Category: California Charter Schools

California Charter School LegislationCalifornia Election: Primary Results Come In

Tuesday, Californians went to the polls to vote in the ‘jungle’ primary. There were two notable results from the California primary election that will affect the charter school and education reform community. As I have stated before the races for Governor and Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) turned into proxy wars between the reform community and the traditional education establishment. Antonio Villariagosa, who was backed by heavy expenditures from the reformers, came in third in the race for Governor with 13.5% of the vote. That means he will not be in the runoff in November. That race will feature Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom, who received 33.3% of the vote, against John Cox, who received 26.2% of the vote. Since California is a dark blue state, Newsom is expected to prevail in November by double digits. It remains to be seen what the charter school supporters will do now as they placed all of their efforts and hopes on Villariagosa making the run off. They spent almost $30 million on independent expenditure tv adds and mail and used some of that money to directly attack both Newsom and Cox. Their campaign efforts were a flop and left many political experts scratching their heads and questioning their strategy. What will be the next Governor’s view of charter schools and education reform is an open question, but there is no incentive for him to be supportive.
The reformers fared better in the race for SPI. In a four way race their candidate Marshall Tuck lead the way with 37.1% of the vote. The traditional education establishment’s candidate Tony Thurmond came in second with 34.3% of the vote. This sets up a November matchup between the two. Marshall will have the clear advantage because of his higher name identification, as he previously ran for SPI.
Additionally, the Democrats in the State Senate were dealt a serious blow as Senator Josh Newman was recalled for his vote in favor of higher taxes last year. This will put the Democratic two-thirds supermajority in risk in the Senate if they do not pick up an additional seat in November.

California Charter School Legislation

Upcoming California Primary Election

On Tuesday, June 5th, Californians will go to the ballot to vote in our Primary Election. There are two major races in the California primary election that will affect the charter school and education reform communities:
• the race for Governor; and
• the race for Superintendent of Public Education.
The race for Governor has turned into a very expensive race that pits education reform groups against the traditional education establishment. The same dynamic is playing out in the race for Superintendent of Public Instruction. To date, education reform supporters have spent over $22 million on both races. The establishment is also spending heavy and I expect the cost for both of the races to exceed $30 when the Primary is over.

The Governor’s Race

The Governor’s race features Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom, businessman John Cox, former Mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa, Assemblyman Travis Allen and former Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin as the leading candidates. Cox and Allen are the Republicans while the others are Democrats. In all of the polls, Gavin has been the consistent leader while Cox and Villaraigosa have jockeyed for second place.
Under California law, the top two candidates advance to the November General Election. With this in mind, interest groups are going all out to support their respective candidate – and Newsom is the favorite candidate of the Teacher’s Union. Villaraigosa has been the recipient of a multi-million dollar television independent expenditure campaign paid for by the education reformers; Cox is self-funding his campaign but has been endorsed by President Trump. If Newsom prevails, the reformers believe he will crack down on charter schools while Villaraigosa is a strong supporter of charter schools.

If you believe in charter schools or education reform Villaraigosa is the candidate to support.

Ironically, Newsom does not have a long education reform record, but with the money that has been spent against him, he will probably be hostile to their interests if elected. Additionally, Newsom has called for a moratorium on charter schools until conflicts of interest and transparency laws are applied to them.

The race for Superintendent of Public Instruction

The race for Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) has the same dynamics as the Governor’s race but with only two major candidates running who are both Democrats. Again, it is the reformers vs. the education establishment. Marshall Tuck formerly ran Green Dot Public Charter Schools and Mayor Villaraigosa’s schools in Los Angeles. He has a strong education reform record and ran and lost a very close race against the current SPI, Tom Torlakson, in 2014.
The race has seen both sides spend millions in support of their respective candidate. Tony Thurmond is a two-term Assemblyman from the Oakland/Berkley/Richmond area. He currently serves on the Assembly Education Committee and is a strong supporter of the education establishment. If elected he would pursue efforts that would make it harder for charter schools to operate in California.

As with the Governor’s race if you believe in charter schools or education reform Tuck is the candidate to support.

