BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 645
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 17, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 645 (Simitian) - As Amended: July 13, 2011
Policy Committee: Education Vote:6-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes the Charter School Financing Authority
(CSFA) to refinance working capital for charter schools.
Further establishes new accountability measures for charter
school renewal and expands eligibility of the Charter School
Facility Grant Program (CSFGP). Specifically, this bill:
FISCAL EFFECT
1)GF administrative costs of at least $160,000 to SDE to conduct
academic reviews of charter schools seeking renewal, as
specified in this measure. These costs are associated with
staff conducting the reviews and making recommendations to the
SBE for final determination.
The 2011 Budget Act allocated $410,000 (GF) to SDE's charter
school division to conduct work related to implementation of
the SBE's new regulations regarding charter school revocations
and charter school facilities programs, including the CSFGP.
SDE originally requested 10 positions and $1.1 million (GF) to
complete this work, with 3.5 positions devoted exclusively to
charter school revocation duties. The Legislature provided
seven positions and $734,000 (GF) to SDE. The governor,
however, vetoed this allocation to $410,000 (GF).
2)Potential loss of GF/98 savings, likely in the low to tens of
millions, due to the proposed eligibility expansion of the
CSFGP. It is unclear why nonclassroom based charter schools
would need grant funding for the leasing costs of school
facilities.
SB 658 (Romero), Chapter 271, Statutes of 2008, phased out the
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Multi-Track Year Round Education (MTYRE) grant program and
shifted this funding (approximately $115 million GF/98) to the
CSFGP over a period of time. The last payment of $15 million
(GF/98) to the CSFGP is expected in the 2012-13 fiscal year.
As referenced below, however, statute was changed in 2009 to
no longer allocate this program funding in arrears. In order
to implement this change, SDE was directed to "double fund"
this program in order to pay off prior grant claims.
Essentially, SDE allocates yearly funding to program grantees
and any prior year funding owed. With the transfer of MTYRE
funds, it is expected the CSFGP will have significant funds
unspent and these funds could be swept as GF/98 savings.
SUMMARY CONTINUED:
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), in
consultation with the Public Schools Accountability Act (PSAA)
advisory committee, to develop the EQI for schools and
districts. Further requires all schools and districts,
commencing with the 2014-15 school year and each school year
thereafter, to be evaluated using the EQI value.
2)Requires the EQI, for school districts maintaining any of
grades 9-12 to include, at a minimum, the following
components: (a) The State Assessment Index (SAI), (b) the
Graduation Rate Index (GRI), (c) The College Preparedness
Index (CPI), and the Career Readiness Index (CRI). Defines
each component within the EQI as follows:
a) The SAI is required to be comprised of pupil scores from
the standards-based achievement tests, or any successor
assessments adopted by the SBE, and the high school exit
examination. Further requires the SAI to include test
scores of pupils enrolled in alternative education
programs, as specified.
b) The GRI is required to include one or both of the
following: (i) Four, five, and six year graduation rates
and rates at which pupils successfully promote from one
grade to the next in middle and high school, as specified.
Further requires pupils enrolled in alternative education
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programs to be included in this data under specified
parameters.
c) The CPI is required to consist of multiple, and stable
measures of pupil preparedness for postsecondary education.
Authorizes the SPI to include local and state assessments,
course enrollment and completion; academic and
extracurricular programs; and advanced or additional
learning opportunities as indicators for pupils in grades
9-12.
d) The CRI is required to consist of multiple, and stable
measures of pupil readiness for career. Authorizes the SPI
to include course enrollment and completion career
technical education (CTE) programs; industry validated
courses and certifications; intersegmental articulation
with institutions of higher education; and local and state
assessments as indicators for pupils in grades 9-12.
1)Prohibits a charter school authorizer from granting the
renewal of a charter school unless the school meets at least
one of the following criteria:
a) An Academic Performance Index (API) score of at least
700 in the most recent year.
b) Academic growth of at least 50 points over the prior
three years as measured by the API.
c) A rank of six to 10 on the API for a demographically
comparable school in the prior year or in two of the prior
three years.
d) Participation in the alternative accountability system.
