BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                             Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
                            2015 - 2016  Regular  Session

          SB 322 (Leno) - Charter schools: pupils: suspension and  
          expulsion: admissions: departures.
          
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          |Version: May 13, 2015           |Policy Vote: ED. 7 - 2          |
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          |Urgency: No                     |Mandate: Yes                    |
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          |Hearing Date: May 18, 2015      |Consultant: Jillian Kissee      |
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          This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.


          Bill  
          Summary:  This bill: (1) adds admission preferences in the event  
          a random drawing for attendance is necessary; (2) establishes  
          conditions for additional attendance preferences on an  
          individual charter school basis; (3) establishes provisions for  
          which charter schools must comply regarding pupil suspension and  
          expulsion; and (4) requires a charter school, upon a student's  
          expulsion or departure, to report the reason within 10 days.   
          This bill also requires each school district to draft and  
          implement a policy to annually collect data about teacher  
          turnover at each of its schools, and at each charter school it  
          authorizes.


          Fiscal  
          Impact:  
           This bill results in unknown, potentially significant, costs  
            to charter authorizers likely to be in the low millions.   
            These costs include: (1) charter authorizers to review and  







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            approve amended charters to conform to procedures and to  
            provide oversight of these requirements, and (2) for districts  
            to create and implement a policy to annually collect data  
            about teacher turnover.  Costs to charter authorizers for  
            oversight activities and to school districts for data tracking  
            would likely be considered a reimbursable state mandate.   
            Costs imposed on charter schools would not be reimbursable.


          Background:  

           Charter Schools
           Under existing law, the Charter Schools Act of 1992 provides for  
          the establishment of charter schools in California for the  
          purpose, among other things, to improve student learning and  
          expand learning experiences for pupils who are identified as  
          academically low achieving.  A charter school may be authorized  
          by a school district, a county board of education, or the State  
          Board of Education, as specified.  Some charter schools are new  
          while others are conversions from existing schools.  Except  
          where specifically noted otherwise, California law exempts  
          charter schools from many of the statutes and regulations that  
          apply to schools and school districts.  The legislative intent  
          of the Charter Schools Act was to provide opportunities for  
          teachers, parents, pupils, and community members to establish  
          and maintain schools that operate independently from a school  
          district structure that would afford parents and pupils with  
          expanded educational choices, offer new professional  
          opportunities for teachers to be responsible for the learning  
          program at the school site, and create competition within the  
          public school system to stimulate continual improvements in all  
          public schools.

          Current law requires that charter schools: 1) are nonsectarian  
          in their programs, admission policies, employment practices, and  
          all other operations; 2) not charge tuition; and 3) not  
          discriminate against any pupil on the basis of the  
          characteristics, as specified.  Admission to a charter school  
          may not be determined according to the place of residence of the  
          pupil, or of his or her parent or legal guardian, within the  
          state, except that an existing public school converting to a  
          charter school must adopt and maintain a policy giving  
          admissions preference to pupils who reside within the former  
          attendance area of that public school.  (Education Code § 47605,  








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          et. seq.)

          Parents, teachers, or community members may initiate a charter  
          petition, which is typically presented to and approved by a  
          local school district governing board.  The law also allows,  
          under certain circumstances, for county boards of education and  
          the State Board of Education to authorize charter schools.  The  
          specific goals for a charter school are detailed in the  
          agreement (charter) between the authorizing entity and the  
          charter developer.  The charter petition is also required to  
          include a description of the educational program of the school  
          and several other policies and procedures relating to employees,  
          pupils, and finances.  Current law establishes procedures for  
          the renewal of charter schools, not to exceed five years.

          If a pupil is expelled or leaves the charter school without  
          graduating or completing the school year for any reason, the  
          charter school is required to notify the superintendent of the  
          school district of the pupil's last known address within 30  
          days, and shall upon request provide that school district with a  
          copy of the cumulative record of the pupil, including a  
          transcript of grades or report card, and health information.   
          This provision applies only to pupils subject to compulsory  
          full-time education.


          Proposed Law:  
           This bill: 

             1.   Adds the intent of the Legislature to do all of the  
               following: 

                  A.        Ensure equal access to interested pupils at  
                    charter schools and prohibit practices that discourage  
                    enrollment or disproportionately push out segments of  
                    already enrolled students. 

                  B.        Ensure that charter school discipline policies  
                    are fair and transparent. 

                  C.        Ensure that a pupil's constitutional right to  
                    due process is protected at charter schools. 

                  D.        Consistent with Section 5 of Article IX of the  








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                    California Constitution, ensure that charter schools  
                    operate within the system of common schools by  
                    remaining"?free, nonsectarian and open to all  
                    students?," as stated in Wilson v. State Board of  
                    Education (1999) 75 Cal.App.4th 1125, 1137-38 

                  E.        Gather data on student and teacher turnover in  
                    charter schools.

             2.   Modifies the required components of a petition for the  
               establishment of a charter school, specifically, the  
               comprehensive descriptions of admission policies and  
               procedures by which students are suspended or expelled, to  
               be consistent with items 3, 4, 5, and 6 below.

             3.   Adds siblings of students currently attending the  
               charter school and children of employees at the charter  
               school as preferences for attending a charter school in the  
               event a public random drawing is necessary in determining  
               the admission of students to the school and provides for  
               other preferences to be established on an individual  
               charter school basis, as outlined below.  

