BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 622
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 3, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
AB 622 (Campos) - As Amended: March 21, 2013
SUBJECT : School districts: charter school petitions: Internet
posting.
SUMMARY : Requires charter school petitions to be posted on the
authorizing school district's Internet Web site, as specified.
Specifically, this bill requires:
1)Charter school petitioners, if they maintain an Internet Web
site, to post the proposed charter school's petition that was
submitted to the school district within 5 days from the date
of submission.
2)The cost to the school district to post this information on
the Internet Web site to be borne by the petitioners of the
proposed charter school.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes a process for the submission of a petition for the
establishment of a charter school. Authorizes a petition,
identifying a single charter school to operate within the
geographical boundaries of the school district, to be
submitted to the school district. Authorizes, if the
governing board of a school district denies a petition for the
establishment of a charter school, the petitioner to elect to
submit the petition to the county board of education (COE).
Authorizes, if the COE denies the charter, the petitioner to
submit the petition to the state board of education (SBE).
Authorizes a school that serves a countywide service to submit
the charter petition directly to the county office of
education. Authorizes a school that serves a statewide
purpose to go directly to the SBE.
2)Specifies that the governing board of the school district
shall not deny a petition for the establishment of a charter
school unless it makes written factual findings, that the
petition does not contain reasonably comprehensive
descriptions of all of the following, among other things:
AB 622
Page 2
a) A description of the educational program of the school,
designed, among other things, to identify those whom the
school is attempting to educate, what it means to be an
"educated person" in the 21st century, and how learning
best occurs.
b) If the proposed school will serve high school pupils, a
description of the manner in which the charter school will
inform parents about the transferability of courses to
other public high schools and the eligibility of courses to
meet college entrance requirements.
c) The measurable pupil outcomes identified for use by the
charter school. "Pupil outcomes," for purposes of this
part, means the extent to which all pupils of the school
demonstrate that they have attained the skills, knowledge,
and attitudes specified as goals in the school's
educational program.
d) The method by which pupil progress in meeting those
pupil outcomes is to be measured.
e) The governance structure of the school, including, but
not limited to, the process to be followed by the school to
ensure parental involvement.
f) The qualifications to be met by individuals to be
employed by the school.
g) The procedures that the school will follow to ensure the
health and safety of pupils and staff.
h) The means by which the school will achieve a racial and
ethnic balance among its pupils that is reflective of the
general population residing within the territorial
jurisdiction of the school district to which the charter
petition is submitted.
i) Admission requirements, if applicable.
j) The manner in which annual, independent financial audits
shall be conducted, which shall employ generally accepted
accounting principles, and the manner in which audit
exceptions and deficiencies shall be resolved to the
AB 622
Page 3
satisfaction of the chartering authority.
aa) The procedures by which pupils can be suspended or
expelled.
bb) The manner by which staff members of the charter schools
will be covered by the State Teachers' Retirement System,
the Public Employees' Retirement System, or federal social
security.
cc) The public school attendance alternatives for pupils
residing within the school district who choose not to
attend charter schools.
dd) A description of the rights of any employee of the
school district upon leaving the employment of the school
district to work in a charter school, and of any rights of
return to the school district after employment at a charter
school.
ee) The procedures to be followed by the charter school and
the entity granting the charter to resolve disputes
relating to provisions of the charter.
ff) A declaration whether or not the charter school shall be
deemed the exclusive public school employer of the
employees of the charter school for purposes of Chapter
10.7 (commencing with Section 3540) of Division 4 of Title
1 of the Government Code.
gg) A description of the procedures to be used if the
charter school closes.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : According to the California Department of Education
(CDE), the 2012-13 count of operating charter schools is 1,062
which includes three statewide benefit charters and 33 SBE
approved charters, with student enrollment of more than 456,000
in the state. Some charter schools are new, while others are
conversions from existing public schools. Charter schools are
part of the state's public education system and are funded by
public dollars. A charter school is usually created or
organized by a group of teachers, parents and community leaders,
a community-based organization, or an education management
AB 622
Page 4
organization. Charter schools are authorized by school district
boards, county boards of education or the state board of
education. A charter school is generally exempt from most laws
governing school districts, except where specifically noted in
the law. Specific goals and operating procedures for the
charter school are detailed in an agreement (or "charter")
between the sponsoring board and charter organizers.
