during its first year of operation. (2) The act allows a petition that proposes to convert an existing public school to a charter school that would not be eligible for a loan, as specified, to be circulated by one or more persons seeking to establish the charter school. The act allows such a petition to be submitted to the governing board of a school district for review after the petition is signed by not less than 50% of the permanent status teachers currently employed at the public school to be converted. This bill, instead, would require the petition to be signed by a number of permanent status nonsupervisorial certificated staff and permanent classified employees that combined is equivalent to at least 12 of the total number of permanent status nonsupervisorial certificated staff and permanent classified employees currently employed at the public school to be converted to a charter school. (3) The bill also would make conforming changes and other nonsubstantive changes.