BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 401
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 401 (Ammiano)
As Amended April 26, 2011
Majority vote
EDUCATION 6-3
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|Ayes:|Brownley, Ammiano, | | |
| |Buchanan, Bonilla, | | |
| |Carter, Eng | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Norby, Hagman, Halderman | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Establishes a statewide cap of 1,450 on the number of
charter schools that can operate until January 1, 2017; requires
the Legislative Analyst's Office to report to the Legislature on
the effectiveness of charter schools, and, prohibits charter
school personnel with hiring authority from employing relatives.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the Legislative Analyst's Office to report to the
Legislature on the effectiveness of charter schools by July 1,
2015.
2)Prohibits charter school personnel, that work for a charter
school operated by a private entity, to advocate for, appoint,
employ, promote, or advance any individual who is a relative
to a position in the charter school or for a contract with the
charter school over which that person exercises jurisdiction
or control; and, specifies that the approval of budgets does
not constitute jurisdiction or control.
3)Requires a petition for a charter school to include full
disclosure of the identity of all individuals who are
employed, plan to be employed by the charter school, or have a
contract with the charter school, who are related to the
charter school owner, president, chairperson of the governing
body, superintendent, governing body member, principal,
assistant principal, or any other person employed by the
charter school who has equivalent decision-making authority.
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4)Defines charter school personnel as a charter school owner,
president, chairperson of the governing body, superintendent,
governing body member, principal, assistance principal or any
other person employed by the charter school who has equivalent
decision-making authority to appoint, employ, promote or
advance individuals.
5)Defines relative as a parent, child, sibling, uncle, aunt,
first cousin, nephew, niece, spouse, father-in-law,
mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law,
sister-in-law, stepparent, stepsibling, stepchild, half
brother or half sister.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill is keyed non-fiscal.
COMMENTS : According to the California Department of Education
(CDE), the 2009-10 count of operating charter schools is 815
with student enrollment of more than 323,000 in the state. This
includes three statewide benefit charters and 20 state board of
education approved charters.
This bill will establish a statewide cap of 1,450 on the number
of charter schools that can operate in California. This bill
also establishes anti-nepotism hiring standards for charter
schools operated by private entities. According to the author,
current law only provides an increasing cap on the number of
charter schools and little or no accountability. Many reports,
including the Stanford Center for Research on Education Outcomes
(CREDO) Report, demonstrate that charter schools are not the
panacea for closing the achievement gap; however, they are
provided wide sweeping power and no true accountability. While
the current cap is much higher than the actual number of charter
schools in the state, the growth in the number of charter
schools is accelerating. One of the many concerns with current
law is the lack of employment guidelines for these publicly
funded schools. In other states, like that of Florida, there
are guidelines for charter schools on hiring, promoting, and
assigning relatives. This bill attempts to address nepotistic
hiring practices within these schools.
Charter School Cap: This bill will establish a statewide cap of
1,450 charter schools. The 2010-11 statewide cap on charter
schools is 1,450 and there are 911 existing charter schools that
have been authorized. Since this cap is well above the current
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number of charter schools statewide, the California Federation
of Teachers (CFT) argues that it will not inhibit the growth of
charter schools for many years. The bill also requires the
Legislative Analyst's Office to report to the Legislature on the
effectiveness of charter schools in the year prior to the sunset
date.
In the last 10 years, on average, there were 86 charter schools
approved each year. If this same rate of approval continues in
the future, one could estimate that the cap of 1,450 established
by this bill would be reached during the 2016-17 school year.
Because the sunset date for this bill is in 2017, the cap of
1,450 will likely be reached before the sunset date.
Hiring Practices: This bill establishes anti-nepotism
employment standards for charter schools operated by private
entities. The provisions in this bill model existing charter
school law in Florida regarding employment prohibitions and
disclosure. Florida's charter school law requires an initial
petition for a charter school to include full disclosure of any
relatives that have been hired by the decision makers at the
school, and it prohibits decision makers at operational charter
schools from hiring relatives.
Arguments in Support: According to CFT, for many, charter
schools have become a place to be the exception to the rules:
rules of accountability, public transparency, workers' rights
and most importantly students' rights. They should not be
exempted from public employment practices. They should be
financially responsible and transparent. Until charter schools
actually follow the rules of student access, academic financial
accountability, and employment laws, they should not be allowed
to grow to numbers that rob the resources of our neighborhood
schools.
Arguments in Opposition: According to the California Charter
Schools Association, while the charter school movement is
growing in California, there is universal agreement that it is
not growing as fast as the current limits allow. Moreover,
imposing a hard cap is a step backward, creating unnecessary
artificial and arbitrary limits on charter schools after years
of nurturing their responsible growth and embracing them as an
important resource in our public education system.
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Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0000322