On Tuesday, July 26th, CSC hosted a webinar detailing the budget and its implications for schools. We heard from Branché Jones, a Sacramento-based lobbyist and political consultant, and Monique Ramos, Partner with California Strategies & Advocacy.   

Both experts agreed: it was a good year for the budget. “Not to say that everyone shouldn’t be fiscally prudent,” Ramos clarified, but overall the budget is good news for charter schools facing staffing shortages and other needs that have increased the cost of education. Both speakers also offered advice for charter leaders as they look ahead.   

In case you missed the discussion, here some important takeaways: 

  • Understanding the educational parts of the budget is key. Our experts walked us through the multiple layers of funding for charter schools, highlighting the Learning Recovery Block Grant, the Arts and Music Infrastructure Grant, and Universal Transitional Kindergarten (TK). The provided Budget Proposal Matrix is a helpful document for understanding the educational parts of the budget—everything from student supports, school meals, and educator workforce resources. You can find that matrix at the link here. 
  • Declining enrollment will continue to be a long-term policy discussion. California saw charter school enrollment decline in 21-22 for the first time in 3 decades. With the rise of alternative learning models and faced with the uncertainty of the COVID variants, the past couple of years have, in Jones’s words, “changed the calculus that everyone uses when they think about schools.” Jones and Ramos both emphasized that the larger implications of enrollment continue to be a discussion—and one that all schools need to be concerned about moving forward.  
  • It’s an election year in CA—get to know your legislators nowThe outcome of the California primary election will impact who is advocating for your school in the future, and both Jones and Ramos reminded listeners to engage with legislators before the busy election season gets started. That means this summer, while legislators are more likely to be residing in their districts rather than in Sacramento.

Jones recommended two ways to engage with local legislators: 

  1. Invite them to visit your school. Giving legislators a tour that introduces them to principals, teachers, site leaders, students, and families is going to allow them to understand the enrichment you offer your community. A meeting like this could change the way they look at charter schools in California, seeing first-hand how your school operates. “It seems simple but it’s really effective,” Jones stressed.  
  1. Support legislation. We all know about fighting legislation that will negatively impact schools, but don’t forget to weigh in positively as well. When there’s a piece of legislation that you believe in or that impacts members of your student population, Ramos suggests finding ways to support local assembly members. “Send in support letters to offer support for specific bills,” she urged, along with signing up for email newsletters. Engaging legislators in this way might mean they are more likely to keep your best interests in mind. As Ramos stated: “It’s a two-way street.”  

Additional resources for school leaders can be found below: 

  • CCSA on the state budget update here
  • Budget Proposal Matrix here.  
  • Trailer Bills language here.  
  • Other Categorical and Federal Funding Sources here
  • Categorical Programs – Allocations & Apportionments here
  • LCFF Website for Base Funding Info here
  • Local Control Funding Formula – Allocations & Apportionments here

California has a historic budget surplus of $97.5 billion. Of which, $49.2 billion is in discretionary funds after Prop 98 and other commitments are accounted for.

Budget Overview

  • $300.7 billion in the total budget
  • $227.4 billion in the General Fund
  • $37.1 billion in reserves
  • $9.5 billion in the School Stabilization Reserve

K-12 Overview

The May Revise includes total funding of $128.3 billion ($78.4 billion GF and $49.9 billion other funds) for all K-12 education programs.

LCFF COLA Increase – 6.56%

  • $1.1 billion ongoing Prop 98

LCFF Base Funding Increase

  • $2.1 billion ongoing Prop 98

Declining Enrollment

  • $2.1 billion for declining enrollment
  • To minimize reductions in LCFF funding that would otherwise result due to increased absences, the May Revise proposes allowing all classroom-based local educational agencies to be funded at the greater of their current year average daily attendance or their current year enrollment adjusted for pre-COVID-19 absence rates in the 2021-22 fiscal year.
  • Specifically, the May revision enables local educational agencies to utilize a modified version of 2021-22 average daily attendance to determine their 2021-22 LCFF allocations.

