"HARTFORD — - The State Board of Education is considering four proposals that would overhaul the law governing charter schools, including one that would shift the cost of tuition to local school systems.The changes, meant to expand the number of charter schools, also are designed to increase the state's chances to get as much as $150 million in school-reform grants from the federal Race to the Top competition. States across the country are competing for $5 billion in federal stimulus money set aside to encourage school reform by expanding charter schools and tying teacher pay to student performance."
The most controversial proposal essentially would require towns to pay tuition for students attending the state's 18 charter schools. Now, the state pays $9,300 for each child attending a charter school. Under the new plan, cities and towns would pay for each local student who goes to a charter school.
The theory is that the towns would use money from state education cost-sharing grants to help pay for charter school tuition. Rather than pay for the child to attend a local school, the money would "follow the child" to the charter school.
Advocates say that plan would put charter schools on equal financial footing with traditional schools because charters are now given less money, on average, per student.