A bill giving charter schools first dibs on vacant school buildings passed the House on Thursday after failing the day before.
Senate Bill 308, by Sen. Alan Clark, R-Lonsdale, would give charter schools a right to access unused or underutilized public school facilities. Charter schools would be able to buy or lease the facilities at "fair market value."
SB308 had failed 50-32 on Wednesday. It passed 53-32 on Thursday. Bills need 51 votes to pass the House.
Rep. Aaron Pilkington, R-Clarksville, who voted against the measure Wednesday, said Thursday that was a mistake and he made the motion for reconsideration.
"I know there were several other members out of this chamber in Senate committees trying to run bills and so a lot of other representatives who were here who wanted to vote were not able to vote," he said.
Rep. Mark Lowery, R-Maumelle, who has presented the bill in the House, said the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators had switched its stance from opposed to neutral on the bill.
He also said that a school would not be counted as underutilized if it is being used for fewer students than it was originally built for.
"This is a binary decision. Either a vacant school continues to be used for an educational pursuit -- which could be done by a community group or a charter school -- or the second decision is to let it rot," Lowery said. "Please don't let it rot."
Little Rock Democrats -- including Reps. John Walker, Charles Blake and Clarke Tucker -- and Rep. Vivian Flowers, D-Pine Bluff, led the fight against the bill.
"I think we need to make sure that the competitive field is level," Tucker said. "If you just take a look at the provisions of this particular bill, there's quite a few examples that shows that's not the case."
For example, a charter school could put a two-year hold on a vacant building, which could lead a building to further languish, he said.
While charter schools could take over defunct traditional schools under the provisions of the bill, there is no process for traditional schools to take over defunct charter facilities.
And if the charter and traditional school can't come to terms on a price, then the charter could petition the Department of Education to direct that a lease take place between five and 30 years, Tucker said.
"You're basically removing their ability to negotiate the price of their school when you do that," Tucker said.
A Section on 03/10/2017