The May Revise also proposes further modifying the three-year rolling average to conform with this adjustment. The total ongoing costs associated with these policies are estimated to be $3.3 billion ongoing Prop 98 and $463 million one-time Prop 98.

Discretionary Block Grant

  • $8 billion one-time Prop 98 in discretionary funds, allocated on a per-pupil basis.

Community Schools

  • $1.5 billion one-time Prop 98 to expand access to the community schools grants.

Nutrition

  • $611.8 million ongoing Prop 98 to augment the state meal reimbursement rate sufficient to maintain meal reimbursement rates beginning in 2022-23.

Facilities

  • $3.9 billion in School Facilities
    • New Construction – $1.8 billion GF, allocating $2.2 billion one-time GF in 2021-22, $1.2 billion one-time General Fund in 2023-24, and $625 million one-time GF in 2024-25 to support new construction and modernization projects through the School Facility Program.
    • Maintenance – $1.8 billion one-time Prop 98 for schools to address outstanding school facility maintenance issues.

Expanded Learning Opportunities Program

  • $4.8 billion, and full funding implementation of $2,500 for every low-income student, English language learner, and youth in foster care in the state.
  • $1 billion one-time Prop 98 to support Expanded Learning Opportunities Program infrastructure, with a focus on integrating arts and music programming into the enrichment options for students.
  • LEAs will be required to offer expanded learning opportunities to all low-income students, English language learners, and youth in foster care, and local educational agencies with the highest concentrations of these students will be required to offer expanded learning opportunities to all elementary students.

TK

  • Local Assignment Option for Transitional Kindergarten Teachers—To temporarily increase the pipeline of qualified transitional kindergarten teachers, allows teachers with preschool teaching permits who hold bachelor’s degrees that meet basic skills requirements and are enrolled in coursework leading to be assigned as the teacher of record in a credential to teach transitional kindergarten. This flexibility is proposed to sunset on June 30, 2026.

Educator Workforce

  • $500 million one-time Prop 98 to expand residency slots for teachers and school counselors.
  • Expand the Golden State Teacher Grant Program to school counselors, social workers, and psychologist candidates who earn a credential and serve in a priority school for four years.
  • $86 million one-time Prop 98 to create a Pre-K through 12th grade educator resources and professional learning to implement the Next Generation Science Standards, Math Framework, Computer Science Standards, and math and science domains in the Preschool Learning Foundations. $300 million one-time Prop 98 to augment LEAs professional learning through the Educator Effectiveness Block Grant with a priority for STEM educators.
From the January Budget:

Independent Study

  • The budget emphasizes the Governor’s commitment to in-person instruction but recognizes the need to streamline independent study and allows LEAs to choose between traditional independent study and course-based independent study for short- and long-term instruction models.
    • In addition, the budget proposes streamlining the administration of programs allowing synchronous instructions to count for instructional times in traditional independent study, in addition to student work product, and flexibility in collecting signed independent study plans.

Early Literacy

Coupled with other investments in early education, professional development, along with support for dyslexia and other learning disabilities, these investments will support improved literacy outcomes for children.

  • $500 million in one-time P98 available over 5 years for high-needs schools to train and hire literacy coaches and reading specialists.
  • $200 million in one-time P98 for the establishment of grant programs to enable LEAs to create or expand multi-lingual schools or classrooms.
  • $10 million in on-time P98 for the California Department of Public Health and First 5 California on the Books for Children Program.
  • $2 million one-time P98 to incorporate early identification for learning disabilities into the state’s preschool assessment tool and $60 million one-time P98 to provide training for professional development.

Trailer bill language clarifies that expanded learning opportunities programs may be used to hire literacy tutors.

