Amends, repeals, and adds to existing law to establish the Accelerating Public Charter Schools Act to provide for public charter schools that operate independently from traditional schools.

The Accelerating Public Charter Schools Act updates Idaho’s Charter School laws. In 1998, the Idaho Legislature passed the Idaho Charter School law to allow charter schools to operate in Idaho. Idaho now has 74 charter schools serving 10% or approximately 30,000 children. While there have been several amendments to the charter school laws over the years, nothing substantial has been introduced to incorporate the majority of what we have learned in the past 26 years. This legislation does that.