Idaho’s charter school law has moved up in new national rankings from an advocates’ group.

Idaho’s law ranks No. 17 among the nation’s 45 charter school laws, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools said in a report released Monday.

Idaho ranked No. 21 a year ago.

“(Idaho) made policy changes to better support charter school facility needs in 2019,” the alliance said in a Monday news release.

The 2019 Legislature passed one law of note pertaining to charter facilities: a financing law that sets up a state account to back up bond payments for some charter schools. The idea of the account — which received no state funding in 2019 — is to allow established charters to save money on financing buildings.

The national report gives Idaho high marks for allowing a variety of charter schools, without capping the number of charters in the state. However, the report recommends more equitable funding for charter operations and facilities and “strengthening accountability for full-time virtual charter schools.”

Click here to download the full report, and turn to page 36 to read about Idaho’s law.