Legislative Updates Archives

On January 9th Governor Jerry Brown unveiled his new budget proposal for the year.
The legislature will begin hearing the Governor’s budget in the Budget Subcommittees in the coming weeks. They will hear all of his proposed policies in advance of him releasing a May Revision to his budget once the state’s tax receipts begin to come in. The May Revision will reflect the Governor’s final changes to his January budget proposal and the Legislature’s budget committees will take action on it. Anything that both houses of the legislature do not agree on will then head to the Joint Budget Conference Committee which will take final action before voting a final product to be acted on by both houses. The legislature will then have to pass a budget by June 15th if they want to continue reciting pay checks.
In his Budget proposal the Governor did not create many new plans and only increased funding for education and some ‘safety net’ programs. He also ensured that the state’s rainy day fund has a healthy reserve; at the end of the year the fund should have $2.8 billion in it. The document he released really is a status quo budget except for the new education dollars.
For education specifically, the Governor proposes to spend $65.7 billion on Proposition 98. Total per-pupil expenditures from all sources are projected to be $13,223 in 2014-15 and $13,462 in 2015-16. Ongoing K-12 Proposition 98 per-pupil expenditures are $9,667 in 2015-16. Specific funding adjustments include:

Over $900 million to eliminate remaining deferrals
$4 billion in one time funds for further implementation of the LCFF
$1.1 billion in one time funds to further implement the Common Core
- Of this amount $20 million will go to County Offices of Education
- The balance will go to Districts and Charter Schools
- All of the funds will be distributed on an ADA basis
$100 million in one time technology funds to help schools with internet infrastructure and connectivity
A proposal to change the threshold to be funded by the Charter School Facility Grant Program from 70% free and reduced lunch to 55%
$10 million for teacher preparation, teacher and administrator performance assessments
$500 million for an Adult Education Block Grant
$250 million in one time funds (for three years) for a transitional CTE Incentive Grant Program
Allocates $368 million of energy efficiency programs to:
- $320.1 million and $39.6 million to K-12 schools and community colleges for energy efficiency project grants
- $5.3 million to the California Conservation Corps for continued technical assistance to K-12 school districts
- $3 million to the Workforce Investment Board for continued implementation of the job-training program

More details can be found in the Governor’s entire budget summary.

This week the legislature reconvenes for the 2015-16 legislative session and below we have outlined how committee changes may impact California charter schools.
The first day of session was actually the first Monday in December when both houses of the legislature met for an organizational session, electing their leadership and swearing in new members.
In addition, on Monday Governor Jerry Brown was sworn in to office for an unprecedented fourth term. If he finishes out his final term in office he will be the longest serving Governor in California’s history. In his inaugural address the Governor did not lay out many specifics for the state but did discuss the state’s overall fiscal situation and some of his long term objectives which include continuing to build the state’s high speed rail line. The Governor also made it clear that he was proud of the work that the state had accomplished with the Local Control Funding Formula and looked forward to continuing to provide more resources for education.
Additionally legislative committee assignments have been made in both houses of the legislature.
For education interests and advocates the chairmanship of education policy and budget subcommittees are very important. The Assembly Education Committee will be chaired by Patrick O’Donnell, a freshman Democratic member and former teacher from Long Beach. Rounding out this committee will be Democrats: McCarty, Santiago, Thurmond and Weber. The Republican Vice-Chair of this committee is Rocky Chavez from San Diego and Young Kim is the other Republican on the committee.
The Assembly Budget Subcommittee with jurisdiction over education issues will be chaired by freshman Kevin McCarty of Sacramento who previously worked for Early Edge California. In the Senate, Carol Liu of Los Angeles County will continue her chairmanship of the Senate Education Committee and Marty Block from San Diego will continue to chair Budget Subcommittee with jurisdiction over education issues. Additional members of the Senate Education Committee include Democrats Block, Hancock, Leyva, Mendoza and Pan with Republican leader Bob Huff serving as the committee’s Vice Chair and Senator Vidak being the other Republican on the committee. This means continuity in the Senate on education and early learning issues while there will be a learning curve for the new chairs in the Assembly.
Also, in the Assembly Shirley Weber will assume the chair of the powerful Budget Committee which could be an excellent sign for educational advocates. Ms. Weber is one of the most knowledgeable and capable members of the Assembly and was formerly a San Diego School Board and charter school board member.
The Governor’s budget is due to come out later this week and you can expect a detailed analysis next week. Once the Governor’s budget is produced legislative budget subcommittees will begin hearing on its policy and fiscal provisions until the beginning of May. After that the Governor will propose a May revision of his January Budget proposal and the full Budget Committees will begin hearing those changes and forwarding items of disagreement to the Joint Budget Conference Committee.
Check back in the coming weeks for more in-depth legislative information focused on California.

