RALEIGH – The N.C. Senate voted 47-0 on April 14 to reject changes made to a bill by the House of Representatives that would lift the state’s charter school cap.

The House voted earlier in the month, mostly along party lines, to allow the state to open 50 new charter schools per year, along with several other changes to Senate Bill 8 that include requiring schools to offer nutrition and transportation services to students whose families have incomes 185 percent of the federal poverty line.

Senators will discuss and make further changes to the bill before putting it up for a final vote. Representatives of the two chambers will have to work out the differences in a conference committee.

Currently, state law limits the number of charter schools, which operate as independent, publicly supported schools, to 100, and 99 operate currently, including four in the Lake Norman area. Although the original bill called for eliminating the cap, the House compromised by allowing 50 additional charter schools annually, along with other restrictions.