BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 709|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 709
Author: Gipson (D), et al.
Amended: 9/1/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 5-2, 7/1/15
AYES: Liu, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan
NOES: Runner, Vidak
NO VOTE RECORDED: Block, Hancock
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 5-1, 7/7/15
AYES: Jackson, Hertzberg, Leno, Monning, Wieckowski
NOES: Moorlach
NO VOTE RECORDED: Anderson
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 8/27/15
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza
NOES: Bates, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 47-27, 6/3/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Charter schools
SOURCE: California School Employees Association
California Teachers Association
DIGEST: This bill subjects charter schools to a variety of the
same open meeting, conflict-of-interest and disclosure laws as
traditional school districts, including the Ralph M. Brown Act
(Brown Act), the California Public Records Act (CPRA), the
Political Reform Act of 1974, and the state's primary
conflict-of-interest provisions-Government Code Section 1090.
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ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Provides, under the Charter Schools Act of 1992, for the
establishment of charter schools in California for the
purpose, among other things, of improving student learning and
expanding learning experiences for pupils who are identified
as academically low achieving.
2)Declares that charter schools are part of the public school
system as defined in Article IX of the California Constitution
and are "under the exclusive control of the officers of the
public schools."
3)Requires a charter school to comply with statutes governing
charter schools and all of the provisions set forth in its
charter, but is otherwise exempt from most laws governing
school districts except where specifically noted. (Education
Code § 47601 et seq.)
4)Requires state and local agencies to conduct business in
meetings that are open to the public:
a) The Brown Act requires meetings of a local agency's
board of directors to be open to the public. (Government
Code § 54950 et seq.)
b) The Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act requires meetings of
state bodies to be open to the public. (GC § 11120)
c) CPRA declares that the public has a right to access
information that concerns the people's business and
provides that public records shall be available for
inspection, except as provided by an express provision of
law. (GC § 6250 and § 6253)
1)Prohibits members of the Legislature, state, county, district,
judicial district, and city officers or employees from being
financially interested in any contract made by them in their
official capacity, or by anybody or board of which they are
members. (GC § 1090 et seq.)
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2)Establishes the Political Reform Act of 1974, passed by voters
through Proposition 9 in June 1974, which requires public
officials to carry out their duties in an unbiased manner,
free from influence by outside interests, and to follow
regulations during elections, as defined. The Political
Reform Act also requires government agencies to adopt a
conflict-of-interest code that requires designated employees
of the agency to file an annual statement of economic interest
disclosing any investments, business positions, interests in
real property, or sources of income that may be affected
materially by a decision made, or participated in, by the
designated employee by virtue of his or her position. (GC §
81000 et seq.)
This bill:
1)Provides that a charter school is subject to all of the
following:
a) The Brown Act, except that a charter school operated by
an entity governed by the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act is
subject to that Act regardless of the authorizing entity.
b) CPRA.
c) Provisions of the Government Code that prohibit
government officers or employees from being financially
interested in contracts or purchases made by them in their
official capacity.
d) The Political Reform Act of 1974. For purposes of
Government Code Section 1000, a charter school shall be
considered an agency.
1)Provides that an employee of a charter school is not
disqualified because of that employment status from also
serving as a member of the governing body of the charter
school and that such a member shall abstain from voting on, or
influencing or attempting to influence another member of the
governing body concerning, all matters uniquely affecting his
or her own employment.
2)Provides that a public records request made to a charter
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school that is located on a federally recognized California
Indian reservation or Rancheria and the nonprofit public
benefit corporation that operates the charter school was
formed on or before May 31, 2002, and is currently operated by
a federally recognized California Indian Tribe, shall be
executed by the chartering authority. In order for the
chartering authority to meet the public records request, the
charter school shall provide all relevant documentation to the
chartering authority for the purpose of meeting the public
records request.
3)Specifies the intent of the Legislature to do both of the
following:
a) Ensure that charter school governance is transparent.
b) Ensure that monitoring and oversight of charter schools
is conducted to protect the public interest.
Comments
Need for the bill. According to the author's office, though
charter schools are publicly funded, they were established with
the intent to operate separately from the current school
structure as a way of allowing for more creativity in developing
solutions to historic challenges in typical educational
settings. However, there are several provisions of law that
specifically relate to good governance and transparency where
charter schools should be required to comply. This bill is
intended to require charter schools to be more transparent and
accountable to the public.