Specifies if this system is no longer operative, a dropout
recovery high school is required to meet the other
specified criteria.
e) Receipt of a positive determination of academic
eligibility for renewal from the State Board of Education
(SBE) within the prior 12 months.
2)Prohibits the authorizer of a charter school that has entered
into year five of program improvement (PI) pursuant to the
federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) and has not
exited PI from considering or granting a renewal of the
charter unless the school meets at least one of the following
criteria:
a) The school meets at least two of the criteria
established in (a), (b), and (c) of #2 above.
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b) The school receives a positive determination of academic
eligibility for renewal from the SBE within the prior 12
months.
3)Requires a charter school to apply to the SBE for a
determination of academic eligibility, as referenced above, if
it chooses to submit its charter for renewal and either of the
following applies:
a) The charter school does not meet at least one of the API
criteria established in #1 above.
b) A charter school in PI does not meet the criteria
established in (a) of #2 above.
4)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to
make a recommendation, based on valid and reliable evidence
submitted by the charter school, to the SBE on the application
for a determination of academic eligibility for the renewal of
the charter school.
5)Requires the SBE to issue a positive determination of academic
eligibility, if the SBE finds the charter school clearly
demonstrates that pupil academic performance builds an
expectation that pupils will continue to improve academically
and have the opportunity to be successful in college or
career, as specified. Further requires the SBE to consider
how far the school is from achieving the academic benchmarks
specified in #2 above, as specified.
6)Requires a renewal of a charter school granted based on a
positive determination by the SBE to be granted for only three
years, as specified.
7)Increases from $750 to $800 the per unit amount eligible
schools receive under the CSFGP.
8)Requires the State Department of Education (SDE), in any year
in which additional funds remain, to expand eligibility for
the CSFGP to include schools in which less than 70% of its
pupil enrollment is eligible for free/reduced price meals, as
specified.
9)Authorizes CSFGP funds to be apportioned to charter schools
providing nonclassroom-based instruction, if the charter
school operates facilities that provide direct
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instruction/support to pupils enrolled at the school and meets
all of the other existing eligibility requirements, as
specified.
10)Requires a charter school offering nonclassroom-based
instruction and applying for CSFGP funding to identify the
proportion of time pupils in the school are scheduled to
receive classroom-based instruction, as specified.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . A charter school is a public school that may provide
instruction in any of grades K-12. It is usually created or
organized by a group of teachers, parents and community
leaders or a community-based organization. A charter school
may be authorized by an existing local public school board,
county board of education, or the SBE. Specific goals and
operating procedures for the charter school are detailed in an
agreement (charter) between the sponsoring board and charter
organizers. A charter school is generally exempt from most
laws governing school districts, except where specifically
noted in the law. In 2009-10, there were 823 charter schools
enrolling 323,859 students. This number includes 13 charter
schools approved by the SBE.
According to the author, "This bill increases accountability
and oversight of charter schools by strengthening the criteria
for renewal of charter schools. It prohibits the renewal of a
charter school that does not meet the criteria. SB 645
creates a default non-renewal of any charter school that fails
to meet the success measurements above. As a result, the
charter authorizer would have no choice but to deny the
renewal of a persistently low-performing charter school."
The Charter School Association states: "Providing appropriate
facilities for charter schools continues to be a substantial
challenge. Unlike traditional public schools, charter schools
do not have the range of tools available for securing
facilities. One of the most successful facility programs is
the Charter School Facility Grant program which provides
rent/lease reimbursements for many schools in areas of
profound economic struggles. However, the current program
limits eligibility to schools that have70% free and reduced
lunch students. This threshold leaves out many schools that
are in low-income areas but fail to meet the 70% cut-off."
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This bill authorizes the CSFA to refinance working capital for
charter schools. Further establishes new accountability
measures for charter school renewal and expands eligibility of
the CSFGP.
2)Opposition . The opponents of this measure (California
Teachers Association, the Association of California School
Administrators, and the California School Boards Association)
argue the ability for the SBE to make a charter school renewal
determination based on academic information is an infringement
on the local control of the chartering authorizer.
