BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1811
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1811 (Bonilla)
As Amended May 3, 2012
Majority vote
EDUCATION 7-3 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Ayes:|Brownley, Ammiano, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, |
| |Buchanan, Butler, Carter, | |Bradford, Charles |
| |Eng, Williams | |Calderon, Campos, Davis, |
| | | |Gatto, Hall, Hill, Lara, |
| | | |Mitchell, Solorio |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Norby, Grove, Halderman |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, |
| | | |Nielsen, Norby, Wagner |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY : Requires, commencing with the 2013-14 fiscal year, the
general purpose funding of a conversion charter high school in a
unified school district to be based on the amount per unit of
average daily attendance (ADA) allocated to that school in the
prior year, and requires that base amount to be annually
adjusted for inflation, deficit reduction, and any other state
general purpose increases or decreases applied to the district's
funding. The bill also exempts a conversion charter school
established on or after January 1, 2010, and before December 31,
2012, from its requirements and specifies nothing in this
measure precludes a charter school or unified school district
from agreeing to an alternative funding formula.
EXISTING LAW : Provides for a general purpose entitlement plus a
categorical block grant for charter schools. The general
purpose entitlement is based on the statewide average revenue
limits for elementary school districts, unified school
districts, and high school districts. The general purpose
entitlement provides charter schools with the following amounts
of funding:
1)The statewide average elementary school district revenue limit
per ADA multiplied by the ADA in kindergarten and grades 1
through 5, inclusive.
AB 1811
Page 2
2)The statewide average unified school district revenue limit
per ADA multiplied by the ADA in grades 6, 7, and 8.
3)The statewide average high school district revenue limit per
ADA multiplied by the ADA in grades 9, 10, 11, and 12.
The categorical block is based on the statewide average amount
of funding per ADA for specified categorical programs.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, indeterminate potential General Fund/Proposition 98
general purpose savings, likely in the thousands, to unified
school districts with conversion charter schools, as specified.
Actual costs will depend on the number of conversion charter
schools located in unified school districts. There were 334
unified school districts in the state in 2010-11.
COMMENTS : This bill addresses a problem that occurs when a
charter school serving pupils in any of grades 9 through 12,
inclusive, is established in a unified school district that is
not a basic aid district and that has not converted all of its
high schools to charter schools. Specifically, because the
charter school's general purpose entitlement is funded from the
school district's revenue limit, the unified school district
generally ends up subsidizing a portion of the charter school's
general purpose entitlement. The formula works as follows:
1)For purposes of computing its own revenue limit apportionment,
the unified district adds the ADA of the students in the
charter school that would otherwise attend a district school
to its own ADA.
2)The district's revenue limit apportionment is calculated by
multiplying its revenue limit per ADA times the ADA computed
in step 1.
3)The charter school's general purpose entitlement is computed
by multiplying the statewide average revenue limit for high
school district by the charter school ADA.
4)The amount computed in step 3 is subtracted from the amount
computed in step 2. This amount becomes the district's
revenue limit apportionment.
AB 1811
Page 3
This methodology results in the unified school district
transferring to the charter high school a greater amount per ADA
than the district receives per ADA in its revenue limit
apportionment. This is because the charter school general
purpose entitlement per ADA is greater than the district's
revenue limit per ADA. For example, information provided by the
author's office indicates that the revenue limit for the Mount
Diablo Unified School District is $5,207, but the district must
transfer $6,148 per ADA to a recently-approved charter school-a
difference of $941 per ADA.
This bill changes this by providing that the general purpose
entitlement for the conversion high school shall be based on the
amount per ADA actually allocated to that school in the year
prior to conversion.
Analysis Prepared by : Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0003493