BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Alan Lowenthal, Chair
2011-12 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 1568
AUTHOR: Roger Hernandez
AMENDED: May 16, 2012
FISCAL COMM: No HEARING DATE: June 20, 2012
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Beth Graybill
SUBJECT : Charter schools: Preferences for admission.
SUMMARY
This bill prohibits preferences for admission to a charter
school to be based on a parent or guardian's contribution of
time to support school activities or financial contributions
to the school.
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. Charter schools
may be authorized by a school district governing board, a
county board of education, or the State Board of Education.
(Education Code § 47601 et. seq.)
Existing law authorizes anyone to develop, circulate, and
submit a petition to establish a charter school and requires
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:
1) The charter school presents an unsound educational
program.
2) The petitioners are demonstrably unlikely to
successfully implement the program described in the
petition.
3) The petition does not contain the correct number of
required signatures.
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4) The petition does not contain an affirmation that it
will be nonsectarian in its programs and policies, will
not charge tuition, will not discriminate, and other
affirmations, as specified.
5) The petition does not contain reasonably comprehensive
descriptions of 16 required elements, including a
description of the educational program at the school,
the means by which the school will achieve a racial and
ethnic balance among its pupils, and the manner in which
annual, independent financial audits will be conducted.
(EC § 47605)
Existing law requires charter schools to admit all pupils who
wish to attend the school and specifies that if the number of
pupils who wish to attend the charter school exceeds the
school's capacity, attendance is to be determined by random
drawing (generally referred to as a lottery). Current law
requires admission preference to be extended to pupils
currently attending the charter school and pupils who reside
in the district, and specifies other preferences may be
permitted by the chartering authority on an individual school
basis and only if consistent with the law. (EC § 47605)
Existing law requires a charter school to be nonsectarian in
its programs, admission policies, employment practices, and
all other operations. The law specifies a charter school
shall not charge tuition and shall not discriminate against
any pupil in a protected class. Except for an existing
public school converting to a charter school, admission to a
charter school shall not be determined according to the
pupil's place of residence or his or her parent or legal
guardian, except as specified. (EC § 47605)
ANALYSIS
This bill prohibits a chartering authority from permitting
admissions preferences in charter schools that are based on a
parent or guardian's contribution of time to support charter
school activities or a parent's or guardian's financial
contribution to the charter school.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill : State and federal law grant certain
preferences for charter school admission. Federal
guidelines for the Charter School Program (CSP) require
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a charter school receiving federal CSP funds to use a
lottery if more students apply for admission to a
charter school than can be admitted. Federal guidelines
allow the following categories of applicants to be
exempted from a lottery: (a) students who are enrolled
in a public school at the time it is converted to a
charter school; (b) siblings of students already
admitted to or attending the charter school; (c)
children of a charter school's founders, so long as the
total number of students allowed constitutes only a
small percentage of the school's total enrollment, and
(d) children of employees who work at the charter
school. According to information provided by the
author's office, some charter schools have interpreted
the "founding parent" rule liberally by extending
admission preferences to children of individuals who
have made extraordinary donations of time or money to
the school. The author further maintains that when a
charter school's admission process is influenced by
financial donations or extraordinary volunteerism, it
can create a public school system that discriminates
against pupils from low socio-economic backgrounds. The
stated purpose for this bill is to ensure equal access
to public schools by ensuring that the admission process
for charter schools remains random.
2) Charter schools . Charter schools are public schools
that provide instruction in any combination of grades,
kindergarten through grade 12. Parents, teachers, or
community members may initiate a charter petition, which
is typically presented to and approved by a local school
district governing board. The law also allows, under
certain circumstances, for county boards of education
and the State Board of Education to authorize charter
schools. The specific goals and operating procedures
for a charter school are detailed in the agreement
(charter) between the authorizing entity and the charter
developer. Current law establishes 16 different
operational and educational quality indicators that need
to be included in a charter school petition. A
governing board may deny a charter school proposal that
does not comprehensively address each of those 16
elements. According to the California Department of
Education (CDE), there are currently 982 active charter
schools operating in California serving more than
369,000 pupils.
