BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  SB 191
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 19, 2009

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Kevin De Leon, Chair

                    SB 191 (Wright) - As Amended:  July 15, 2009 

          Policy Committee:                             EducationVote:11-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill prohibits a funding formula established by SB 319  
          (Migden), Chapter 355, Statutes of 2005, from applying to a  
          charter school established through the conversion of an existing  
          public school within a unified school district on or after  
          January 1, 2010.  Specifically, this bill:  

          1)Requires the conversion charter school established after  
            January 1, 2010 to receive general purpose funding through the  
            charter school block grant, which is consistent with how other  
            charter schools receive funding.  

          2)Specifies that this measure does not preclude a charter school  
            or unified school district from agreeing to an alternative  
            funding formula.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Indeterminate potential GF/98 general purpose savings, likely in  
          the thousands, to unified school districts with conversion  
          charter schools, as specified.  Actual costs will depend on the  
          number of conversion charter schools located in unified school  
          districts.  There were 331 unified school districts in the state  
          in 2007-08.    

           COMMENTS  

           Purpose  .  SB 319 (Migden), Chapter 355, Statutes of 2005,  
          established an alternative method for calculating revenue limit  
          funding (general purpose) for conversion charter schools in a  
          unified school district. Specifically, Chapter 355 requires a  
          conversion charter school in a unified school district to  
          receive the same funding it did in the prior year (when the  
          school was a "regular public school" in a unified school  






                                                                  SB 191
                                                                  Page  2

          district), with adjustments as specified.  Likewise, SB 319  
          requires the unified school district to certify this funding  
          formula and it becomes the basis for the charter school's per  
          pupil revenue limit funding in future years.  

          A consequence of the funding formula established in SB 319 is  
          that once the formula is established there is not a mechanism to  
          apply any budget reductions to the calculation because the  
          charter school receives the same funding it did in the prior  
          year.  

          This bill prohibits a funding formula established by SB 319  
          (Migden), Chapter 355, Statutes of 2005, from applying to a  
          charter school established through the conversion of an existing  
          public school within a unified school district on or after  
          January 1, 2010.  

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081