...whereby: 1A. No limits are placed on the number of public charter schools or students (and no geographic limits). 1B. If caps exist, adequate room for growth.

...including: 2A. New start-ups. 2B. Public school conversions. 2C. Virtual schools.

...including: 3A. Two or viable authorizing options for each applicant with direct application allowed to each authorizing option.

...including: 4A. At least a registration process for local school boards to affirm their interest in chartering to the state. 4B. Application process for other eligible authorizing entities. 4C. Authorizer submission of annual report, which summarizes the agency's authorizing activities as well as the performance of its school portfolio. 4D. A regular review process by authorizer oversight body. 4E. Authorizer oversight body with authority to sanction authorizers, including removal of authorizer right to approve schools. 4F. Periodic formal evaluation of overall state charter school program and outcomes.

...including: 5A. Adequate funding from authorizing fees (or other sources). 5B. Guaranteed funding from authorizing fees (or from sources not subject to annual legislative appropriations). 5C. Requirement to publicly report detailed authorizer expenditures. 5D. Separate contract for any services purchased from an authorizer by a school. 5E. Prohibition on authorizers requiring schools to purchase services from them.

...including: 6A. Application elements for all schools. 6B. Additional application elements specific to conversion schools. 6C. Additional application elements specific to virtual schools. 6D. Additional application elements specific when using educational service providers. 6E. Additional application elements specific to replications. 6F. Authorizer-issued request for proposals (including application requirements and approval criteria). 6G. Thorough evaluation of each application including an in-person interview and a public meeting. 6H. All charter approval or denial decisions made in a public meeting, with authorizers stating reasons for denials in writing.

...with such contracts: 7A. Being created as a separate document from the application and executed by the governing board of the charter school and the authorizer. 7B. Defining the roles, powers, and responsibilities for the school and its authorizer. 7C. Defining academic and operational performance expectations by which the school will be judged, based on a performance framework that includes measures and metrics for, at a minimum, student academic proficiency and growth, achievement gaps, attendance, recurrent enrollment, postsecondary readiness (high schools), financial performance, and board stewardship (including compliance). 7D. Providing an initial term of five operating years (or a longer term with periodic high-stakes reviews). 7E. Including requirements addressing the unique environments of virtual schools, if applicable.

...including: 8A. The collection and analysis of student outcome data at least annually by authorizers (consistent with performance framework outlined in the contract). 8B. Financial accountability for charter schools (e.g., Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, independent annual audit reported to authorizer). 8C. Authorizer authority to conduct or require oversight activities. 8D. Annual school performance reports produced and made public by each authorizer. 8E. Authorizer notification to their schools of perceived problems, with opportunities to remedy such problems. 8F. Authorizer authority to take appropriate corrective actions or exercise sanctions short of revocation.

...including: 9A. Authorizer must issue school performance renewal reports to schools whose charter will expire the following year. 9B. Schools seeking renewal must apply for it. 9C. Authorizers must issue renewal application guidance that provides an opportunity for schools to augment their performance record and discuss improvements and future plans. 9D. Clear criteria for renewal and nonrenewal/revocation. 9E. Authorizers must ground renewal decisions based on evidence regarding the school's performance over the term of the charter contract (in accordance with the performance framework set forth in the charter contract). 9F. Authorizer authority to vary length of charter renewal contract terms based on performance or other issues. 9G. Authorizers must provide charter schools with timely notification of potential revocation or non-renewal (including reasons) and reasonable time to respond. 9H. Authorizers must provide charter schools with due process for nonrenewal and revocation decisions (e.g., public hearing, submission of evidence). 9I. All charter renewal, non-renewal, and revocation decisions made in a public meeting, with authorizers stating reasons for non-renewals and revocations in writing. 9J. Authorizers must have school closure protocols to ensure timely parent notification, orderly student and record transitions, and property and asset disposition.

...including: 10A. All types of educational service providers to operate all or parts of charter schools. 10B. A performance contract between the independent public charter school board and the service provider is required. 10C. Existing and potential conflicts of interest between the two entities are required to be disclosed and explained in application.

...including: 11A. Fiscally and legally autonomous schools (e.g., schools have authority to receive and disburse funds, enter into contracts, and sue and be sued in their own names). 11B. School governing boards independent of the authorizer and created specifically to govern their charter school(s).

...including: 12A. Open enrollment to any student in the state. 12B. Lottery requirements. 12C. Required enrollment preferences for previously enrolled students within conversions, prior year students within chartered schools, and siblings of enrolled students enrolled at a charter school. 12D. Optional enrollment preference for children of a school's founders, governing board members, and full-time employees, not exceeding 10% of the school's total student population.

...including: 13A. Exemptions from all laws, except those covering health, safety, civil rights, student accountability, employee criminal history checks, open meetings, freedom of information, and generally accepted accounting principles. 13B. Exemption from state teacher certification requirements.

...whereby: 14A. Charter schools authorized by non-local board authorizers are exempt from participation in district collective bargaining agreements. 14B. Charter schools authorized by local boards are exempt from participation in district collective bargaining agreements.

...whereby an independent public charter school board may: 15A. Oversee multiple schools linked under a single contract with independent fiscal and academic accountability for each school. 15B. Hold multiple charter contracts with independent fiscal and academic accountability for each school.

...whereby: 16A. Laws or regulations explicitly state that charter school students and employees are eligible to participate in all interscholastic leagues, competitions, awards, scholarships, and recognition programs available to non-charter public school students and employees. 16B. Laws or regulations explicitly allow charter school students in schools not providing extra-curricular and interscholastic activities to have access to those activities at non-charter public schools for a fee by a mutual agreement.

...including: 17A. Clarity regarding which entity is the local education agency (LEA) responsible for providing special education services. 17B. Clarity regarding funding for low-incident, high-cost services for charter schools (in the same amount and/or in a manner similar to other LEAs).

...including: 18A. Equitable operational funding statutorily driven. 18B. Equal access to all applicable categorical federal and state funding, and clear guidance on the pass-through of such funds. 18C. Funding for transportation similar to school districts.

...including: 19A. A per-pupil facilities allowance which annually reflects actual average district capital costs. 19B. A state grant program for charter school facilities. 19C. A state loan program for charter school facilities. 19D. Equal access to tax-exempt bonding authorities or allow charter schools to have their own bonding authority. 19E. A mechanism to provide credit enhancement for public charter school facilities. 19F. Equal access to existing state facilities programs available to non-charter public schools. 19G. Right of first refusal to purchase or lease at or below fair market value a closed, unused, or underused public school facility or property. 19H. Prohibition of facility-related requirements stricter than those applied to traditional public schools.

...whereby: 20A. Charter schools have access to relevant state retirement systems available to other public schools. 20B. Charter schools have the option to participate (i.e., not required).