The Senate voted 33-16 on Tuesday to approve the measure for consideration by the House.
A House vote is expected on Wednesday.
Charter advocates hail the legislation as bringing more accountability and flexibility to these independent public schools although it leaves out some provisions they wanted.
School district representatives see the measure as doing little to address their concerns about charter schools.
It calls for establishing a study commission to recommend a new funding system for charter schools by April, extending the five-year length of charter school’s charter renewal to 10 years, and requiring tuition payments to go directly from the state to charters instead of funneling the money through the district where the charter is located, among other reforms.
Provisions to make it easier to convert a district school to a charter school and to empower a state panel to approve of and oversee brick-and-mortar charter schools were dropped from the bill when differences over those issues couldn’t be readily resolved.
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