Special Education

$500 million ongoing P98 for special education funding formula, paired with the following policy changes:

  • Improve LEAs abilities to project their special education funding allocations and undertake comprehensive program planning, amend the special education funding formula to calculate special education base funding allocations at the LEA level rather than Special Education Local Planning Area (SELPA) level.
  • Consolidate two special education extraordinary cost pools into a single cost pool to simplify the current funding formula.
  • Allocate Educationally Related Mental Health Services directly to the LEA rather than to SELPAs.
  • Develop a Special Education Addendum to the LCAP that will include planning and promote cohesion by linking special education and general education planning, so parents of students with disabilities have a defined role in the LCAP development.
  • Support efforts to develop comprehensive IEPs by focusing a special education resource lead on IEP best practices and establishing an expert panel to continue the work of creating a model IEP template.
  • Establish an alternate diploma and a workgroup to explore alternative coursework options for students with disabilities to demonstrate completion of the state graduation requirements.

Improving Services to Young Children with Disabilities

  • $849,000 GF and 6 positions to support CDE’s transition process efforts.
  • $51 million GF in 2022-23 and $68.1 million GF ongoing to reduce regional center service coordinator caseload ratios to 1:40 for children through age five to increase family visits from bi-annually to quarterly and strengthen federal compliance with timely service delivery and transitions.
  • $10 million GF to promote inclusion in preschool of three- and four-year-olds served by regional centers. Resources will support preschool efforts to improve the accessibility of their programs.
  • $3.2 million GF to establish IDEA Specialists at each regional center. The IDEA Specialists will provide expertise on IDEA services through technical support to both regional centers and local education agencies providing school-age services.
  • $1.2 million GF to increase DDS resources to make improvements to the Early Start Program to drive toward inclusive services, help streamline intake processes, align systems, and increase interagency collaboration with CDE.

Educator Workforce

$54.4 million for accelerated preparation and supporting, training, and retention of well-prepared educators:

  • $24 million one-time GF to waive some teacher exam fees,
  • $12 million one-time GF to extend the waiver of select credential fees.
  • $10 million one-time GF competitive grants programs to public and private institutions to develop and implement integrated teacher preparation programs.
  • $5.2 million P98 and $322,000 GF to re-establish the Personnel Management Assistance Teams to support LEAs in improving hiring and recruitment practices.
  • $1.4 million GF to establish career counselors for prospective educators at CTC.
  • $924,000 GF to support multiple grant programs and fee waivers.
  • $900,000 for CTC to contract a public outreach to highlight the value and benefits of educational careers in prekindergarten – 12th grade.
  • Extend CTCs ability to authorize any holder of a credential or permit issued by CTC to serve as a substitute teaching assignment, aligned with their authorization for up to 60 cumulative days for any one assignment.
  • $5 million one-time P98 for community college-university teacher credential collaboratives.
Virtual Ed Commission Meeting Recap

Last Wednesday, the Texas Commission on Virtual Education (TCVE) held its second meeting. The focus was on innovative practitioners from within the state and included testimony from Guthrie CSD, Lewisville ISD, Great Hearts Online, Dallas ISD, Texas Tech University, Dr. Danny Lovett (ESC Region 5), and John Watson of the Digital Learning Collaborative. They discussed the unique characteristics of supplemental programs, hybrid schools, and full-time virtual schools, including what current laws provide funding for each.

Key Takeaways
  • Two of the groups invited to testify included students who spoke about why they like the flexibility provided by virtual options. Guthrie CSD senior Coulter Reel shared that she’ll graduate high school with enough credits for an associate’s degree thanks to online access to virtual courses.
  • Every group noted how much their teachers love teaching in virtual ed models and noted it could keep many who might otherwise leave, in the profession.
  • A few members of the Commission inquired about what kind of funding is best for these innovative models, and there seemed to be an openness to exploring unique funding methods.

For recordings of the meetings and to follow TCVE, go here.