This bill requires charter school petitions to be posted on the
school district authorizer's Internet Web site and on the
proposed charter school's Internet Web site, if one exists.
Further the bill requires the costs borne by the school district
authorizer to post the petition on the Web site, to be paid by
the petitioner.
The committee should consider a few things when deliberating
this measure. First, is it helpful to the public to have the
entire charter school petition posted on the school district's
Web site? Some charter school petitions are many hundred page
documents. This may be too much information for a member of the
public to wade through and may not be an effective way for the
community to access the value of the charter being proposed.
Committee staff recommends the bill be amended to require a
summary of the petition to be posted in addition to the entire
charter petition. Second, the bill only requires school
district authorizers to post petitions on their Web site. The
committee should consider whether to require all charter
authorizers (County Offices of Education and the State Board of
Education) to post the charter petition on their Web site, as
well as post charter appeal proposals. Further the committee
should consider a timeline by which the authorizer should post
such materials on their Web site. Committee staff recommends
the bill be amended to specify that all charter authorizers and
appeal bodies must post charter petitions and summaries on their
Web site within 5 days of submission; and, that charter
petitioners are required to give the authorizer or appeal body
an electronic copy of the petition and summary. Any subsequent
revisions to the petition shall also be given to the authorizer
in electronic format and shall be posted on both Web sites
within 5 days. Further committee staff recommends some clean up
amendments to the bill to ensure that if existing charter
schools or charter management organizations are proposing a new
charter school, the petition and summary must be posted on their
Web site.
AB 622
Page 5
Cost of Posting the Petition : This bill requires the cost of
posting the petition on the district Web site to be borne by the
petitioner. In light of the committee's amendments requiring
the charter school to provide the authorizer an electronic copy
of the petition and summary, committee staff recommends the bill
be amended to remove the requirement for the petitioner to pay
for the cost of posting the petition and summary on the
authorizer's Web site.
According to the author, AB 622 provides communities
contemplating the formation of a charter school with information
necessary for a comprehensive assessment of the proposal. The
charter is the guiding document for the potential school that
includes, among other important information, the school's
academic goals for students and the methods for student
achievement. This foundational document lays out vital details
about how the school will operate. A community must be able to
review and evaluate all of these particulars before they can
make a truly informed decision. AB 622 simply requires that a
charter school petition be posted online and thereby available
for the public and interested parties to examine prior to a vote
by the authorizing entity. It also specifies that the
organization seeking approval will pay the costs of putting the
petition online.
A 2012 report by the California Research Bureau (CRB) entitled,
California Charter Oversight, recommends making charter school
petitions available to the public. They state, "Our first
recommendation is to increase the transparency of charter school
authorization and charter school operation. Charter schools
promise that they can be held accountable for their performance
by parents and the community. Charter schools set out their
agreed upon performance standards in their charter or petition
document. When CRB attempted to collect charters and petitions,
we encountered a number of problems. If parents and community
members are going to hold charter schools accountable for
performance, they need access to the charter. We would encourage
the Legislature to mandate that charter schools make their
petition or charter readily available to the general public."
Committee Amendments :
AB 622
Page 6
1) Specify that a summary of the petition, as well as the
entire petition be posted on the Internet Web sites.
2) Require county office of education authorizers and the
SBE to post charter petitions and summaries on their Web
site; and, require charter appeal petitions to be posted on
the COE and SBE Web sites. In addition, require all
existing charter schools to post their petitions on their
Web site and the authorizer's Web site as well.
3) Specify the authorizer or appeal body must post the
petition and summary within 5 days of submission, and must
post any revisions of the petition within 5 days of
receipt.
4) Require charters to provide the district an electronic
copy of the petition and the summary and any revisions to
the petition, upon submission.
5) Delete the requirement for the petitioner to pay for the
cost of posting the petition and summary on the
authorizer's Web site.
6) Specify that if an existing charter school is proposing
another charter school, the petition should be posted on
their existing charter school website.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087