BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Alan Lowenthal, Chair
2011-12 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 1290
AUTHOR: Alquist
AMENDED: March 28, 2012
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 25, 2012
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Beth Graybill
SUBJECT : Charter schools: Establishment, renewal,
revocation.
SUMMARY
This bill requires charter school petitions to address
increases in pupil academic achievement and requires
chartering authorities to consider increases in academic
achievement for all groups of pupils served by a charter
school as the most important factor in the renewal or
revocation of a charter.
BACKGROUND
Existing law, the Charter Schools Act of 1992, provides for
the establishment of Charter schools in California for the
purpose, among other things, of improving student learning
and expanding learning experiences for pupils who are
identified as academically low achieving. (Education Code �
47601 et. seq.)
Existing law authorizes anyone to develop, circulate, and
submit a petition to establish a charter school and requires
charter developers to collect certain signatures in support
of the petition, as specified. Current law requires
governing boards to grant a charter unless the petition fails
to meet one or more of the following: (EC � 47605)
1) The charter school presents an unsound educational
program.
2) The petitioners are demonstrably unlikely to
successfully implement the program described in the
petition.
3) The petition does not contain the number of required
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signatures.
4) The petition does not contain an affirmation that it
will be nonsectarian in its programs and policies, shall
not charge tuition, shall not discriminate, and other
affirmations, as specified.
5) The petition does not contain reasonably comprehensive
descriptions of the educational program, including,
among other things, educational goals, students to be
served, measurable outcomes and methods by which the
school will determine that pupils have met educational
goals.
Existing state law specifies that after a charter school has
been in operation for four years, it must meet one of the
following criteria in order to be renewed:
1) Attainment of the school's Academic Performance Index
(API) growth target in two of the last three years or in
the aggregate last three years;
2) A ranking in deciles 4 to 10, inclusive, on the API
in the prior year or in two of the last three years;
3) A ranking in deciles 4 to 10, inclusive, on the API
for a demographically comparable school in two of the
last three years;
4) Academic performance that is at least equal to the
academic performance of the public schools that the
charter school pupils would otherwise been required to
attend; or
5) Qualification for participation in the Alternative
School Accountability Model (ASAM). (EC � 47607)
Existing federal law establishes the Public Charter Schools
Grant Program (PCSGP) for the purpose of awarding grants to
plan and implement new charter schools. Federal law requires
that states participating in the program provide assurances
that: (1) each authorized charter school, among other
things, demonstrates improved student academic achievement
and (2) authorized public chartering agencies use increases
in student academic achievement for all groups of students as
the most important factor when determining to renew or revoke
a school's charter. (Consolidated Appropriations Act of
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2010, Division D, Title III, Public Law 111-117)
Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public
Instruction (SPI), with approval of the State Board of
Education (SBE), to develop an alternative school
accountability system for schools under the jurisdiction of a
county board of education or county superintendent of
schools, community day schools, nonpublic, nonsectarian
schools, and alternative schools serving high-risk pupils,
including continuation high schools and opportunity schools.
Schools in the ASAM are not included in API rankings. (EC �
52052)
Existing law authorizes the SBE, upon the recommendation of
the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), to revoke a
school's charter for substantial and sustained departure from
measurably successful practices such that continued departure
would jeopardize the educational development of the students.
The SBE has adopted regulations that instruct the SPI to
recommend revocation of charters for schools in the lowest
performance deciles that have not shown adequate increases in
academic achievement. (EC � 47604.5 and California Code of
Regulations, Title 5, � 11968.5)
ANALYSIS
This bill :
1) Requires a charter petition, in specifying measurable
pupil outcomes, to include outcomes that address
increases in pupil academic achievement both schoolwide
and for all groups of pupils served by the charter
school, as specified.
2) Requires a chartering authority to consider increases in
pupil academic achievement for all groups of pupils
served by a charter school as the most important factor
in determining whether to grant a charter renewal or
revoke a charter.
3) Specifies that "all groups of pupils served by the
charter school" means a numerically significant pupil
subgroup, as specified, including but not limited to
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disadvantaged pupils, pupils from different racial and
ethnic groups, pupils with disabilities, and pupils with
limited English proficiency.
4) Deletes existing options for demonstrating academic
performance for charter renewal and instead specifies
that a charter school that has been in operation four
years must meet at least one of the following criteria
before receiving a renewal:
a) Attained its Academic Performance Index (API)
growth target in the prior year or in two of the
last three years both schoolwide and for all groups
of pupils served by the charter school; or
b) Attained the measurable pupil outcomes
identified in the charter petition.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill : In August 2010, the California
Department of Education (CDE) was awarded $290 million
to administer the Public Charter Schools Grant Program
(PCSGP) in California for the 2010-15 grant cycle.
Later that year, the CDE was notified by the U.S.
