BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2320
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Date of Hearing: May 19, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2320 (Swanson) - As Amended: April 28, 2010
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:5-4
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill amends the charter school petition process and limits
the ability of county boards of education (CBE) and the State
Board of Education (SBE) to approve charter petitions on appeal.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the charter school petition to include the following:
a) A detailed description of the different and innovative
teaching methods the school will use.
b) How the implementation of the educational program will
provide rigorous competition within the public school
system to stimulate continual improvements in all public
schools.
c) How the governance structure will create new
professional opportunities for teachers, including being
responsible for the learning program at the schoolsite.
d) The means by which a school will achieve a balance of
pupils who receive free and reduced price meals, are
English learners, or are pupils with exceptional needs.
2)Authorizes a CBE to consider an appeal from a charter school
petitioner (once denied by the governing board of a school
district) only if the appeal alleges that the governing board
committed a procedural violation in reviewing the petition.
This bill also requires the CBE to remand the petition to the
school district governing board to correct the procedural
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violation, if it determines the governing board committed a
violation.
3)Deletes authority for a charter school to submit a petition to
the SBE, if a CBE denies the petition. This measure also
deletes authority for a charter school to submit a petition
directly to the CBE.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)GF/98 state reimbursable mandated costs, likely less than
$50,000, to school districts to review petition information
required under this bill.
2)This bill limits the charter school petition appeal process to
the CBE and eliminates the appeal process at the SBE level.
These provisions will likely lead to GF/98 state reimbursable
mandated cost savings and GF administrative cost savings,
likely less than $100,000, statewide. Due to the limited
appeals process proposed in this measure, however, there is a
potential for increased litigation costs to school districts
and CBEs in the event a proposed charter school sues over
decisions made by these two entities.
3)There is a current GF/98 state reimbursable mandate of $2.3
million annually paid to local education agencies (LEA) to
review charter school petitions and renewals, notify charter
schools of reasons for revocation, and administer facility
rentals. The cost associated with this measure will be added
to the existing mandate. According to a May 2006 decision by
the Commission on State Mandates (CSM), charter schools are
not eligible to claim mandate reimbursements. In denying
charter schools' mandate claims, the CSM repeatedly cites the
fact that charter schools are "voluntarily" created.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . According to the California Teacher's Association,
sponsor of this bill, "The promise of charter schools has been
the freedom to innovate and experiment in exchange for
accountability and results. Unfortunately, this promise is
yet to be met. Recent reports of charter school performance,
enrollment trends, as well as audits and investigations of
charter schools by the Fiscal Crisis Management Assistance
Team and other entities have raised serious concerns about
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whether California is meeting the goals of the Charter Schools
Act of 1992. In recent years, too, would-be charter school
operators have found ways to secure approval of their charters
by bypassing locally elected school boards."
This bill requires specified information be included in
charter school petitions related to the educational program,
governance, and pupil populations. It also limits the appeal
process for charter school petitions denied by school district
governing boards.
2)Existing law requires a potential charter school to submit a
petition to an LEA for approval to establish the school. The
petition is required to include a description of the
educational program of the school. In addition, the initial
petition is required to describe how the proposed charter
school will achieve racial and ethnic balance similar to the
neighboring school district.
This bill requires a charter school petition to detail how the
proposed educational program for the school will provide
rigorous competition within the public school system to
stimulate continual improvements in all public schools. It
also requires the petition to describe how the governance
structure will create new professional opportunities for
teachers and the means by which the school will achieve a
balance of pupils who receive free and reduced price meals,
are English learners, or are pupils with exceptional needs.
Statute also establishes an appeals process for a charter
school petition denied by a school district governing board.
Existing law authorizes the charter school to submit the
petition to the CBE for approval (regardless of the reason for
denial). If the CBE denies the petition, the charter school
may submit the petition to the SBE for approval. Likewise,
statute details requirements for the CBE and SBE, if it
approves a charter petition, as specified.
This measure authorizes the charter school to submit its
petition to the CBE, if it is denied by the school district
governing board only based on procedural issues. Also, this
bill deletes authority for a charter school to submit a
petition to SBE, if a CBE denies the petition, and removes
authority for a charter school to submit a petition directly
to the CBE.
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3)Number of charter schools . As of March 2010, there are 870
active and pending charter schools. Fifty-one of these
schools have a status of "pending" because they have been
locally approved and numbered by the SBE, but the state has
been advised that funding will not be claimed for these
schools until the 2010-11 school year. Of the 870 charter
schools, 25 currently operate based on SBE approval.
4)Related legislation .
a) AB 1950 (Brownley), pending in this committee, makes
several statutory changes to charter school accountability
and financial compliance.
b) AB 2543 (Lowenthal), pending in this committee, requires
a charter school to submit a petition to the chartering
authority no later than September 15 prior to the
expiration of the charter or by a later date, if mutually
agreed upon by the chartering authority and the charter
school.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081