Please remember to get out and vote at the California Primary Election on June 5th.

 

charter school facilities

Charter School Capital Funding Supports Provisional Accelerated Learning Center’s Success

In this School Spotlight, we share how Charter School Capital funding helped Provisional Accelerated Learning Center (PAL) become financially solvent. Read this full case study to learn more about PAL and how they partnered with Charter School Capital to fill funding gaps.

Charter School Capital Funding PALIn the mid-1980s, San Bernardino’s traditional public high schools were suffering a dropout rate of 40-50%. The system was failing. The community was in desperate need of help, and The Provisional Accelerated Learning (PAL) Center opened to provide a new path.
Understanding how critical a strong education is to success, The PAL Center began as a not-for-profit tutorial program in 1984 to help those students most at-risk. As the program expanded, it evolved into a charter school that now serves approximately 700 students. The PAL Center welcomes students in grades 9–12 hoping to earn their diploma as well as 19– 21-year-olds seeking job skills training and career placement assistance.
“We’re all about giving young people a second start in life,” says Lawrence T. Hampton, chief financial officer for The PAL Center. “We have specialized in working with students who have been the hardest to serve.” Though designed to focus on those students most in-need, Hampton notes an interesting trend that has occurred in recent years.
“We’re becoming more of a school of choice. When we first started, we strictly took those students that were headed toward dropout,” he explains. But in the late 2000s, “we started seeing more incoming freshmen choosing to come to school here instead of being referred… So it’s been fun to watch that transition.”
The reasons The PAL Center has grown from a school of last resort to the first choice for so many are the non-traditional benefits it offers students.
The school operates from 7:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. four days a week, providing students with the open schedule many of them need to hold jobs or help with their families. In addition, the school is located just outside of the city in a quiet area surrounded by mountains. This picturesque setting helps encourage calm and focus.
Finally, class sizes average around 21 students, helping teachers provide more personal attention than students would receive at other area high schools where class sizes are larger.
Despite the school’s successful track record, Hampton has had to manage challenges threatening The PAL Center’s existence. Deferrals of state payments in California forced the school to tap into its savings, which proved to be insufficient as the deferrals increased. The school also obtained a credit line, but it quickly ran out. School administrators – having made a promise to the students and families of San Bernardino – needed to find a more permanent solution.
The PAL Center’s accountant referred the school to Charter School Capital for funding. Within a few weeks, the two organizations began a long-term relationship that at times has been a lifeline to the school.

“The relationship has allowed us to stay financially solvent, and I can honestly say without that we would’ve been out of the charter school business,” says Hampton. “This school would have folded.”

“They have taken a personal interest in seeing us survive, and that comes through quickly when you’re talking to them. It’s more than just business, and I’m grateful for them.”

Charter School Capital is committed to the success of charter schools and has solely focused on funding charter schools since the company’s inception in 2007. Our depth of experience working with charter school leaders and our knowledge of how to address charter school financial and operational needs have allowed us to provide over $1.6 billion in support of 600 charter schools that educate 800,000 students across the country. For more information on how receivable sales will benefit your charter school, contact us!

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California Charter School Legislation

