BILL NUMBER: AB 1909	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Nestande

                        FEBRUARY 16, 2010

   An act to add Section 47606.1 to the Education Code, relating to
charter schools.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1909, as introduced, Nestande. Charter schools: community
college governing boards.
   The Charter Schools Act of 1992 permits teachers and parents to
petition the governing board of a school district to approve a
charter school to operate independently from the existing school
district structure as a method of accomplishing, among other things,
improved pupil learning. A charter petition is required to be signed
by a specified number of teachers or parents who are meaningfully
interested in either enrolling their children in the school or
teaching at the school.
   If a school district denies a petition, the petitioners may submit
the petition to the county board of education. If a county board of
education denies a petition, the petitioners may submit the petition
to the State Board of Education, which may designate its
supervisorial and oversight responsibilities for a charter school it
approves to any local educational agency in the county in which the
charter school is located or to the governing board of the school
district that first denied the petition.
   This bill would authorize a petition to establish a charter school
to be submitted for approval to the governing board of a community
college district if the petition proposes the operation of a charter
school within the county in which the university or community college
maintains a campus. The governing board of a community college
district would be authorized to grant a petition submitted to it for
approval. The governing board of a community college district that
grants a charter petition would be required to assume all of the
duties, responsibilities, functions, and obligations that the
governing board of a school district assumes when it grants a charter
petition. A charter school established as specified in the bill
would be required to receive the state aid portion of the charter
school's total general-purpose entitlement, categorical block grant,
other state and federal categorical aid, and lottery funds directly.

   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 47606.1 is added to the Education Code, to
read:
   47606.1.  (a) The governing board of a community college district
may approve a petition to establish a charter school for grades 9 to
12, inclusive, provided that the purpose of the charter school is to
find innovative approaches to college preparation and career
readiness that are best served by a partnership between the charter
school and the community college district.
   (b) The governing board of a community college district that
grants a charter petition shall assume all of the duties,
responsibilities, functions, and obligations that the governing board
of a school district assumes when it grants a charter petition.
   (c) Notwithstanding Section 47651, a charter school established
pursuant to this section shall receive the state aid portion of the
charter school's total general-purpose entitlement, categorical block
grant, other state and federal categorical aid, and lottery funds
directly. Warrants for a charter school established pursuant to this
section shall be drawn as specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision
(a) of Section 47651. The notification requirement specified in
subdivision (b) of Section 47651 shall be given by a charter school
established pursuant to this section to the county superintendent of
schools of the county in which the charter school operates.