BILL NUMBER: SB 645 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 25, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Simitian
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to amend Section 47607 Sections
47607 and 47607.5 of the Education Code, relating to charter
schools.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 645, as amended, Simitian. Charter schools: charter renewal.
The Charter Schools Act of 1992 (Charter Schools Act) specifies
the procedures for the submission, review, and approval or denial of
a petition to establish a 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. The
Charter Schools Act prescribes the requirements a charter school must
meet in order to have its charter renewed, including a requirement
that a charter school that has been in operation for 4 years satisfy
at least one of several specified criteria regarding academic
performance.
This bill would change the criteria a charter school is required
to meet in order to have its charter renewed. The bill would
require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to identify the
charter schools that have not met the renewal criteria and notify the
charter school and its authorizer. The bill would prohibit the
renewal of a charter of a school that does not meet the criteria
unless the State Board of Education approves the renewal. The bill
would authorize a charter school that does not meet the renewal
criteria but wants the state board to consider approving the renewal
of its charter to submit to the Superintendent copies of supporting
documentation and a written summary of the basis for its request. The
bill would require the Superintendent to review the materials and
recommend to the state board whether it should approve or disapprove
the charter renewal. make these criteria inoperative
if the state board adopts an academic accountability system and finds
that the system it adopts is consistent wit h specified
characteristics. The bill also would require the State Board of
Education to adopt regulations designating a level of annual academic
achievement growth that qualifies a charter for renewal.
The bill would authorize the state board to replace or revise the
renewal criteria established by this bill if the new or revised
criteria aligns with metrics of pupil performance that recognize
individual pupil progress or changes in the state school
accountability program.
The bill would authorize a charter school not meeting the renewal
criteria to apply to the state board for a determination of academic
eligibility for the renewal of its charter by submitting evidence of
the school's academic success. The bill would require the advisory
committee that is appointed by the state board to recommend criteria
to the state board for the determination of funding for
nonclassroom-based instruction to publicly hear an application for
the determination of academic eligibility and make a recommendation
to the state board on the application. The bill would require the
state board to issue a positive determination of academic eligibility
if the state board finds that the charter school adequately
demonstrates that the academic performance of the charter school
meets or exceeds its predicted performance based on a statistical
evaluation of similar pupil populations.
The bill also would make a conforming change.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
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 a school district governing board, a county board
of education or the state board, may be granted one or more
subsequent renewals 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. A renewal decision
shall be based primarily on an assessment of the actual academic and
operational performance of the charter school.
(b) After a charter school has been in operation for four years,
it shall meet at least one of the following criteria before having
its charter renewed pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) or
complete the process described in subdivision (c):
(1) Attain an Academic Performance Index (API) score of at least
700 in the most recent year.
(2) Attain a cumulative API growth of at least 30 points over the
last three API cycles. For purposes of this paragraph, an API cycle
represents the difference between a current year growth API and the
prior year's base API.
(3) Rank in deciles 6 to 10, inclusive, on the API for a
demographically comparable school in the prior year or in two of the
last three years for which similar school ranks are available as of
October 1. A school that does not generate a similar school rank
shall be deemed not to have met this criterion.
(4) Qualify for an alternative accountability system pursuant to
subdivision (h) of Section 52052.
(c) (1) By October of each year, the Superintendent shall identify
the charter schools that have not met the criteria in subdivision
(b) and notify the charter school and its authorizer of that fact.
(2) If a charter is due to expire within the school year, or the
chartering authority is considering early renewal of the charter, the
chartering authority shall not renew a charter of a school that does
not meet the criteria in subdivision (b) unless the state board
approves of the renewal.
(3) If a charter school does not meet the criteria in subdivision
(b) and wants the state board to consider approving the renewal of
its charter, the charter school shall submit to the Superintendent,
by November 15, copies of supporting documentation and a written
summary of the basis for its request. The documentation may include
information on individual pupil achievement, additional analysis of
similar pupil populations, or other data.
(4) The Superintendent shall review the materials and recommend to
the state board whether it should approve or disapprove the charter
renewal.
(5) At the next meeting following receipt of the Superintendent's
recommendation, the state board may take action to approve renewal of
the charter if it finds that the materials provided by the charter
school warrants renewal. Unless the state board approves the charter
renewal, the chartering authority shall not renew the charter.
(d) The state board may replace the criteria in subdivision (b)
or revise that criteria if the new or revised criteria aligns with
metrics of pupil performance that recognize individual pupil progress
or changes in the Public School Performance Accountability Program
(Article 2 (commencing with Section 52051) of Chapter 6.1 of Part
28).
(b) The authorizer of a charter school that has been in operation
for at least four years shall not consider or grant the renewal of
the school's charter unless the school meets, based on data available
as of October 1 of the fiscal year of the renewal, at least one of
the following criteria:
(1) An Academic Performance Index (API) score of at least 700 in
the most recent year.
(2) A cumulative API growth of at least a total of 30 points over
the last three API cycles. For purposes of this paragraph, API growth
for one cycle is the difference between a current year growth API
and the prior year's base API. The growth required pursuant to this
paragraph shall not be measured as the difference between the most
recent growth API score and the growth API score from three years
prior to that score.
(3) A rank in any decile between 6 to 10, inclusive, on the API
for a demographically comparable school in the prior year or in two
of the last three years for which demographically comparable school
ranks are available. A school that does not generate a
demographically comparable school rank is ineligible to meet this
criterion.
(4) Participation in the alternative accountability system
pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 52052.
(5) Receipt of a determination of academic eligibility for renewal
from the state board within the prior 12 months.
(c) (1) A charter school may apply to the state board for a
determination of academic eligibility for the renewal of its charter
by submitting evidence of the school's academic success. Evidence
supporting an application may include, but is not limited to,
information on individual pupil achievement, including longitudinal
data that demonstrate individual pupil progress, analysis of similar
pupil populations, or other relevant data as determined by the
school.
(2) The advisory committee created pursuant to subdivision (b) of
Section 47634.2 shall publicly hear an application for a
determination of academic eligibility for the renewal of a charter,
and shall make a recommendation to the state board on the
application.
(3) The state board shall issue a positive determination of
academic eligibility if the state board finds that the charter school
adequately demonstrates that the academic performance of the charter
school meets or exceeds its predicted performance based on a
statistical evaluation of similar pupil populations.
(d) If the state board adopts an academic accountability system
and finds that the system it adopts is consistent with subdivisions
(b) and (c) of Section 52052.6, paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive, of
subdivision (b) of this section shall become inoperative and the
state board shall adopt regulations designating a level of annual
academic achievement growth that qualifies a charter for renewal.
(e) 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.
(f) Prior to 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.
(g) Prior to revoking a charter for failure to remedy a violation
pursuant to subdivision (f), 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.
(h) (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 (g) 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 (g) 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 (g) are supported by
substantial evidence.
(`i) (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 (g) are not supported by substantial
evidence.
(j) 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.
(k) 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 (e), 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.
(l) 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.
(m) A final decision of a revocation or appeal of a revocation
pursuant to subdivision (e) shall be reported to the chartering
authority, the county board, and the department.
SEC. 2. Section 47607.5 of the
Education Code is amended to read:
47607.5. If either a school district governing board or a county
board of education, as a chartering agency, does not grant a renewal
to a charter school pursuant to Section 47607 and the charter
school is eligible for renewal pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section
47607 , the charter school may submit its application for
renewal pursuant to the procedures pertaining to a denial of a
petition for establishment of a charter school, as provided in
subdivision (j) of Section 47605.