BILL NUMBER: AB 1426	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Levine

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2015

   An act to amend Section 47612.5 of the Education Code, relating to
charter schools.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1426, as introduced, Levine. Charter schools: classroom-based
instruction.
   Existing law, the Charter Schools Act of 1992, requires charter
schools, as a condition of receiving funding apportionments, to offer
in each fiscal year a specified minimum number of minutes of
instruction to each pupil based on grade level. For purposes of that
instructional time requirement, the act defines "classroom-based
instruction" as occurring only when charter school pupils are engaged
in required educational activities under the immediate supervision
and control of an employee of the charter school who possesses a
specified teaching certification. The act requires, for purposes of
calculating average daily attendance for classroom-based instruction
apportionments, that at least 80% of the instructional time offered
by the charter school be at the charter schoolsite.
   This bill would instead require, for a charter school that only
operates a single schoolsite within the geographic jurisdiction of
the authority that granted its charter and has no more than one
satellite facility, for purposes of calculating average daily
attendance for classroom-based instruction apportionments, that at
least 60% of the instructional time offered by the charter school be
at the charter schoolsite. The bill would also make nonsubstantive
changes.
   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 47612.5 of the Education Code is amended to
read:
   47612.5.  (a) Notwithstanding any other  provision of law
  law,  and as a condition of apportionment, a
charter school shall do all of the following:
   (1) For each fiscal year, offer, at a minimum, the following
number of minutes of instruction:
   (A) To pupils in kindergarten, 36,000 minutes.
   (B) To pupils in grades 1 to 3, inclusive, 50,400 minutes.
   (C) To pupils in grades 4 to 8, inclusive, 54,000 minutes.
   (D) To pupils in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, 64,800 minutes.
   (2) Maintain written contemporaneous records that document all
pupil attendance and make these records available for audit and
inspection.
   (3) Certify that its pupils have participated in the state testing
programs specified in Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 60600) of
Part 33 in the same manner as other pupils attending public schools
as a condition of apportionment of state funding.
   (b) Notwithstanding any other  provision of law 
 law,  and except to the extent inconsistent with this
section and Section 47634.2, a charter school that provides
independent study shall comply with Article 5.5 (commencing with
Section 51745) of Chapter 5 of Part 28 and implementing regulations
adopted thereunder. The  State Board of Education 
 state board  shall adopt regulations that apply this
article to charter schools. To the extent that these regulations
concern the qualifications of instructional personnel, the 
State Board of Education   state board  shall be
guided by subdivision (  l  ) of Section 47605.
   (c) A reduction in apportionment made pursuant to subdivision (a)
shall be proportional to the magnitude of the exception that causes
the reduction. For purposes of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), for
each charter school that fails to offer pupils the minimum number of
minutes of instruction specified in that paragraph, the
Superintendent shall withhold from the charter school's apportionment
for average daily attendance of the affected pupils, by grade level,
the sum of that apportionment multiplied by the percentage of the
minimum number of minutes of instruction at each grade level that the
charter school failed to offer.
   (d) (1) Notwithstanding any other  provision of law
  law,  and except as provided in paragraph (1) of
subdivision (e), a charter school that has an approved charter may
receive funding for nonclassroom-based instruction only if a
determination for funding is made pursuant to Section 47634.2 by the
 State Board of Education.   state board. 
The determination for funding shall be subject to any conditions or
limitations the  State Board of Education  
state board  may prescribe. The  State Board of
Education   state board  shall adopt regulations on
or before February 1, 2002, that define and establish general rules
governing nonclassroom-based instruction that apply to all charter
schools and to the process for determining funding of
nonclassroom-based instruction by charter schools offering
nonclassroom-based instruction other than the nonclassroom-based
instruction allowed by paragraph (1) of subdivision (e).
Nonclassroom-based instruction includes, but is not limited to,
independent study, home study, work study, and distance and
computer-based education. In prescribing any conditions or
limitations relating to the qualifications of instructional
personnel, the  State Board of Education   state
board  shall be guided by subdivision (l) of Section 47605.
   (2) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of
Section 47634.2, a charter school that receives a determination
pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 47634.2 is not required to
reapply annually for a funding determination of its
nonclassroom-based instruction program if an update of the
information the  State Board of Education  
state board  reviewed when initially determining funding would
not require material revision, as that term is defined in regulations
adopted by the  state  board. A charter school that has
achieved a rank of 6 or greater on the Academic Performance Index for
the two years immediately  prior to   before
 receiving a funding determination pursuant to subdivision (b)
of Section 47634.2 shall receive a five-year determination and is not
required to annually reapply for a funding determination of its
nonclassroom-based instruction program if an update of the
information the  State Board of Education  
state board  reviewed when initially determining funding would
not require material revision, as that term is defined in regulations
adopted by the  state  board. Notwithstanding any 
provision of   other  law, the  State Board
of Education   state board  may require a charter
school to provide updated information at any time it determines that
a review of that information is necessary. The  State Board
of Education   state board  may terminate a
determination for funding if updated or additional information
requested by the  state  board is not made available to the
 state  board by the charter school within a reasonable
amount of time or if the information otherwise supports termination.
A determination for funding pursuant to Section 47634.2 may not
exceed five years.
   (3) A charter school that offers nonclassroom-based instruction in
excess of the amount authorized by paragraph (1) of subdivision (e)
is subject to the determination for funding requirement of Section
47634.2 to receive funding each time its charter is renewed or
materially revised pursuant to Section 47607. A charter school that
materially revises its charter to offer nonclassroom-based
instruction in excess of the amount authorized by paragraph (1) of
subdivision (e) is subject to the determination for funding
requirement of Section 47634.2.
   (e) (1) Notwithstanding any other  provision of 
law, and as a condition of apportionment, "classroom-based
instruction" in a charter school, for  the  purposes
of this part, occurs only when charter school pupils are engaged in
educational activities required of those pupils and are under the
immediate supervision and control of an employee of the charter
school who possesses a valid teaching certification in accordance
with subdivision (  l  ) of Section 47605.  For

    (A)     Except as provided by in
subparagraph (B),   for  purposes of calculating
average daily attendance for classroom-based instruction
apportionments, at least 80 percent of the instructional time offered
by  the   a  charter school shall be at
the schoolsite, and the charter school shall require the attendance
of all pupils for whom a classroom-based apportionment is claimed at
the schoolsite for at least 80 percent of the minimum instructional
time required to be offered pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision
 (a) of Section 47612.5. For   (a). 
    (B)     For purposes of calculating average
daily attendance for classroom-based instruction apportionments, at
least 60 percent of the instructional time offered by a charter
school that only operates a single schoolsite within the geographic
jurisdiction of the authority that granted its charter and has no
more than one satellite facility, as provided for in subdivision (c)
of Section 47605.1, shall be at the schoolsite, and the charter
school shall require the attendance of all pupils for whom a
classroom-based apportionment is claimed at the schoolsite for at
least 60 percent of the minimum instruct   ional time
required to be offered pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a).

   (2) For  the  purposes of this part,
"nonclassroom instruction" or "nonclassroom-based instruction" means
instruction that does not meet the requirements specified in
paragraph (1). The  State Board of Education  
state board  may adopt regulations pursuant to paragraph (1) of
subdivision (d) specifying other conditions or limitations on what
constitutes nonclassroom-based instruction, as it deems appropriate
and consistent with this part.
   (3) For purposes of this part, a schoolsite is a facility that is
used principally for classroom instruction.
   (4) Notwithstanding any other  provision of  law,
neither the  State Board of Education,   state
board  nor the Superintendent may waive the requirements of
paragraph (1) of subdivision (a).