Specifically, ACSA states: "�we] oppose the state transferring
its statutory authority over defining student achievement to
the SBE. SB 645 will allow the SBE to decide the ultimate
fate of charter schools without understanding the local issues
that affect that school. SB 645 vests new powers to the SBE
and allows them to overrule local school and county boards of
education without due process. SB 645 takes away local
control from those who are ultimately held accountable for the
success of all their students."
3)Existing law for charter school renewal and accountability .
Statute authorizes a charter school to be granted one or more
renewals for a five year period.
Current law further requires a charter school to meet one of
the following specified criteria (for the purposes of
renewal): (a) attained its API growth target in the prior year
or in two of the last three years; (b) ranked in deciles 4 to
10 on the API in the prior year or in two of the last three
years; (c) ranked in deciles 4 to 10 on the API for a
demographically comparable school in the prior year or in two
of the last three years; and (d) the entity that granted the
charter determines the academic performance of the charter
school is at least equal to the performance of the public
schools the charter pupils would have otherwise attended, as
specified.
When a charter authority renews a charter school based on its
determination that the academic performance of the school is
at least equal to the performance of the public school, it is
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required to submit copies to the SPI of its supporting
documentation and a written summary of the basis of its
determination. The SPI is required to review these materials
and make recommendations to the chartering authority. The
SPI's review is the basis for the SBE's authority to revoke a
charter school, as specified.
This measure significantly modifies current requirements
related to a charter school's academic performance with
respect to its renewal. Specifically, this bill deletes
references to charter schools making growth targets and
instead requires a charter school to score at least a 700 on
the API or make at least 50 points growth on the API over the
prior year three year.
Likewise, this bill deletes the criterion that specifies
charter schools have to perform at least equal to schools
pupils would otherwise have attended. Instead, it establishes
a process for the charter school to seek a determination by
the SBE as to whether it has met its academic eligibility
within the prior 12 months, as specified.
This bill also prohibits a charter school in federal PI under
NCLB (i.e., failed to make academic progress) from being
renewed, unless it meets the API requirements referenced above
or it receives a positive academic determination from the SBE,
as specified. This bill also prohibits charter schools in
federal PI year five from being renewed for more than three
years.
4)Existing law for the CSFGP . The CSFGP is a non-competitive
program that provides assistance with facilities rent and
lease expenditures for charter schools that meet specific
eligibility criteria. The program was enacted to reimburse
charter schools for rental and lease costs in low-income
areas. Eligible applicants must have at least 70% of students
enrolled at the charter school who are eligible for free/
reduced price meals or the charter school must be physically
located in an elementary school attendance area where at least
70% of students enrolled are eligible for free/reduced price
meals. The charter school must also give a preference in
admissions to students who reside in the elementary school
attendance area. The charter schools are funded $750 per unit
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of classroom-based ADA, up to 75% of its annual facilities
rent and lease costs for the school.
AB 2 X4 (Evans), Fourth Extraordinary Session, Chapter 2,
Statutes of 2009, requires the SPI to annually allocate CSFGP
funds to eligible charter schools no later than October 1 of
each fiscal year. Prior to Chapter 2, grants were paid in
arrears to grantees. This statutory change has led SDE to
provide double the amount of yearly funding to grantees
because it paid the annual cost and the prior year costs all
at once to ensure the program was a yearly paid program.
This measure increases the allocation per unit of
classroom-based ADA from $750 to $800 per unit and it also
allows charter schools to receive funding for nonclassroom
based ADA, provided the school operates facilities that
provide direct instruction/support to pupils and meets all of
the other existing eligibility requirements, as specified.
This bill expands eligibility for the program to include
schools in which less than 70% its pupil enrollment is
eligible for free/reduced price meals. This expansion can
only occur in years in which additional program funds remain
and the eligibility can never be reduced below 50%.
5)Similar legislation . AB 440 (Brownely), pending in the Senate
Appropriations Committee, contains identical language related
to charter school renewals and accountability. It does not
contain the school facility portions of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081