BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 925
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Date of Hearing: May 18, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 925 (Lara) - As Amended: April 26, 2011
Policy Committee: PERS Vote:4-2
Education 7-3
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill requires a classified employee in a charter school to
earn sick leave and vacation time and receive 11 paid holidays
comparable to the ones taken by classified employees in a school
district. This measure also requires charter schools to comply
with the following existing law related to school district
employees:
1)Personnel files and jury duty . Existing law establishes the
right of school district employees to inspect their personnel
records and take a leave of absence (with pay) for jury duty,
as specified.
2)Classified employees . Existing law delineates specified
rights to classified employees employed by a school district,
including the following:
a) Employing them for 12 months during the year regardless
of the number of months of paid service. Further requires
the employee to be paid an additional wage for any
additional work assignments.
b) Establishing permanent status for employees within one
year of employment and requires specified due process
rights to be followed in the instance of a disciplinary
action.
c) Requiring the employee to receive a written layoff
notice within specified time periods.
d) Authorizing employees to be granted leaves of absences
for industrial accident or illness, pregnancy, bereavement,
sick leave, and vacation, as specified.
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FISCAL EFFECT
1)GF/98 cost pressure, of at least $16.5 million, to charter
schools to comply with specified requirements related to
classified employees.
2)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)Rationale . A charter school is a public school that may
provide instruction in any of grades K-12. It is usually
created or organized by a group of teachers, parents and
community leaders or a community-based organization. A charter
school may be authorized by an existing local public school
board, county board of education, or the State Board of
Education (SBE). Specific goals and operating procedures for
the charter school are detailed in an agreement (charter)
between the sponsoring board and charter organizers. A charter
school is generally exempt from most laws governing school
districts, except where specifically noted in the law.
According to the author, "�Statute] provides a comprehensive
statutory system that provides classified employees with a
minimum floor of rights and benefits. In dependent charter
schools, where the school district is the employer, these
statutes remain in effect. Unfortunately, existing law
exempts independent charter schools from providing these
rights and benefits. Therefore, independent charter school
employees have no guarantee of sick leave, vacation leave, and
holiday leave. They have no right to a job classification with
defined duties and no seniority rights, layoff rights, or
bumping rights. They have no right to be disciplined for cause
only, and no right to a disciplinary hearing."
This bill requires charter schools to comply with rights
established in existing law for classified employees, as
specified.
2)Existing law exempts charter schools from complying with
provisions of law related to the following:
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a) The minimum age of public school attendance.
b) Coverage in a public retirement system.
c) Specified building code regulations.
d) The charter school revolving loan fund.
Statute requires the charter petition to contain a declaration
regarding whether or not the charter school is the exclusive
public school employer of the employees of the charter school
for the purposes of collective bargaining. If the charter
school is not deemed the employer, the school district where
the charter is located is deemed the public school employer.
If the school district is the employer of charter school
employees, the charter school is required to comply with
existing laws governing school district employees.
If the charter of the charter school does not specify that it
will comply with statute governing school employees and
regulate tenure or a merit system, current law requires the
scope of representation for the school to include employee
discipline and dismissal processes.
Current law also establishes numerous rights for classified
employees, including those related to layoffs and time off for
bereavement, pregnancy, illness, and vacation.
3)Rights for classified employees and not teachers . This bill
provides specified school district classified employee rights
to classified employees employed by a charter school. Current
law does not afford charter school teachers with the same
rights as teachers employed by a school district. As such, of
the employees at a charter school, only classified employees
will have specific rights in statute.
4)Number of charter schools . In 2009-10, there were 823 charter
schools enrolling 323,859 students. This number includes 13
charter schools approved by the SBE.
5)Related legislation . AB 269 (Ma), pending in this committee,
requires charter schools to comply with existing law related
to the health and safety of pupils, as specified.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
AB 925
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319-2081