BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                        AB 709|
          |Office of Senate Floor Analyses   |                              |
          |(916) 651-1520    Fax: (916)      |                              |
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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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