California Education Reform: Races Heating Up

As Election Day nears, two races are heating up that could severely impact California education reform efforts. The races represent fights between education reformers and members of the traditional education system. We saw this fight play out four years ago in the race for Superintendent of Public Instruction. In that race, the reformers backed Marshall Tuck, who formerly headed up the Green Dot Public Charter Schools. The traditionalists supported Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson in his bid for re-election. The race was decided by about four percentage points and ended up costing $24 million between all of the interests involved.
This year, Torlakson is termed out and cannot run again, but Tuck is back again with heavy reformer support. He will face off against Assemblyman Tony Thurmond, who represents the Oakland/Berkley area and is receiving strong support from the traditionalists. Whoever wins the race will be the next Superintendent of Public Instruction and will be in charge of the Department of Education. For our interests this would be a huge deal and could impact hundreds of charter schools throughout the state; touching everything from charter appeals, SB 740 funding determinations, requests from CDE, facility issues and how statutes are interpreted. I expect both sides to spend large amounts of money on this race but it will seem a tiny amount compared to what will be spent on the Governor’s race.
The Governor’s race pits the same two interests against each other with other groups also joining the fray. The latest polling shows Gavin Newsome with a slight edge but there is plenty of time for that to change. The SurveyUSA poll has Gavin Newsom (D) with 21%, followed by Antonio Villaraigosa (D) at 18%, John Cox (R) at 15%, Travis Allen (R) at 10% and John Chiang (D) at 9%. Several other candidates poll between 1% – 3%.
In California, we have a top-two primary so the top two vote-getters will move on to the November general election. The Republicans are assisting John Cox with numerous efforts because they cannot have two Democrats running on the general election ballot for the state’s top office. They are convinced that would suppress Republican turnout throughout the state and hurt many of their congressional candidates in the general election. The reformers are backing Antonio and have already begun funding independent expenditures that will run adds on his behalf.
Reed Hasting, the CEO of NetFlix has donated $7 million and Eli Broad has kicked in $1.5 million to date. The traditionalists have also declared that they will spend as much money as it takes to back Gavin. They will be joined in this effort by other labor unions who view Gavin as more open to their issues than Antonio. While Mayor of Los Angeles, Villaraigosa led a number of education reform efforts and attempted to take over the Los Angeles Unified School District. He eventually gained control of a group of schools that he used to increase student performance and implement his proposals. Marshall Tuck ran these schools for a period of time. So again, this race will have huge ramifications for California education reform efforts and charter schools.
We will update you again on as election day gets even closer and the race becomes more clear.

California Charter School LegislationCalifornia Charter Schools: Legislative Proposals

April 11th

On April 11th a number of different proposals for California charter schools will be heard in the legislature that could impact charter schools. This is just the first policy committee hearing for these bills and they will next have to pass through a fiscal committee before going to the floor of the Assembly or Senate. Here are the bills and a brief description of each one. The ABs are being heard in the Assembly Education Committee and the SB will be heard in the Senate Education Committee.
AB 1871 by Assemblyman Bonta would require a charter school to provide each needy pupil with one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each school day.
AB 2289 by Assemblywoman Weber would create an additional type of excused absence for parenting teens at charter schools and traditional schools.
AB 3167 by Assemblyman O’Donnell would establish the Charter Authorizers Regional Support Network Program, to be administered by the Alameda County Office of Education, as an initiative to expand uniform charter authorizing and oversight practices, as provided. The bill would authorize the Alameda County Office of Education to expend up to $30,000,000, upon appropriation from the General Fund by the Legislature, for purposes of the program. The bill would require the Alameda County Office of Education to, among other things, award grant funds to 11 regional lead county offices of education to be used to improve the quality of school district and county of office of education charter school authorizing activity.
SB 837 by Senator Dodd creates a transitional kindergarten program in California. It phases in all four-year-olds but says by 2022-2023 they should all be attending a transitional kindergarten program at a traditional or charter school.
To view any of these measures go to https://www.legislature.ca.gov and hit the bill link at the top left of the page, then place in the bill number.

 

charter school advocacy monthCharter School Advocacy Month

April is a pivotal time in the legislative process when lawmakers make decisions on key legislation affecting charter schools in California. That is why CCSA has dubbed April “Charter Public Schools Advocacy Month.”
For the past five years, the CCSA Advocacy Day was held on a Tuesday during the first week in May to coincide with National Charter Schools Week. However, with new threats and powerful special interest groups working against charter public schools, one day is not enough.

Why Should You Get Involved?

California Charter School LegislationSenator Jim Beall (D-San Jose) has introduced a bill that would allow districts to deny new and renewing charter schools based on the so-called negative impact on district budgets. The impact of this bill would be a charter school moratorium, similar to Senate Bill 808 (Mendoza). It is supported by CTA and CSBA.
Senate Bill 1362 (Beall) would cripple California’s charter public school movement by making it easy for hostile authorizers to stop new schools from opening, despite parent demand, and close existing charter schools, despite strong academics.

