BILL NUMBER: SB 298	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 26, 2011
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MARCH 17, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Senator De León
    (   Coauthor:   Senator   Price
  ) 

                        FEBRUARY 14, 2011

   An act to amend Section 1 of Chapter 58 of the Statutes of 1997,
relating to charter schools.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 298, as amended, De León. Charter schools: at-risk pupils:
 county board of education   Los Angeles County
Board of Education  .
   (1) Existing law allows a charter school that serves at-risk
pupils and operates under a charter approved before June 1, 1997, by
the Los Angeles County Board of Education to operate until June 30,
2013. The existing statute requires the approval of the county board
of education for the specified charter school or schools to continue
operating after June 30, 2008.
   This bill would instead allow the specified charter school or
schools to operate until June 30,  2028   2018
 , subject to the approval of the county board of education for
continued operation after June 30, 2013.
   (2) The existing statute requires that the specified charter
school or schools receive funding for the attendance of pupils for
each fiscal year up to and including the 2012-13 fiscal year at the
same rates as community schools and community day schools in the same
county.
   This bill would extend that provision to also cover the attendance
of pupils in the 2012-13 to  2027-28   2017-18
 fiscal years, inclusive.
   (3) This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as
to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Los Angeles.

   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 1 of Chapter 58 of the Statutes of 1997, as
amended by Section 1 of Chapter 525 of the Statutes of 2007, is
amended to read:
  Section 1.  (a) A charter school operating under a charter approved
before June 1, 1997, by the county board of education of a county of
the first class to serve at-risk pupils, may operate until June 30,
 2028   2018  . The continuation of the
authority of a charter school to operate pursuant to this subdivision
after June 30, 2013, shall be subject to the approval of that county
board of education.
   (b) Notwithstanding any other provisions of the Education Code,
except as set forth in subdivision (c), for the 2012-13 to 
2027-28   2017-18  fiscal years, inclusive, the
attendance of pupils in a charter school to which this section
applies shall be funded at the same rates for the same categories of
pupils as community schools and community day schools in the same
county.
   (c) A charter school operated pursuant to subdivision (a) may, if
its charter so provides, operate one or more community day schools in
compliance with Article 3 (commencing with Section 48660) of Chapter
4 of Part 27 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, except
for compliance with the employment requirements in subdivision (a) of
Section 48663 and subdivision (c) of Section 48664 of the Education
Code, and the funded average daily attendance limitations of
paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 48664 of the
Education Code, and be funded for not more than 2,000 units of
average daily attendance in any fiscal year, to the extent that
funding is appropriated therefor, pursuant to subdivision (a) of
Section 48664 of the Education Code, as if it were a community day
school operated by a county. The average daily attendance of a
charter school operating pursuant to this section shall not be in
addition to the average daily attendance limitation provided pursuant
to subdivision (a) of Section 48664 of the Education Code.
   (d) A county board of education that has approved a charter school
as set forth in subdivision (a) shall establish specific
accountability criteria to annually measure the performance of the
charter school. The county board of education shall annually report
the measurement to the State Department of Education, the Department
of Finance, the Assembly Committee on Education, the Assembly
Committee on Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Education, and
the Senate Committee on Appropriations. The accountability criteria
shall comply with the alternative accountability system described by
subdivision (h) of Section 52052 of the Education Code.
   (e) If a charter school does not comply with the performance
criteria described in subdivision (d), the charter school shall
submit to the county board of education a plan for improvement that
is designed to enable the charter school to comply with the criteria
within a time determined by the county board of education.
  SEC. 2.  The Legislature finds and declares that a special law is
necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the
meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution
because of the unique circumstances resulting from the intensely
urbanized nature of the County of Los Angeles.