HARRISBURG — A major rewrite of Pennsylvania’s charter school law to toughen standards for the publicly funded but privately run schools cleared one legislative chamber Tuesday after several years of work and a behind-the-scenes battle over controversial provisions sought by Gov. Tom Corbett and lawmakers who favor public school alternatives.

The bill, approved by the state Senate 33-16, goes to the House of Representatives as the Legislature’s fall schedule winds down. It passed with bipartisan support, with 26 of 29 Republicans and seven of 20 Democrats voting “yes.” Passage is possible later this week in the House after heavy lobbying by “school choice” advocates, teachers’ unions and school boards.

“Yes, it’s a compromise. Yes, no one is completely happy, and that’s the very reason that this is a good bill and you should vote for it,” Sen. Andrew Dinniman, D-Chester, told colleagues. Debate and long hours of closed-door talks on charter school legislation began in earnest in early 2011 after Corbett, a Republican, took office.

Key provisions of the bill would subject charter school officials to stronger ethics standards while limiting the surplus cash school operators can keep, requiring the schools to have teacher evaluation standards and annual audits and commissioning the State Board of Education to create performance standards for the schools.

It also would create a commission to make recommendations in an effort to resolve long-standing complaints over how much money charter schools and cyber charter schools are paid to educate students. A separate provision would create a commission to recommend a special education funding formula for public school districts.

Making it easier for charter schools to open has been a pillar of Corbett’s education agenda to encourage the state’s lowest-performing public schools to improve by forcing them to compete for students.