Public accountability laws. County boards of education and
school district governing boards are required to conduct public
meetings and make information available to the public, upon
request. Members of these boards are also subject to
conflict-of-interest statutes contained in Government Code
Section 1090 and the Political Reform Act of 1974.
1)Open meeting laws - entitles the public to have access to
meetings of multi-member public bodies. The Brown Act and the
Bagley-Keene Act recognize the need to balance the public's
right to open government with the need for boards, on occasion
to have closed session discussions in certain matters such as
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personnel or litigation. By making charter schools subject to
open meeting laws, charter school boards would need to provide
advance notice of meetings and conduct their meetings in
public.
2)Public records - the purpose of CPRA is to give the public an
opportunity to monitor the functioning of their local and
state government. The fundamental precept of CPRA is that
governmental records are to be disclosed to the public when
requested, unless there is a specific reason not to do so.
The CPRA allows for certain exemptions, such as matters
relating to individual privacy. Under CPRA, agencies must
segregate or redact exempt information and disclose the
remainder of the record. Under the provisions of this bill,
charter schools would need to respond to requests for
information that is not private in nature.
3)The Political Reform Act of 1974 established the Fair
Political Practices Commission (FPPC) to administer its
requirements and receive annual conflict-of-interest
statements. According to the FPPC, the CPRA is designed to
assure that public officials perform their duties impartially
without bias because of personal financial interests or the
interests of financial supporters; and that public officials
disclose income and assets that could be affected by official
actions and to assure that public officials disqualify
themselves from participating in decisions when they have
conflicts-of-interest. This bill will result in charter
school board members and designated employees having to
disclose their financial interests in annual statements filed
with the FPPC.
4)Government Code Section 1090 is the state's central
conflict-of-interest act. It applies to public officials from
members of the Legislature to local officials and employees,
including those of school districts. In a 1983 opinion, the
Attorney General stated, "Section 1090 of the Government Code
codifies the common law prohibition and the general policy of
this state against public officials having a personal interest
in contracts they make in their official capacity." In
addition to prohibiting public officials from having personal
financial interest in a contract made in an official capacity,
Government Code Section 1090 specifies that such contracts are
void and cannot be enforced.
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FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Mandate: Unknown, potentially significant reimbursable state
mandate costs for school districts and county offices of
education due to increased oversight responsibilities. If
determined to be a mandate, this will create pressure to
increase the K-12 Mandate Block Grant. (Proposition 98)
Costs to charter schools: Unknown, potentially significant
local costs to the extent charter schools do not already
comply with the four areas of law. Charter schools have been
determined to be ineligible to submit claims for mandate
reimbursements.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/28/15)
California School Employees Association (co-source)
California Teachers Association (co-source)
Association of California School Administrators
California Association of School Business Officials
California Federation of Teachers
California Labor Federation
California School Boards Association
California State PTA
LIUNA Local 777
Public Advocates
San Francisco Unified School District
School Employers Association of California
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/28/15)
California Charter Schools Association
Charter Schools Development Center
EdVoice
KIPP LA Schools
Letters from individuals
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ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: Supporters of this bill argue that since
charter schools are considered to be public schools and receive
public funds, they have a fiduciary duty to taxpayers with
regards to the use of those funds and should be subject to the
same conflict-of-interest and disclosure requirements as
traditional school districts.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: Opponents of this bill have expressed
concern with subjecting charter schools to the provisions of
Government Code Section 1090 because it could make it more
difficult for philanthropic board members to provide financial
assistance or low-interest loans or make facilities available to
charter schools, which may happen during the start-up phase of a
charter school.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 47-27, 6/3/15
AYES: Alejo, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Campos, Chau, Chiu, Chu,
Dababneh, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Cristina Garcia,
Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray,
Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Lopez, Low,
McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Perea, Quirk,
Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark Stone,
Thurmond, Ting, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NOES: Achadjian, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Brough, Chang,
Chávez, Dahle, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Grove, Hadley, Harper,
Jones, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Maienschein, Mathis,
Mayes, Melendez, Obernolte, Olsen, Patterson, Steinorth,
Waldron
NO VOTE RECORDED: Brown, Burke, Calderon, Cooley, Cooper,
Wagner
Prepared by:Lenin Del Castillo / ED. / (916) 651-4105
8/11/16 14:56:40
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