This report was written in anticipation of the passage of House Bill 1834, a charter school statute considered and ultimately rejected by the Pennsylvania legislature in the fall of 1996. Despite this fact, we have published the report to advance understanding of the Pennsylvania initiative and because the information and advice contained herein has broader application to charter schools and the charter movement.
This Report describes the mission, functions, capabilities and plans of a potential nonprofit Technical Assistance Activity (TAA) for charter school applicants under House Bill 1834, the Charter School Act now under consideration by the Pennsylvania legislature. It is the second of two papers commissioned by the Howard Heinz Endowment to determine the range of demands the legislation would place on charter school applicants and operators, identify the kinds of professional expertise required to meet those demands, assess the availability of such experts, and suggest appropriate means of supplying technical support.
