Board supports lifting charter school cap

BOISE (AP) - The state Board of Education now supports efforts to lift Idaho's cap on charter schools while also allowing more than one to open within the boundaries of a traditional school district each year.

The board has previously waffled on the issue.

Last October, trustees initially voted against legislative efforts to strike the cap limiting the number of new charter schools to six a year. But later in that same meeting, the board reversed course and approved a revised proposal, one that supported lifting the cap but ditched language eliminating the rule on district boundaries.

The board changed its position yet again during a special meeting last Friday, voting to support eliminating both limits on charter schools. That's the intent of legislation introduced Monday by House Education Committee Chairman Bob Nonini.