Branché Jones, Author at Grow Schools

On Friday, California Governor Brown began taking action on education related bills that were on his desk and he vetoed SB 1263, a bill that would have impacted charter school facility options.
SB 1263 started out as a local dispute between several school districts in the Santa Clarita Valley, the Acton-Aqua Dulce School District and the charter schools that they have authorized.
It ended up being a bill that restricted charter school facility options state-wide and threatened to shut down the Albert Einstein Academy in the Santa Clarita Valley.
As Governor Brown explains, “this bill seeks to reverse the application of a limited exemption in law that allows a charter school petitioner to locate a single school site outside of its authorizing school district, under specific circumstances. This bill would instead require the charter school to first get permission for the host district where it intents to locate.”
The retroactive nature of the legislation would have punished Albert Einstein even though it is the highest performing school in the area.
As he has shown in the past, the Governor continued to be a strong advocate for charter schools and charter school facility options by vetoing the measure.
Additionally, the advocacy efforts of Albert Einstein and their authorizer, the Acton-Aqua Dulce School District, have to be noted. Together they were able to get thousands of letters and phone calls in to the Governor’s staff opposing SB 1263. They also had several Democratic members of Congress weigh in opposing the measure while it was on the Senate Floor and on the Governor’s desk. For that they must truly be commended.
In his veto message below, Governor Brown says,”while this bill attempts to solve a real problem, I am not comfortable with the retroactive language that could force existing charter schools to change locations. I have assembled a team to examine this situation and come back with solutions that minimize disruption to students and parents.”

At the start of 2014 the California Teacher’s Association, the state’s largest teachers union, made a decision to focus on organizing the state’s charter schools.
They see the more than 1,100 charter schools as a good opportunity to secure new dues-paying members that can grow their union. They are making this a focus even though the California charter school law allows charter schools to unionize if they want to do so and over 30% of current charter schools have collective bargaining agreements in place.
The union has really focused their efforts into organizing the 11 schools that the California Virtual Academies have in the state and in Alameda County. Although, the union has stumbled with their initial efforts they have doubled their efforts and hope to be successful by the end of this year.
We will need to keep our eyes on their efforts to see if this venture will begin to pick up speed.
Note: Edweek blog recently did a piece on CTA’s efforts.

Bad news was delivered to a number of education advocates hoping to place a California school bond on the November ballot.
During the Senate Appropriations hearing on Monday, the California Department of Finance came out opposed to AB 2235 by Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan. AB 2235 was the vehicle for the school bond.
The California school bond measure subsequently went to the Appropriations suspense file which means there will be no immediate action taken on it.
This kills the hopes of it reaching the ballot as the legislature has created a deadline of Wednesday to pass measures to be placed on the November ballot.
This is all occurring while there are crucial negotiations going on over placing a water bond on the ballot. While there is no consensus on the language for the water bond, there is a mad rush to meet the Wednesday deadline meaning negotiations are constantly ongoing.
Though there was never administration support for a school bond, supporters made a strong push in the press over the last two weeks to shore up support and refine their message.
But pressure to do a water deal and the administration’s unwillingness to add more debt to the state coffers finally sunk the measure.

This legislative update covers a bill that could have serious ramifications for local charter schools.
As the legislature gets ready to reconvene next week for the last week of the legislative session, the State Assembly will be taking up SB 1263.
SB 1263 originated from a local dispute between superintendents in Santa Clarita and the surrounding area. Concerns were raised about why one school district, Acton-Aqua Dulce, authorizes charter schools even though they are vehemently anti-charter school. Since the local districts couldn’t stop Acton from authorizing charter schools they went to a legislator who was favorable to their position, Senator Fran Pavley.
Senator Pavley’s responded by authoring legislation that forces communication between the rival factions but, in typical legislative fashion, the measure has morphed into legislation cutting off an option of authorization for charter schools.
Last month in the Assembly Education Committee, Chairwoman Joan Buchanan added amendments to the legislation to limit the bill to only impact one school, the Albert Einstein Academy (which Acton authorizes).
Amazing as it may be for the state assembly to champion legislation affecting only one school but with a state-wide impact; the amendments were drafted so broadly that other charter school groups are still opposed.
Even the Southern California Tribal Chairman’s Association has come out in opposition to SB 1263 because of the possible negative impact it could have on the charter schools that they work with.
This reinforces the notion that charter school advocates better keep their eyes open because the legislature is capable of enacting all sorts of negative legislation on their behalf.
Click here to view SB 1263.