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Charter schools are exempt from most laws governing school
districts and schools in order to allow the charter
school the flexibility to innovate and be responsive to
the educational needs of the student population served.
Charter schools are required however, to have
credentialed teachers in core and college preparatory
courses, meet statewide standards, participate in state
testing programs that are required for the Academic
Performance Index (API), and consult with parents,
guardians, and teachers regarding the school's programs.
3) Pay to play ? The impetus for this bill appears to come
from recent news stories about fund raising programs at
two charter schools that raised questions about
potential inequities in the schools' recruitment and
admission practices. In at least one story, prospective
parents perceived they could work toward attaining
founding parent status (thus securing their child's
admission) even though the school was well beyond its
startup years of operation. Proponents of this bill
maintain that such practices create a "pay to play"
perception that may discourage lower income families
from applying and further note that such practices have
the potential to result in a two-tiered public school
system, where students from more affluent families who
have the luxury of time and money can attend the charter
school, while students from less affluent homes are
unable, unless they "win" the lottery, to attend the
charter school.
Existing law already prohibits discriminatory admission
practices and charter schools risk losing their charter
if they have "pay to play" policies. An argument could
be made that charter authorizers have a role to play in
monitoring charter schools to ensure they are abiding by
the terms of their charter and complying with state law
and federal guidelines for charter schools. While the
State could go beyond the prohibitions in existing law
and, as this bill would, prohibit admission based on a
parent or guardian's contributions, the unintended
consequence could be a chilling effect on the ability of
charter schools to engage in robust fundraising efforts
or establish parental involvement policies that benefit
the school as a whole.
While some argue that the "founding parent" rule should be
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narrowed to prevent schools from adding new founders
after the school is open, it is conceivable that as
charter schools expand grade levels and programs or add
additional school sites, they need the flexibility the
current guidelines provide to engage current and
prospective parents in the effort. A narrow definition
of "founding parent" or a statutory limiting the number
of "slots" reserved for children of founding parents
could likely constrain the ability of charter schools to
enlist parents in an effort to expand and serve more
students.
If the intent of this bill is to stop inappropriate admission
practices, a more appropriate approach may be to require
charter schools to provide notification that parent
involvement is not a requirement for acceptance or
continued enrollment at the school. This approach would
enable charter schools to maintain their much-needed
flexibility to encourage parental involvement while also
making it clear to parents and the public that
contributions are not a precondition for admission.
Staff recommends the bill be amended to delete the language
amending subparagraph (2)(B) of paragraph (d) on page 6
and instead add paragraph (n) to §47605 that would
specify that "a charter school may encourage parental
involvement but shall notify the parents and guardians
of applicant pupils and currently enrolled pupils that
parental involvement is not a requirement for acceptance
or continued enrollment at the school."
4) Related and prior legislation .
AB 1575 (Lara) Codifies the constitutional prohibition on the
imposition of pupil fees and establishes procedures to
ensure compliance with that prohibition. This bill is
pending before this Committee.
AB 1034 (Gatto, 2011) would have required charter schools to
report specified pupil data and would have made changes
to statutes governing charter school admission
practices. This bill was passed by this Committee on a
7-2 vote and was subsequently vetoed by Governor Brown.
The veto message read as follows:
Charter schools are established to encourage the
widest possible range of innovation and creativity.
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Their governing charters reflect the idea and
aspirations of those willing to undertake this
profoundly difficult challenge. It is critical
that they have the flexibility to set admission
criteria and parent involvement practices that are
consistent with the school's mission.
SUPPORT
California Federation of Teachers
California School Employees Association
California Teachers Association
OPPOSITION
California Charter Schools Association Advocates