Department of Education (DOE) that the state was not in
compliance with grant requirements that charter
agreements demonstrate improved student academic
achievement (Assurance 3A on the PCSGP application) and
that chartering authorities use increases in student
achievement as the most important factor in determining
to renew or revoke a school's charter (Assurance 3B).
Attempts to resolve the matter informally were unproductive
and in August 2011, the CDE received formal notice from
DOE that the state was out of compliance with the
required assurances because there is no explicit
statutory or regulatory requirement that (1) each and
every charter school demonstrate improved student
academic achievement or (2) increases in academic
achievement be the primary factor in renewal decisions
or revocations. The August 2011 notification also
included special terms and conditions that required the
CDE to submit a written plan of action that addresses
compliance.
The CDE has determined that the needed changes cannot be
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accomplished by SBE action or regulation changes alone
and will require statutory changes to the Charter
Schools Act. According to the author's office, this
bill is necessary to move the California into compliance
with current federal rules for the PCSGP and avoid the
risk of losing some or all of the $290 million grant
award. However, the California Charter School
Association Advocates argue that the current version of
the bill goes farther than is absolutely necessary to
meet the federal assurances and to protect grant funds.
2) Broader accountability issues . A basic goal of charter
schools is to improve student learning and expand
learning experiences for academically low-achieving
students. A number of studies indicate that not all
charter schools are living up to this promise. A 2009
EdSource report found that California charter high
schools serve 13% fewer students who are either English
learners or redesignated as fluent English proficient
(RFEP) compared to noncharter schools, and found that
charter schools serve lower proportions of students with
disabilities compared to noncharter schools at all grade
levels. The EdSource study also found that charter
schools serve fewer students that participate in the
federal Free and Reduced-Price Meal Program in both
elementary and middle school compared to noncharter
schools. Notwithstanding the need to comply with
federal direction for the Public Charter Schools Grant
Program, could the requirement for increases in student
achievement to be "the most important factor" in
renewing a charter create a disincentive for charter
schools to serve low-achieving students or reduce the
ability of authorizers to ensure charter schools meet
local priorities such as increased graduation rates?
3) Academic Performance Index . The Academic Performance
Index (API) is a single number on a scale of 200 to
1,000 that is an annual measure of test score
performance in schools. The API is used to summarize
the performance of students and a school, and is based
on results of the Standardized Testing and Reporting
(STAR) program and the California High School Exit
Examination (CAHSEE). The system is based on a two-year
cycle that gives a "base" score for the first year and a
"growth" score in the second year. The Base API is
released in the spring and is derived from the previous
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spring's test scores. The Growth API, which is released
in the fall, comes from the previous spring's test
scores. The SBE has established a statewide target of
800 for the API. Schools with API scores below 800 are
expected to improve and are given a "growth target" that
is 5 percent of the difference between their API score
and 800, with a minimum target of 5 points. (Schools
with an API above the statewide target are expected to
stay above 800.) A school's Base API score plus its
growth target becomes that school's goal for its next
Growth API. For example, a school with a Base API of
320 would be expected to improve its performance by 24
points in the next cycle, or attain an API of 344.
4) Hoover Commission findings and recommendations . In
November 2010, the Little Hoover Commission released a
report "Smarter Choices, Better Education: Improving
California Charter Schools" that contained findings and
recommendations regarding the charter school
authorization, renewal, and appeal process. The
Commission found that there was broad agreement that the
current renewal criteria for charter schools must be
improved. The Commission noted it was told repeatedly
that the state's renewal criteria are vague and the bar
is set too low, making it difficult for authorizers to
close down poor performing schools. Under current law,
a school can be renewed if the school's performance is
comparable to that of district schools its students
would otherwise attend. If all schools within a
neighborhood are performing poorly but the charter
school provides a safe haven for students, parents and
students may pressure the local school board to keep the
school open even if it is not meeting its academic
goals. Since achievement test scores may not provide a
complete picture of student learning, the Commission
recommended that the state expand the renewal criteria
to include other factors, such as graduation rates,
employment readiness, as well as college attendance and
completion rates.
1) Related and prior legislation .
SB 645 (Simitian, 2011) establishes new academic criteria for
charter school renewal. This measure was passed as
amended by this Committee on May 4, 2011 on a 7-1 vote.
The bill was later amended to conform to the renewal
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criteria and process to the requirements in AB 440
(Brownley).
AB 440 (Brownley, 2011) establishes various academic and
fiscal accountability requirements relating to charter
schools, including accountability requirements for
charter school renewals). This bill was passed by this
Committee on a 7-3 vote and was subsequently moved to
the Senate inactive file at the request of the author.
AB 1950 (Brownley, 2010), which would have established new
academic and fiscal accountability standards for charter
schools. This measure was pulled from the Committee's
agenda at the request of the author.
SUPPORT
San Francisco Unified School District
Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson
OPPOSITION
None received.