With less than four months remaining before the November general election, interests groups in the state are gearing up for legislative and statewide races.
Republicans, who have been shut-out of statewide office, are eyeing two opportunities to capture a statewide office: Secretary of State and Controller. Both races are wide open, though Democrats hold a large lead in voter registration in the state. The Secretary of State’s office has no clear front runner and the Controller’s race is stuck in a messy recount on the Democratic side between Board of Equalization member Betty Yee and former Assembly Speaker John Perez. The winner will face the Mayor of Fresno, Republican Ashley Swearengin, but the recount could go on for months.
The race that has really captured the attention of the education community and Sacramento interests groups is the race for Superintendent for Public Instruction. In that race the incumbent, former longtime Democratic legislator Tom Torlakson, received 1,767,257 votes or 46.5% of the vote. He will face off in November against Democrat Marshall Tuck who previously ran the Green Dot Public Schools and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s Partnership for LA Schools. He received 1,098,441 votes or 28.9%.
What makes the race interesting is that Lydia Gutierrez, the Republican, received 931,719 votes or 24.5%. Torlakson was heavily supported by the California Teacher’s union and the usual Democratic Sacramento interests. The teacher’s union spent several million dollars on his behalf in the race. Tuck was supported by individual educational philanthropists and a host of moderate Democrats. So the question for November is where will the Republican votes that Ms. Gutierrez received go? It is unlikely that Torlakson will pick them up which could deprive him of receiving over 50% of the vote; if Tuck can secure those votes and increase his own Democratic totals he could be primed for an upset victory using a very unique coalition.
This could mean a sea change at the Department of Education for folks engaging the department on numerous issues. Charter schools have had a tough time working with the department and a change in leadership may mean a change in direction as well. This has tempted a number of educational reform groups to get involved in the race and clearly the Teacher’s union will make this election a top priority.
It remains to be seen who will be able to claim a November victory.

On Friday, Governor Jerry Brown signed the California state budget. Here are the key education highlights.

Assumes the Governor’s revenue projections, which provides an overall Proposition 98 funding level of $60.9 billion for 2014-15.
Reduced deferral payments by $897 million, but included trigger language to make the payment if revenues are sufficient.
Provides $450 million to pay down the K-14 education mandates backlog, with the intent that monies freed up from this payment be dedicated to implementation of the Common Core State Standards. Includes $26.7 million for the K-12 High Speed Network for improving internet connectivity in our K-12 schools.
Provides $250 million in one-time funding for career technical education (CTE) through the Career Pathways Trust competitive grant program.
Approves Supplemental Report Language directing the Department of Finance to report to the Legislature, concurrent with the release of the Governor’s 2015-16 January Budget, with recommendations for future treatment of funding for any former categorical education program, including but not limited to Regional Occupational Centers and Programs (ROCPs) and Beginning Teacher Support and Assistance (BTSA).
Increases funding for Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) implementation by $250 million above the Governor’s proposed $4.5 billion, additionally, makes the following changes related to LCFF:

o Expands the definition of a necessary small high school for certain high schools for three years.

o Allows the State Board of Education to adopt the LCAP template pursuant to regulations or the Bagley-Keene Act, with specified restrictions.

o Approves trailer bill language to direct the State Board to report to the Legislature by February 1, 2015 on the status and implementation of the LCFF.

o Removes trailer bill language requiring the Department of Education to establish separate resource codes in the California School Accounting Manual (SACS) for local educational agencies to distinguish between LCFF base grants and supplemental and concentration grant funding.

o Approves trailer bill language to require certain school districts serving as a fiscal agent for another school district to pass through funding for induction and training services for beginning teachers.

See previous posts for additional California state budget updates.

In our ongoing effort to provide CA budget updates, here is the most relevant information for charter schools in California.

On Wednesday last week, the Budget Conference Committee met and heard all open items and items that had not been previously discussed during the budget hearings. They are attempting to ‘close’ out the budget and forward it to both houses of the legislature for a final vote before the June 15^th deadline. If the budget is not passed by the legislature by June 15^th legislators will cease to receive their paychecks. The Conference Committee adopted several pieces of compromise language to the Proposition 98 package. Here are the highlights from the education package that was adopted:

Assumes the Governor’s revenue projections, which provides an overall Proposition 98 funding level of $60.9 billion for 2014-15.
Reduced deferral payments by $897 million, but included trigger language to make the payment if revenues are sufficient.
Provides $450 million to pay down the K-14 education mandates backlog, with the intent that monies freed up from this payment be dedicated to implementation of the Common Core State Standards. Includes $26.7 million for the K-12 High Speed Network for improving internet connectivity in our K-12 schools.
Provides $250 million in one-time funding for Career Technical Education (CTE) through the Career Pathways Trust competitive grant program.
Approves Supplemental Report Language directing the Department of Finance to report to the Legislature, concurrent with the release of the Governor’s 2015-16 January Budget, with recommendations for future treatment of funding for any former categorical education program, including but not limited to Regional Occupational Centers and Programs (ROCPs) and Beginning Teacher Support and Assistance (BTSA).
Increases funding for Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) implementation by $250 million above the Governor’s proposed $4.5 billion, additionally, makes the following changes related to LCFF:

California Charter Schools – Legislative Update

Last week both the California Assembly and Senate Appropriation Committees met to send the last batch of house of origin bills to the Assembly and Senate Floors. Friday, May 23rd was the deadline to hear all fiscal bills in a fiscal committee in their house of origin; for instance Assembly bills in the Assembly and Senate bills in the Senate. There were two bills that were opposed by most charter school groups and would have had negative impacts on charter schools in California. In an anticipated move both measures were opposed by the Appropriation Committees in both houses.
AB 1531 by Assemblyman Chau would have mandated that the charter school authorizer appoint the members of a charter school’s governing board. This bill was sponsored by the California Teachers Association and would have affected every charter school in the state. It essentially would have gutted the charter school law and made all charter schools dependent on their authorizer. The Assembly Appropriations Committee held this measure on its suspense file, killing it for the year.
SB 1317 by Senator Huff would have created new conflict of interest provisions for charter schools. The measure would have also placed limitations on governing board members loaning money or leasing property to their own charter school; violating these provisions would have mandated revocation of the charter school. This measure was sponsored by the California Charter Schools Association. The Senate Appropriations Committee held this measure on its suspense file and like AB 1531 it is dead for the year.
To view these measures go to www.leginfo.ca.gov and place in the bill number.

This week California Governor Jerry Brown presented his May Revision, which revises his January budget proposal. It is forecast that the state’s revenues will come in at $2.4 billion more than earlier anticipated. This is positive news for charter school education in California. The major pieces of his May Revision are:

Creation of a larger state rainy day fund (which already has reached agreement with the legislature)
A Proposition 98 reserve
Paying off the deficit in the State Teacher’s Retirement Fund
Expansion of the state’s Medi-Cal program

The May Revise includes total funding of $75.9 billion ($45.1 billion General Fund and $30.8 billion other funds) for all K-12 programs. Specifically, the revise continues the changes outlined in the Governor’s January budget proposal by maintaining the additional $4.5 billion proposed for implementation of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), creation of a Proposition 98 reserve and focusing on eliminating inter-year deferrals. He is also proposing to create a K-12 High Speed Network to study Internet connectivity and infrastructure and allocate grant funding to those school districts with the greatest need. This will aid in meeting technology requirements associated with Common Core implementation and adaptive testing. The revise contains $26.7 million for this program. It also proposes a fix for an issue that some schools participating in Provision 2 and 3 of the National Schools Lunch Program are having with the implementation of LCFF. Additionally, there is good news for charter schools with independent study programs as the Governor modifies his January proposal by:

Eliminating the requirement that teachers and students meet weekly to assess if a student is making satisfactory grades
Provides schools the opportunity to offer site-based blended learning, utilizing a universal learning agreement for all students enrolled in the same course or courses
Funds students enrolled in course-based indpendent study programs on the basis of average daily attendance, and not enrollment, and applying the statewide excused absence rate to average daily attendance claimed by local education agencies

To review the entire May Revision go to www.dof.ca.gov and click the link for 2014-2015 May Revision. We’ll be posting additional updates and information on the Governor’s revision and additional budget and legislative information as it becomes available, so check back or subscribe to our blog for ongoing posts on this topic and others relevant to charter schools.

The California Assembly Education Committee passed AB 2007 by Assemblywoman Shannon Grove from Bakersfield. This is very positive for California charter schools. The bill amends the charter school law to allow students attending non-classroom based charter schools to complete the school year (or course they are taking) with the school they are currently attending if they move out of that school’s geographic boundary. Though this is a simple clarification of existing law, it will have a major impact for many non-classroom charter schools that face instructional challenges when students move throughout the state for one reason or another. The measure will now heads to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for a vote. It passed the Assemby Education Committee on a unanimous 7-0 vote.
AB 2007 – Virtual or Online Charter Schools
Summary – Authorize a virtual or online charter school to also claim independent study average daily attendance for pupils who are residents of any other county in the state. If the pupil is enrolled in the virual or online charter school and moves to a residence outside of the geographic boundaries in which the charter school is authorized to operate, and continues enrollment in the virtual or online charter school. Provides for reenrollment within a specific time.
Status – 5/1/14 In Assembly. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Committee on Appropriations.
For more information on current legislation at https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov and input the bill number.
Check back for the latest California legislative information impacting charter schools in the state. To keep up on the latest information related to charter schools in California and across the country, sign-up for the Charter School Capital blog.