BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1811
Page 1
GOVERNOR'S VETO
AB 1811 (Bonilla)
As Amended August 24, 2012
2/3 vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |48-24|(May 10, 2012) |SENATE: |24-10|(August 29, |
| | | | | |2012) |
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|ASSEMBLY: |51-28|(August 30, | | | |
| | |2012) | | | |
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Original Committee Reference: ED.
SUMMARY: Changes the method for calculating general purpose
funding for a conversion charter high school established after
January 1, 2013, in a unified school district. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Provides that, commencing with the 2013-14 fiscal year,
general purpose funding for a conversion charter high school
in a unified school district shall be equal, for the first
three years, to the current year base revenue limit of the
sponsoring school district and adjusted by the current year
deficit factor and other funding adjustments, if any.
2)Provides that, beginning in the fourth year of operation, the
general purpose funding for a conversion charter high school
in a unified school district shall be based on the statewide
average revenue limit for high schools.
The Senate amendments :
1)Repeal the requirement that general purpose funding for
conversion charter high schools in unified school districts be
based on the amount of general purpose funding per unit of
AB 1811
Page 2
average daily attendance (ADA) provided by the district to the
school in the year prior to conversion and add the method of
calculation described above.
2)Provide that the provisions of the bill become inoperative on
either of the following, whichever comes first:
a) July 1, 2018; or,
b) The effective date of a measure enacting comprehensive
school finance reform.
3)Re-enact current provisions of law related to the funding of
conversion charter schools in unified school districts
effective on either of the following, whichever comes first:
a) July 1, 2018; or,
b) The effective date of a measure enacting comprehensive
school finance reform.
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.
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.
AB 1811
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FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
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 current 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.
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. This bill changes this by providing that
the general purpose entitlement for the conversion high school
shall be based on the revenue limit of the sponsoring district
for the first three years of operation.
AB 1811
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GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE :
"I agree that the funding gap created when a high school within
a unified school district converts to a charter needs to be
addressed. Shifting the inequity of the current funding system,
however, from the school district to the charter school, as this
bill does, is not right.
"California's complex school finance laws need comprehensive
reform and I look forward to working with the Legislature to
craft a fair Weighted Student Formula that could resolve this
issue."
Analysis Prepared by : Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN:
0005935