BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 86
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 86 (Mendoza)
As Amended September 1, 2011
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |48-25|(April 25, |SENATE: |22-14|(September 7, |
| | |2011) | | |2011) |
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Original Committee Reference: ED.
SUMMARY : Requires a charter school petition to include
signatures from at least 50% of the total number of
nonsupervisorial certificated and classified employees the
petitioner estimates that will be employed by the charter school
in the first year of operation; requires a conversion charter
school petition to include at least 50% of the total number of
nonsupervisorial certificated and classified employees currently
employed at the school that is to be converted to a charter
school; and, requires the signature petition to prominently
display a statement that the classified employee has a
meaningful interest in working at the charter school.
The Senate amendments
1)Specify the signature requirement to be at least 50% of the
total number of nonsupervisorial certificated and classified
staff.
2)Add double-jointing language to avoid chaptering out issues
with AB 1034 (Gatto).
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires a petition seeking to establish a new charter school
to include signatures of at least one half of the parents or
guardians of students that the petitioner expects to enroll in
the charter school in the first year of operation, or
signatures by a number of teachers that is equal to at least
half the teachers estimated to be employed at the charter
school in the first year of operation.
2)Requires a petition seeking to convert an existing public
school to a charter school, to include the signatures of no
AB 86
Page 2
less than 50% of the permanent status teachers employed at the
public school proposed to be converted to a charter school.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was substantially similar
to the version passed by the Senate.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : This bill requires charter school petitions to
include 50% of the nonsupervisorial certificated and classified
employees the charter school estimates will be employed by the
charter school; and, requires, for a conversion charter school
petition, 50% of the nonsupervisorial certificated and
classified employees currently employed at the school to be
converted. Existing law requires conversion charter school
petitions to attain signatures from 50% of the permanent status
teachers that currently work at a school to be converted. The
provisions of this bill achieve parity with regard to the
signatures required from permanent teachers by requiring
signatures from permanent classified staff, who are also at risk
of losing their jobs.
Requiring classified staff to sign a conversion charter school
petition will raise the number of total signatures required for
the petition. The number of classified staff at an individual
schoolsite varies greatly depending on the type of school, size
of school and resources at the schoolsite. Therefore, it is
difficult to assess whether attaining these additional
signatures will be a difficult barrier for a conversion charter
school petition. One could estimate that on a given schoolsite,
this signature requirement could vary from as few as three
signatures to nearly 60 signatures, in addition to the
signatures required for teachers. According to the Service
Employees International Union (SEIU), the number of classified
staff changes from schoolsite to schoolsite, depending on their
need for aides for English language learners and special
education students. In addition, some schools have paid
security personnel and playground supervisors, while some do
not. It is very hard to have an exact number because classified
staffing is driven on an as needed basis and funding basis. The
Assembly should consider how including classified employees in
the signature requirement will make the conversion petition
process more difficult.
AB 86
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According to the author, this bill would provide classified
employees the same rights as those afforded to teachers by
allowing classified employees to participate in the petition
signature process in the same manner as teachers when
establishing new charter schools or converting existing schools
into charters. The bill would establish a fair process for
classified employees to present some show of interest in being
employed by a charter school. This bill is a simple parity
proposal. Currently, classified employees have no voice in the
establishment of charter schools which could potentially impact
their employment.
Previous legislation: AB 2363 (Mendoza) of 2010, which is
nearly identical to this bill and failed passage in the Senate
Education Committee, required, in addition to the existing
signature requirements, a charter school petition to include
signatures from at least 50% of the number of classified
employees the petitioner estimates that will be employed by the
charter school in the first year of operation; required a
conversion charter school petition to include 50% of the
permanent classified employees currently employed at the school
that is to be converted to a charter school; and, required the
signature petition to prominently display a statement that the
classified employee has a meaningful interest in working at the
charter school.
Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN:
0002760