Lawmaker: Time to roll back special break for Utah charter schools

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Source: Salt Lake Tribune

Draper • State Rep. Rich Cunningham is trying to roll back special treatment the state has given to charter schools for nearly a decade that he says has resulted in schools popping up in ill-advised areas and causing clashes with neighbors and endangering students.

But charter school officials say there’s nothing wrong with the law and Cunningham is doing the bidding of a wealthy developer, upset with a school that was built next to one of his industrial parks.

At issue is a 2005 law passed by the Legislature that gives charter schools free rein to locate on land zoned for any purpose — residential, commercial or industrial — and severely limits a city’s ability to regulate the schools.

Cunningham said the 2005 law helped a trio of lawmakers with financial interests in building charter schools who used their position in the Legislature to grease the process for their financial gain. The legislators were former Reps. Mike Morley and James Ferrin and Sen. Sheldon Killpack.

Read more: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/57548088-90/schools-charter-cunningham-price.html.csp