                  A.        Preferences on a charter school basis must  
                    abide by the following requirements: 

                        i.             Each type of preference  must be  
                         approved by the charter school at a public  
                         hearing; 

                        ii.            They are consistent with federal  
                         law and the California Constitution; 

                        iii.           They must ensure access for  
                         students with disabilities, academically  
                         low-achieving students, English learners, and  
                         low-income students, as specified; and 

                        iv.            They must not require mandatory  
                         parental volunteer hours as a criterion for  
                         admission or continued enrollment.

             4.   Requires charter school suspension and expulsion  
               procedures to meet the following requirement:








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                  A.        The constitutional due process requirement of  
                    providing notice and an opportunity to be heard before  
                    restricting a student's entitlement to public  
                    education.

             5.   For expulsions, procedures must ensure the following:

                  A.        The student is entitled to a formal hearing to  
                    determine if the student is to be expelled.

                  B.        At the hearing, the student has, or the  
                    student's parents or guardian have, a right to appear  
                    in person or to be represented, as specified.

                  C.        At least 10 days before the proposed hearing  
                    date, the student is provided written notice of the  
                    hearing date to include information as specified.

                  D.        If it is determined that the student is to be  
                    expelled, the person or persons that made the  
                    determination must issue a written decision  
                    identifying the basis of the decision, as specified.

                  E.        A record of the hearing is made so that a  
                    written transcription of the proceedings can be made.

             6.   Provides that unless a charter school has adopted  
               procedures for the expulsion of students that are  
               consistent with those set forth in this bill and follows  
               those procedures, a student's departure from the charter  
               school is not to be considered as an expulsion pursuant to  
               existing law.

             7.   Reduces the timeline (from 30 days to 10 days) in which  
               a charter school is currently required to notify the school  
               district if a student is expelled or leaves the charter  
               school, and also requires the charter school to also  
               include in the copy of the cumulative report of the student  
               to be provided to the school district, the reason for the  
               student's departure.  

             8.   Authorizes a charter school to encourage parental  
               involvement but requires the charter school to notify the  








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               parents and guardians of applicant students and currently  
               enrolled students that parental involvement is not a  
               requirement for acceptance to, or continued enrollment at,  
               the charter school.

             9.   Requires each school district to draft and implement a  
               policy to annually collect data about teacher turnover at  
               each of its schools, and at each charter school it  
               authorizes.


          Related  
          Legislation:  AB 1034 (Gatto, 2011) proposed to require charter  
          schools to report specified pupil data and make changes to  
          statutes governing charter school admission practices.  AB 1034  
          was vetoed by Governor Brown with the following veto message: 
               
               Charter schools are established to encourage the widest  
               possible range of innovation and creativity.  Their  
               governing charters reflect the ideas and aspirations of  
               those willing to undertake this profoundly difficult  
               challenge.  It is critical that they have the flexibility  
               to set admission criteria and parent involvement practices  
               that are consistent with the school's mission.


          Staff  
          Comments:  This bill likely results in costs in the following  
          areas:

           Charter Schools:  Current law requires charter petitions to  
          contain reasonably comprehensive descriptions of various items  
          including admissions requirements and suspension and expulsion  
          procedures.  This bill requires these procedures to be  
          consistent with changes in admissions preferences and  
          requirements for suspension and expulsion included in this bill.  
           Additional costs for charters to conform to these requirements  
          such as: developing new policies, staff training on  
          requirements, amending charters, and implementing new policies,  
          would have to be absorbed locally since charters are ineligible  
          to claim reimbursement of costs resulting from state mandates.   
          They do receive a share of the K-12 mandate block grant funding,  
          but the funding does not address additional costs resulting from  
          this bill.








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          Charter Authorizer Oversight Activities:   State level costs  
          could be incurred as a result of material revisions to charters  
          so that they conform to the admissions, suspension, and  
          expulsion procedures included this bill.  Material revisions to  
          charters are governed by the standards and criteria that apply  
          to new petitions.  Existing law provides that renewals and  
          material revisions of charters include a reasonably  
          comprehensive description of any new requirement of charter  
          school enacted into law after the charter was originally granted  
          or last renewed.  Assuming that the bill's requirements  
          constitute material revisions to charters, this would increase  
          costs to the charter authorizer to review and conduct a public  
          hearing on the provisions of the charter.  Assuming these  
          activities would increase workload to the authorizer by 10 hours  
          for each charter school at a standard staffing rate of $50 per  
          hour, including benefits, costs could be in the hundreds of  
          thousands statewide and could be reimbursable under state  
          mandate law.

          Oversight of compliance to these procedures may marginally  
          increase oversight workload of the charter authorizer since they  
          are already required to provide oversight in these categories.   
          Additional costs for charter authorizers to provide oversight  
          would add to costs for existing charter oversight reimbursable  
          state mandates.

           Track Teacher Turnover:  This bill requires each school district  
          to draft and implement a policy to annually collect data about  
          teacher turnover at each of its schools, including each charter  
          school it authorizes.  This provision could be determined to be  
          a reimbursable state mandate by the Commission on State  
          Mandates.  One-time costs would be incurred to develop the plan  
          and ongoing costs would be to annually collect data.  Assuming  
          developing the plan and collecting required data would take the  
          school district 20 hours to 40 hours at a rate of $50 per hour,  
          including benefits, costs could be $1 million to $2 million to  
          school districts.


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