BILL NUMBER: AB 2607	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Roger Hernández

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2012

   An act to amend Section 47607 of the Education Code, relating to
charter schools.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2607, as introduced, Roger Hernández. Charter schools: petition
renewal.
   The Charter Schools Act of 1992 specifies the procedures for the
submission, review, and approval or denial of a petition to establish
a standard or countywide charter school. The Charter Schools Act
limits the duration of charters to a period not to exceed 5 years and
authorizes the chartering authority to grant one or more subsequent
renewals for an additional period of 5 years for each renewal. The
Charter Schools Act prescribes the requirements a charter school must
comply with in order to have its charter renewed, including
attaining specified measures of academic performance. The Charter
Schools Act requires the chartering authority to make specified
determinations regarding the academic performance of the charter
school and to submit to the Superintendent of Public Instruction
copies of supporting documentation and a written summary of the basis
for those determinations.
   This bill would authorize the chartering authority to submit the
supporting documentation and summary in electronic form.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 47607 of the Education Code is amended to read:

   47607.  (a) (1) A charter may be granted pursuant to Sections
47605, 47605.5, and 47606 for a period not to exceed five years.
 A charter granted by   The governing board of
 a school district  governing board  , a county
board of education  ,  or the state board  ,
 may  be granted   grant  one or
more subsequent renewals  of a charter approved  by that
entity. Each renewal shall be for a period of five years. A material
revision of the provisions of a charter petition may be made only
with the approval of the authority that granted the charter. The
authority that granted the charter may inspect or observe any part of
the charter school at any time.
   (2) Renewals and material revisions of charters are governed by
the standards and criteria in Section 47605, and shall include, but
not be limited to, a reasonably comprehensive description of any new
requirement of charter schools enacted into law after the charter was
originally granted or last renewed.
   (b) Commencing on January 1, 2005, or after a charter school has
been in operation for four years, whichever date occurs later, a
charter school shall meet at least one of the following criteria
 prior to   before  receiving a charter
renewal pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a):
   (1) Attained its Academic Performance Index (API) growth target in
the prior year or in two of the last three years, or in the
aggregate for the prior three years.
   (2) Ranked in deciles 4 to 10, inclusive, on the API in the prior
year or in two of the last three years.
   (3) Ranked in deciles 4 to 10, inclusive, on the API for a
demographically comparable school in the prior year or in two of the
last three years.
   (4) (A) The entity that granted the charter determines that the
academic performance of the charter school is at least equal to the
academic performance of the public schools that the charter school
pupils would otherwise have been required to attend, as well as the
academic performance of the schools in the school district in which
the charter school is located, taking into account the composition of
the pupil population that is served at the charter school.
   (B) The determination made pursuant to this paragraph shall be
based upon all of the following:
   (i) Documented and clear and convincing data.
   (ii) Pupil achievement data from assessments, including, but not
limited to, the Standardized Testing and Reporting Program
established by Article 4 (commencing with Section 60640) for
demographically similar pupil populations in the comparison schools.
   (iii) Information submitted by the charter school.
   (C) A chartering authority shall submit to the Superintendent
copies of supporting documentation and a written summary of the basis
for any determination made pursuant to this paragraph.  The
chartering authority may submit those documents in electronic form.
 The Superintendent shall review the materials and make
recommendations to the chartering authority based on that review. The
review may be the basis for a recommendation made pursuant to
Section 47604.5.
   (D) A charter renewal may not be granted to a charter school
 prior to   before  30 days after that
charter school submits materials pursuant to this paragraph.
   (5) Has qualified for an alternative accountability system
pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 52052.
   (c) A charter may be revoked by the authority that granted the
charter under this chapter if the authority finds, through a showing
of substantial evidence, that the charter school did any of the
following:
   (1) Committed a material violation of any of the conditions,
standards, or procedures set forth in the charter.
   (2) Failed to meet or pursue any of the pupil outcomes identified
in the charter.
   (3) Failed to meet generally accepted accounting principles
 ,  or engaged in fiscal mismanagement.
   (4) Violated any provision of law.
   (d)  Prior to   Before  revocation, the
authority that granted the charter shall notify the charter public
school of any violation of this section and give the school a
reasonable opportunity to remedy the violation, unless the authority
determines, in writing, that the violation constitutes a severe and
imminent threat to the health or safety of the pupils.
   (e)  Prior to   Before  revoking a
charter for failure to remedy a violation pursuant to subdivision
(d), and after expiration of the school's reasonable opportunity to
remedy without successfully remedying the violation, the chartering
authority shall provide a written notice of intent to revoke and
notice of facts in support of revocation to the charter school. No
later than 30 days after providing the notice of intent to revoke a
charter, the chartering authority shall hold a public hearing, in the
normal course of business, on the issue of whether evidence exists
to revoke the charter. No later than 30 days after the public
hearing, the chartering authority shall issue a final decision to
revoke or decline to revoke the charter, unless the chartering
authority and the charter school agree to extend the issuance of the
decision by an additional 30 days. The chartering authority shall not
revoke a charter, unless it makes written factual findings supported
by substantial evidence, specific to the charter school, that
support its findings.
   (f) (1) If a school district is the chartering authority and it
revokes a charter pursuant to this section, the charter school may
appeal the revocation to the county board of education within 30 days
following the final decision of the chartering authority.
   (2) The county board may reverse the revocation decision if the
county board determines that the findings made by the chartering
authority under subdivision (e) are not supported by substantial
evidence. The school district may appeal the reversal to the state
board.
   (3) If the county board does not issue a decision on the appeal
within 90 days of receipt, or the county board upholds the
revocation, the charter school may appeal the revocation to the state
board.
   (4) The state board may reverse the revocation decision if the
state board determines that the findings made by the chartering
authority under subdivision (e) are not supported by substantial
evidence. The state board may uphold the revocation decision of the
school district if the state board determines that the findings made
by the chartering authority under subdivision (e) are supported by
substantial evidence.
   (g) (1) If a county office of education is the chartering
authority and the county board revokes a charter pursuant to this
section, the charter school may appeal the revocation to the state
board within 30 days following the decision of the chartering
authority.
   (2) The state board may reverse the revocation decision if the
state board determines that the findings made by the chartering
authority under subdivision (e) are not supported by substantial
evidence.
   (h) If the revocation decision of the chartering authority is
reversed on appeal, the agency that granted the charter shall
continue to be regarded as the chartering authority.
   (i) During the pendency of an appeal filed under this section, a
charter school, whose revocation proceedings are based on paragraph
(1) or (2) of subdivision (c), shall continue to qualify as a charter
school for funding and for all other purposes of this part, and may
continue to hold all existing grants, resources, and facilities, in
order to ensure that the education of pupils enrolled in the school
is not disrupted.
   (j) Immediately following the decision of a county board to
reverse a decision of a school district to revoke a charter, the
following shall apply:
   (1) The charter school shall qualify as a charter school for
funding and for all other purposes of this part.
   (2) The charter school may continue to hold all existing grants,
resources, and facilities.
   (3) Any funding, grants, resources, and facilities that had been
withheld from the charter school, or that the charter school had
otherwise been deprived of use, as a result of the revocation of the
charter shall be immediately reinstated or returned.
   (k) A final decision of a revocation or appeal of a revocation
pursuant to subdivision (c) shall be reported to the chartering
authority, the county board, and the department.