After the polls closed in California and a long night of counting ended most of the state’s legislative and state-wide contests are complete. Overall the Democratic Party was victorious in every state-wide contest. Though several races were very close, Democrats swept each race.
The toughest, most expensive race was for the Superintendent of Public Instruction where the current Superintendent, Tom Torlakson, was seeking a second term in office. He was opposed by Marshall Tuck, a former charter school operator and education reform supporter back by numerous individuals who play heavily in education reform. Torlakson was supported by the California Teachers Association and some of the state’s other unions.
The race became the most expensive race in the state as total spending exceeded $30 million; this was more than triple the total amount spent on the race for Governor where Governor Brown cruised to an unprecedented fourth term. Both sides were well funded and were able to present their case to the voters; in the end the Superintendent will serve four more years.
In the State Senate the Democrats lost a race in Orange County where moderate Democrat Lou Correa was termed out of office. He will be replaced by Republican Janet Nguyen who defeated former Assemblyman Jose Solorio by 20 percentage points. The Republicans were able to hang on to their only ‘targeted’ seat as Senator Andy Vidak beat back his Democratic opponent Luis Chavez.
In a move of musical chairs three State Senators were elected to Congressional seats which will create three vacancies and require three special elections set by the Governor. This will be added to the current vacancy that exists in the 35th Senate district where an election has been scheduled for December 8th.
The 35th will elect a Democratic State Senator, one of the other vacancies will also add to the Democratic side of the aisle and the other two will go Republican. This leaves the State Senate breakdown as 25 Democrats and 11 Republicans; the Democrats currently sit two votes short of a 2/3 majority.
In the State Assembly the Democrats lost four seats but did pick up one vacancy. The Republicans picked up more seats in one election cycle than they have in the last few cycles combined.
The Democrats lost the 16th district where the California Teachers Association fielded one of their former employees Tim Sbranti. After defeating a moderate Democratic candidate in the June primary he lost to Republican Catharine Baker who ran a tremendous race.
In the 36th Assembly district Republican Tom Lackey defeated Assemblyman Steve Fox. Fox’s earlier election had been a surprise to legislative Democratic leaders and he was always considered a ‘target.’
In the 65th Assembly district Republican Young Kim defeated Democratic Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva and in the 66th Republican David Hadley defeated Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi for the Republicans fourth pick up of the night.
The Democrats did pick up Republican Assemblyman Jeff Gorrell’s seat as he vacated it to run for Congress. That leaves the Assembly breakdown 52-28 in favor of the Democrats again leaving them two votes short of a 2/3 majority.
To view complete election results go to www.sos.ca.gov and hit the election results tab.

The last day of September was officially the close of the 2013 – 2014 legislative session.
Though the legislature adjourned at the end of August it was the last day for the Governor to sign or veto bills.
The Governor acted on the remaining bills sitting on his desk, signing several hundred of them while also vetoing a fair share of bills. As he has since he began his third term as California’s Governor, the Governor stood firm in his belief of local control, opposed the creation of ‘new programs’ and supported charter school flexibility. He vetoed a number of bills that would have created new regulations in a number of policy areas in the state and, to the surprise of some, he also vetoed a package of ethics reform bills that the legislature passed in response to the indictment of three sitting State Senators (one has been convicted, sentenced and resigned his seat) and an ever growing staffing scandal that has engrossed the Senate and come to light through the testimony of several current Senate staffers in a robbery/murder trial playing out in Sacramento. The trial has provided the public with a rare insight into how the legislature operates and how power is wielded inside the State Capitol.
For charter schools, the end of the legislative session saw no significant changes, but significant victories.
The Governor vetoed the two most egregious bills impacting charter schools (SB 1263 and AB 913) and there was no other negative legislation that passed.
AB 913 was another attempt to create conflict of interest policies and governance accountability for charter schools but the Governor correctly stated that the measure went too far. It was typical legislative overreach as we have seen this type of legislation introduced almost every year for the last decade and a half. Even though AB 913 was vetoed, the discussion is playing out much differently at the local level throughout the state. There are a number of authorizers, especially the Los Angeles Unified School District and the Los Angeles County Office of Education, who are using conflict of interest issues to revoke charter schools. LAUSD and LACOE are reacting much more aggressively than other districts and county offices of education to conflict of interest issues. Some of these cases are ending up in court and some are winding their way through the process and will end up before the State Board of Education, but it has become the new attack line for many authorizers. Charter schools must be prepared for this new frontal assault. Additionally, we will see our opponents introduce a new version of AB 913 when the legislature reconvenes in January.
View the Governor’s veto message on AB 913.

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.”

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: