BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Alan Lowenthal, Chair
2011-12 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 925
AUTHOR: Lara
AMENDED: June 6, 2012
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 13, 2012
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Beth Graybill
NOTE : This bill has been amended to replace its contents and
this is the first time the bill is being heard in its
current form.
SUBJECT : Charter schools: Employees.
SUMMARY
This bill establishes a new requirement for charter school
petitions concerning the policies and procedures governing
charter school employees.
BACKGROUND
Existing law, the Charter Schools Act of 1992, provides for
the establishment of charter schools in California for the
purpose, among other things, of improving student learning
and expanding learning experiences for pupils who are
identified as academically low achieving. Existing law
declares that charter schools are part of the public school
system as defined in Article IX of the California
Constitution and are "under the exclusive control of the
officers of the public schools."
(Education Code � 47601 et. seq.)
Existing law authorizes anyone to develop, circulate, and
submit a petition to establish a charter school and requires
charter developers to collect certain signatures in support
of the petition, as specified. Current law requires
governing boards to grant a charter unless the petition fails
to meet one or more of the following: (EC � 47605)
1) The charter school presents an unsound educational
program.
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2) The petitioners are demonstrably unlikely to
successfully implement the program described in the
petition.
3) The petition does not contain the number of required
signatures.
4) The petition does not contain an affirmation that it
will be nonsectarian in its programs and policies, shall
not charge tuition, shall not discriminate, and other
affirmations, as specified.
5) The petition does not contain reasonably comprehensive
descriptions of the educational program, including,
among other things, educational goals, students to be
served, measurable outcomes and methods by which the
school will determine that pupils have met educational
goals.
Existing law requires charter schools to comply with the
provisions of its charter and provisions of the Education
Code that apply to charter schools. Charter schools are
exempt from most laws governing school districts except where
specifically noted, including establishing minimum age for
public school attendance, specified building code
regulations, availability of coverage in a public retirement
system, and the Charter School Revolving Loan Fund. (EC �
47610)
Existing law requires charter schools to comply with the
Educational Employment Relations Act (EERA) commencing with
Section 3540 of the Government Code. Current law requires a
charter school to declare in its charter whether the school
will be its own employer, or whether the public school
district where the charter is located will be the employer
for purposes of EERA. Additionally, current law:
a) Specifies that if the charter does not
specify that it will comply with the statutes and
regulations that establish and regulate tenure or a
merit or civil service system, the scope of
representation for that charter school shall also
include discipline and dismissal of charter school
employees.
b) Specifies that the Public Employment
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Relations Board (PERB) shall take into account the
Charter Schools Act of 1992 when deciding cases
brought before it related to charter schools.
c) Specifies that the approval or a denial of
a charter petition by a granting agency shall not
be controlled by collective bargaining agreements
nor subject to review or regulation by PERB.
(EC � 47611.5)
ANALYSIS
This bill adds a new element to the required components of a
charter school petition. Specifically, this bill requires
charter school petitions to include:
1) A description of the personnel policies and procedures
of the school, including but not limited to, those
related to: jury duty; employee discipline; pregnancy,
bereavement, sick and vacation leave; and holidays.
2) Makes other technical and non-substantive amendments.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill : According to the sponsor, the
California School Employees Association, the Education
Code provides classified employees in a school district
with a comprehensive set of employment rights and
benefits that are not afforded employees of independent
charter schools because charter schools are statutorily
exempt from most provisions of the code. The sponsor
maintains that while employees who work at charters
where the school district is the employer have the same
employment rights and benefits as other classified
employees in the district, classified employees who work
at independent charter schools "have no guarantee of
sick leave, vacation leave, or holiday leave nor do they
have specified rights relating to their job including a
job classification with defined duties, seniority
rights, layoff rights, or bumping rights."
Employees choose to become part of a charter school and may
make that choice based on a variety of reasons,
including an opportunity to be part of a new school, or
greater flexibility in the workplace. Requiring charter
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school petitions to articulate the school's personnel
policies and procedures will make the personnel
practices more transparent to prospective employees and
could make it easier for charter schools to attract
experienced and effective classified staff.
Opponents, California Charter Schools Association Advocates,
argue that AB 925 responds to no expressed problem
between charter schools and classified staff and note
that California employment law, which applies to charter
schools as employers in California, already provides
direction on a broad variety of issues, thus making it
costly and meaningless to put a summary of those laws
into the petition.
2) Independent vs. dependent . According to the California
Department of Education (CDE), there are approximately
982 active charter schools. Although the Charter
Schools Act does not recognize the terms "dependent" and
"independent" when referencing charter schools, these
terms are often used to describe the relationship of a
charter school to a district. According to the
California School Boards Association, "dependent"
charters are considered charter schools that have been
created by the district board and are an integral part
of the district's portfolio of schools. "Independent"
charter schools are typically those charters that are
formed by parents, teachers, community members or
charter management organizations. The sponsor of this
bill describes an "independent" charter as one in which
the charter school is the employer, noting that most of
these charter schools are run by nonprofit corporations.
3) Related and prior legislation .
AB 1819 (Ammiano) requires charter schools to make the State
Teachers' Retirement System and the California Public
Employees' Retirement System available to their
employees and eliminates the requirement for charter
schools to inform applicants of the retirement coverage
offered at the school.
AB 86 (Mendoza, 2011) would have expanded signature
requirements for charter school petitions to include
classified employees. This measure was passed by this
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Committee on a 6-2 vote on June 15, 2011 and
subsequently vetoed by Governor Brown with the following
message:
Charter schools are a small but very important part
of the California public school system. They vary
by size, mission, governing structure and
educational philosophy. Their purpose is to allow
parents, teachers and other interested citizens to
form public schools outside the more detailed
regulatory framework of the regular school system.
They are profoundly difficult to establish and even
more difficult to maintain and grow in excellence.
Having started two myself, I know whereof I speak.
Notwithstanding the important contributions
classified staff make to the operation of a school,
this bill would unnecessarily complicate an already
difficult charter school petition process.
I believe the existing law is tough enough.
SUPPORT
None on this version of the bill.
OPPOSITION
California Charter Schools Association Advocates
Charter Schools Development Center