How Can You Help?

We cannot stop this bill without your direct advocacy. Legislators need to hear your first-hand stories about how this change would impact the students and families you serve.
Make it a top priority to be heard and join California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) this April in the State Capitol for Charter Public Schools Advocacy Month!
CCSA invites you to join them in Sacramento each Tuesday in April to advocate for bills that will significantly affect charter public schools because lawmakers listen to voters and community leaders from districts they represent. Your participation can make a difference! Learn more here.

Charter School Capital is committed to the success of charter schools and has solely focused on funding charter schools since the company’s inception in 2007. Our depth of experience working with charter school leaders and our knowledge of how to address charter school financial and operational needs have allowed us to provide over $1.6 billion in support of 600 charter schools that educate 800,000 students across the country. For more information on how we can help your charter school, contact us!

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California Charter Schools Conference

California Charter Schools Conference 2018
March 26th – 28th | San Diego, CA

After another great year for California charter schools, we are eager to celebrate your success at this year’s annual California Charter Schools Conference. Be sure to stop by booth #1400 to say hello and claim your special gift.
Extra Credit: Use the hashtag #WeLoveCharterSchools hashtag onsite, and you’ll be entered to win an extra special prize.
In addition to our exhibitor presence, we will be leading three breakout sessions and a special networking event for charter leaders. We’re so excited to meet with you onsite, have you attend our informative sessions, and learn how we can support your school and students!
If you’re unable to attend the conference in person, don’t worry, you can watch our sessions live on Facebook! Find more information on our sessions below and other conference details here:

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California Charter School Funding

Charter School Bills Introduced in the California Legislature

Last Friday was the bill introduction deadline for the California legislature.  At the close of business, thousands of bills were ‘placed across the desk.’  Now that the deadline has passed the legislature will begin holding policy hearings on each proposal.  After the introduction, the bills can still be amended at several points in the process and several bills were introduced as ‘spot bills.’  Spot bills are bills that have been introduced stating that they will change a section of law but are not fully amended yet.

Below are bills that we identified which could impact charter schools in California:

  • AB 1743 by Assemblyman Chu would require all public school students to complete a course in college and career preparedness in order to receive a high school diploma.
  • AB 1871 by Assemblyman Bonta would require a charter school to provide each needy pupil with one nutritional free or reduced-price meal.
  • AB 2011 by Assemblyman Kiley would exempt non-classroom based charter schools from geographical restrictions for state-mandated purposes.
  • AB 2082 by Assemblywoman Garcia would prohibit Teach for America teachers from being assigned to any California public school that has at least 40% of its pupils coming from low-income families as defined by the federal Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965.
  • AB 2289 by Assemblywoman Weber would include as an excused absence, 4 absences per school year to care for a sick child, which a doctor’s note is not required for.  The bill would also allow a parenting pupil who expects to give birth up to 6 weeks of parental leave or 8 weeks of parental leave for a caesarian section birth or birth with complications and allow a parenting pupil not giving birth up to 4 weeks of parental leave after birth.
  • AB 2291 by Assemblyman Chiu would require schools and charter schools to annually provide an online bullying training module, developed by the Department of Education, to certificated school-site employees.
  • AB 2601 by Assemblywoman Webber would mandate that charter school students in grades 7 -12 receive comprehensive sexual health and HIV prevention education.
  • AB 2891 by Assemblyman Holden would authorize the governing body of a charter school to enter into a College Career Access partnership with an agreement with the governing board of a community college district.
  • AB 3058 by Assemblyman O’Donnell would require a charter school to notify the county superintendent of schools of their location, in that county, 60 days prior to commencing operations.
  • AB 3167 by Assemblyman O’Donnell would require a charter school to reply to inquiries from the Superintendent of Public Instruction within 30 days of the request.
  • Additionally, AB 2488 by Assemblyman O’Donnell is a school bond measure which includes funds for charter schools and traditional schools and SB 1216 by Senator Glazer is a charter school spot bill that has yet to be amended.

