ALBANY – The chairman of the state Senate’s Education Committee is pushing for a bill that would give local school districts the power to approve charter schools in their area.

Because New York City is believed to be the only school district in the state that favors charter schools, the bill would effectively cut off the growth of charter schools in New York outside of the city.

Authored by Stephen Saland, a Republican of Poughkeepsie, the bill is expected to be voted out of his committee and sent to the Senate floor today. Its chances of coming up for a vote there, however, are slim, sources said. The Republican Senate majority leader, Joseph Bruno, is a supporter of charter schools and Mr. Saland’s bill has only a few co-sponsors. At least one co-sponsor dropped out recently.

Although it’s unlikely to become law, the legislation reflects a concern among a small contingent of upstate Senate Republicans about the financial impact of charter schools on school districts, particularly those with an elevated percentage of students attending charter schools, such as in Albany and Buffalo, where more than 10% of public students are taught at such schools.

The debate over Mr. Saland’s bill comes as lawmakers are busy trying to decide how many more charter schools to allow in New York above the current cap of 100 and whether districts that have high charter school densities should receive more school aid.

Mr. Saland, who is in his fourth year as head of the Education Committee, shares the opinion of the most vocal critics of charter schools, such as teachers unions and school district leaders – that the schools pose a threat to the public school system by siphoning tax revenue away from the districts.

When a public school student transfers to a charter school, the school district loses about $8,000 to $9,000, or about two-thirds of the per-pupil amount that districts spend. The districts use a portion of the remaining third of the per-pupil amount to provide services and educational materials to charter school students.

“Competition should be welcomed in virtually all endeavors, including education. Charter schools encourage innovative ideas that can potentially improve the quality of education,” the bill memo states. “Nevertheless, given the fiscal implications of charter schools on the district of location, the district must be given the authority to approve an initial application and then, renew the charter.”

Mr. Saland, in an interview with The New York Sun, said 18 other states with charter schools have approved similar restrictions on charter schools. He said one of the purposes of his bill is to “make the job for those who advocate for charters more difficult.”

Mr. Saland’s bill also calls for lifting the cap on charter schools by 100. Governor Pataki wants to create an additional 150 charter schools, which are approved by the Board of Regents and the State University Board of Trustees. New York has 79 active charter schools, with a total enrollment of about 22,500. Twenty-one more schools are slated to open by next year.

A proponent of charter schools, the president of the Foundation for Education Reform & Accountability, Thomas Carroll, said districts shouldn’t get money for students who are not in their school system and said the loss of money would work to give districts an incentive to earn it back.

“If no one wanted to leave, then they wouldn’t lose a dime,” he said. “They are only losing money because parents don’t want to keep their children in the district schools.”

He suggested that Mr. Saland could more easily take a position against charter schools because the state senator does not have any such schools in his district area.