BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1290
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 8, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 1290 (Alquist) - As Amended: June 20, 2012
Policy Committee: Education Vote:7-4
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill amends the charter school renewal process by requiring
the chartering authority to consider increases in pupil academic
achievement (for all pupils served by school) as the most
important factor in determining whether to grant the renewal.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the definition of "pupil outcomes," for the purposes
of charter school statute, to include outcomes that address
increases in pupil academic achievement both schoolwide and
for all pupils served by the charter school. Further defines
"all groups of pupils served by the charter school" as a
numerically significant subgroup served by the school (50
pupils with a valid test score or 15% of the total pupil
population with valid test scores).
2)Modifies charter school renewal criteria related to
achievement to require a charter school to meet its Academic
Performance Index (API) growth target in the prior year or in
two of the last three years both schoolwide and for all groups
of pupils served by the school.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Increased GF/98 state reimbursable mandated costs, likely in
excess of $175,000, to a chartering authority to ensure a
charter school complies with the pupil achievement
modifications for the renewal process required in this
measure.
K-12 Education Mandate Block Grant (K-12 EMBG) . SB 1016
(Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review), Chapter 38, Statutes
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of 2012, established the K-12 EMBG, which authorizes local
education agencies (LEAs) to receive $28 per pupil if they
choose to conduct the mandated activities specified in the
block grant, including the existing mandate of reviewing
charter school petitions and renewals. The 2012 Budget Act
allocated $166.6 million for the block grant.
The current GF/98 state reimbursable mandate costs of $2.3
million annually paid to LEAs to review charter school
petitions and renewals is factored into the funding mechanism
for the block grant. As such, there would be GF/98
cost-pressure to increase the block grant allocation to
account for the increased costs associated with this bill.
2)The United States Department of Education (USDE) has informed
the State Department of Education (SDE) that California is out
of compliance regarding the federal Public Schools Charter
Grant. Absent a correction in statute, the state is in
jeopardy of losing funding related to the $290 million grant
(provided over five years beginning in 2012).
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The Public Charter Schools Grant (PCSG) program is
a federal grant program that provides states with funds to
award up to $575,000 per grant to a charter school to finish
planning and open a high-quality school.
In October 2010, USDE informed SDE that state statute
governing charter school authorization, renewal, and
revocation were not in compliance with the federal PCSG
program requirements. USDE asserted because California does
not require increases in pupil achievement in all groups, as
defined under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, as the
"primary consideration" in the charter school approval,
renewal, and revocation processes of the state's charter
schools, it is in jeopardy of losing all or a portion of the
federal PCSG funding. According to SDE, the initial grant
award was $290 million over a five-year period beginning in
the August 2012.
SDE engaged in several attempts with USDE to resolve the above
mentioned issues administratively. USDE, however, informed SDE
in August 2011 that current state statute is insufficient
because there are not explicit statutory or regulatory
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requirements that (a) each charter school demonstrate improved
pupil academic achievement or (b) increases in academic
achievement for all pupils is the primary factor in a charter
school renewal decision. This bill implements (b) in order to
ensure state statute is in compliance with federal law with
regard to the PCSG program funding.
2)Background . A charter school is a public school that may
provide instruction in any of grades K-12. It is usually
created or organized by a group of teachers, parents and
community leaders or a community-based organization. A charter
school may be authorized by an existing local public school
board, county board of education, or the State Board of
Education (SBE). Specific goals and operating procedures for
the charter school are detailed in an agreement (charter)
between the sponsoring board and charter organizers. A charter
school is generally exempt from most laws governing school
districts, except where specifically noted in the law.
According to SDE, there are 983 charter schools enrolling
approximately 369,000 students. This number includes 21
charter schools approved by SBE.
Statute authorizes a charter school to be granted one or more
renewals for a five-year period.
Current law further requires a charter school to meet one of
the following specified criteria (for the purposes of
renewal): (a) attain its API growth target in the prior year
or in two of the last three years; (b) rank in deciles 4 to 10
on the API in the prior year or in two of the last three
years; (c) rank in deciles 4 to 10 on the API for a
demographically comparable school in the prior year or in two
of the last three years; and (d) the entity that granted the
charter determines the academic performance of the charter
school is at least equal to the performance of the public
schools the charter pupils would have otherwise attended, as
specified.
This bill proposes to amend criterion (a) above by requiring a
school to meet its API growth target in the prior year or two
of the last three years both schoolwide and for all groups of
pupil served by the school. Likewise, it requires a
chartering authority to consider increases in pupil academic
achievement as the "most important factor" in determining
whether or not to grant a renewal. This measure provides the
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charter authorizer with direction that increased pupil
achievement is the driving factor in granting a charter
schools its renewal.
3)Related legislation .
a) AB 440 (Brownley), pending on the Senate Floor,
establishes academic and fiscal accountability provisions
for charter schools, including modifying renewal criteria
to require charter schools attain specified levels of
academic achievement.
b) SB 645 (Simitian) established new accountability
measures for charter school renewal and expanded
eligibility of the Charter School Facility Grant Program.
This bill was held on this committee's Suspense File in
August 2011.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081