If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me at branchejones@gmail.com.
 

California Charter School Funding

The following information was taken from the California Charter School Association:

California Charter School Facilities Funding & Flexibility in Jeopardy – Learn More & Act Now

The Charter School Facility Grant Program (SB 740) is a major source of funding for qualifying charter schools leasing private facilities. This year the Governor has proposed an increase of $28.3 million for the program – a major win – but the California State Legislature must still approve this increase. However, we have serious concerns because the proposed Budget Trailer Bill would impose new rules which may impact your funding.
The proposal would eliminate an automatic funding backfill when the program is oversubscribed. This would likely result in funding cuts to all program participants beginning this year! The new rules would also cap annual grant increases to statewide COLA rates without consideration of the many conditions that cause lease cost increases.  If enacted, these changes could be devastating to charter schools that receive this funding.
Send a letter to the Education Budget Subcommittees to support the funding increase and oppose these restrictive new rules by March 1st.

  1. Download this template letter
  2. Customize the letter
  3. Sign the letter
  4. Put it on your organizations’ letterhead (if applicable)
  5. Scan and send the letter to Carson Eades at ceades@ccsa.organd we’ll deliver the letters to subcommittee members for you!

April is for Advocacy! 

In the past five-years, CCSA has hosted Charter School Advocacy Day in Sacramento. The impact of that event was significant, but with so many key issues decided in April, charter advocates must be present earlier and more often.
One day is not enough.
Plan now to join charter school advocates in Sacramento at a time when legislators consider issues that will significantly impact charter school students – like additional SB 740 facilities funding. Choose any Tuesday in April to make your voice heard! To learn more and register by Friday, March 23, click here.

Participate in the Scholar Dollar’s Program! 

The State Treasurer’s office is currently promoting their ScholarShare 529’s Scholar Dollars Grant Program which will award more than $300,000 to California’s K-8 public and charter schools in 2018. This is your school’s chance to earn additional funding for your school while encouraging participation in the state-sponsored college savings plan. You can learn more about how to register your school and how to participate at  www.myscholardollars.com

We are less than 40 days away– 25th Annual California Charter Schools Conference 

The  25th Annual California Charter Schools Conference will be held March 26 to 28, 2018, in San Diego, CA. With thought-provoking speakers, in-depth programming and fun networking events–you don’t want to miss the largest annual gathering of charter school professionals in the state. To register, visit the conference website at charterconference.org and for complete descriptions, speaker bios and to explore the entire 2018 program, visit the Program Search page. You can search by programming topics, date, grade level, audience and time of day. We look forward to seeing you in sunny San Diego!

 

California Prop 39 Deadline for Charter Schools
California’s Prop 39 zero-cost energy upgrades can yield charter schools up to 40% reduction in ongoing utility costs. The State of California has generously allocated $55k-$500k+ to every California charter school for energy upgrades.
So far, only 40% of schools have taken advantage of the program. We think the reason for low participation is either:

  • Schools think this is the previous Prop 39 – which had nothing to do with energy upgrades, or
  • Schools believed that if they didn’t own the building, they could not participate in the program

Not only can any charter school participate; but – in some cases – you can bill the program for upgrades that have been implemented in the past.
We believe in the program so much that our affiliated real estate arm is supporting upgrades on 100% of our properties in California.
The program is simple and we can help
All that is required is to 1) invite a qualified energy consultant (we can help you get in touch) into your school for an energy audit; and 2) provide them with your last 12 months of utility bills, and that’s it.
The audit you’ll get back will include:

  • Projected costs (which you can pay for with your allocation)
  • Projected savings on your utility bill every month
  • A non-intrusive implementation plan so your students and teachers are not interrupted

This is a great program, but your allocation will evaporate on February 26th 2018 if you have not filed the paperwork (the energy consultant will do this for you). You would have 2+ years to actually conduct the upgrade.
We can help you look up your allocation, provide you with energy auditor contacts, answer your questions and provide contacts at the California Dept. of Ed and Energy Commission.
Thanks. Let’s talk. And soon.