TEA & State Updates
  • Governor Greg Abbott and TEA announced that school districts in Texas may be eligible for an adjustment in operational minutes requirements for certain attendance reporting periods during the 2021-2022 academic school year. This means funding will be made available to school systems in Texas that have experienced attendance rate declines because of the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, given an emphasis on in-person instruction. This adjustment would apply to the first four reporting periods of the current school year. Full press release here.
  • TEA is inviting comment on the proposed minimum standards for bullying prevention policies and procedures. The proposed minimum standards are available on the TEA Student Discipline webpage. Public comments will be accepted April 1 through April 30, 2022, and should be submitted to StudentDisciplineSupport@tea.texas.gov with the subject line, “Minimum Standards Public Comment.”
  • ESSER Annual Performance Reporting update: The online system for LEAs to complete this reporting requirement will now close on Monday, April 18, 2022. For help, Visit the TEA ESSER Program page and access recorded trainings and videos on the Grant Compliance and Administration Playlist on the TEA YouTube Channel.
  • Part 1 of the CCMR tracker was released last week. The CCMR Tracker is a tracking tool within the TEA Login (TEAL) Accountability application. This tool provides districts with an early preview of CCMR status for students who were in grades 9-12 during the 2021–22 school year. The CCMR Tracker does NOT contain results from the 2021–22 school year as those data have yet to be reported.
DOE & National Updates
  • The Biden Administration is proposing changes that would make it harder for charter schools to get start-up grants from the federal government. While many charter school supporters welcomed the tougher restrictions placed on for-profit charters, they remained concerned that some parts of the proposal would make it difficult for nonprofit charters to qualify for grant funding. More here.
  • The Biden Administration also unveiled their proposed 2023 Department of Education discretionary budget calling for an increase to $88.3bn, including a $1 billion investment to increase the number of counselors, nurses, school psychologists, social workers, and other health professionals in schools.
  • In a letter last week, Education Secretary Cardona urged schools to protect students with disabilities saying, “To meet the requirements of federal disability rights laws, for example, schools may require teachers and peers to mask around higher-risk students, even if there isn’t a school-wide requirement to do so. As we enter this next phase of pandemic response, we urge schools to lead with equity and inclusion to ensure all students have access to in-person learning alongside their peers.”

[CallOutBox bgcolor=”orange”]Texas Fact of the Week

In the 1950s, archaeologists found some of the oldest human remains and tools just 6 miles southwest of Midland, now called the Midland Site. They found a fossilized skull and point used for hunting believed to be in existence long before the Apache and Nde’isdzan, dated back to 11,000 years old or around the Ice Age. Marfa Public Radio has more on the Midland Site and the rest of the Llano Estacado here. [/CallOutBox]

Important Dates
  • April 5-8 – SBOE scheduled regular meeting
  • Wednesday, April 27 – Texas Commission on Virtual Ed meeting
  • Friday, April 29 – SBEC meeting
Articles of Interest

Check out more and Subscribe to Amanda List TX Legislative Updates here. 

AB 1316 Fails to Pass the State Assembly

Last week AB 1316 was placed on the inactive file by the author on the Assembly Floor. Being placed on the inactive file means the measure will not move forward this year. The bill faced a Friday legislative deadline, the house of origin deadline. By June 4th all Assembly bills needed to be voted out of the Assembly and all Senate bills needed to be voted out of the Senate.

AB 1316 was an anti-charter school measure carried by Assembly member Patrick O’Donnell, the Chair of the Assembly’s Education Committee. In addition to numerous anti-charter school provisions, the measure would have also changed independent study law in the state and imposed new auditing standards on all schools. It was opposed by every charter school organization in the state as well as hundreds of charter schools. Mr. O’Donnell claimed the measure was about accountability but he drafted the measure without input from administrators, teachers, parents or students. We have seen him do this before with prior charter school legislation and will see it again from him in the future.

As AB 1316 moved from the Assembly Appropriations Committee to the Assembly Floor the level of opposition ramped up and legislative offices were swamped with calls, emails and letters raising serious concerns about the bill. The administration also amended their education trailer bill to extend the current moratorium on non-classroom based charter schools for three more years. This was a clear sign from the administration that they did not want to see AB 1316 reach the Governor’s desk.

These factors ultimately led to Mr. O’Donnell not being able to get 41 of his colleagues to vote for his bill on the Assembly Floor.

Though the moratorium was extended, defeating AB 1316 was a major victory for education reform advocates. It follows a victory from 2020 when the charter community came together to stop AB 2990 on the Floor of the Assembly and represents what we can accomplish with our collective voices.

Since 2021 is the first year of the two-year legislative cycle Mr. O’Donnell will have the month of January 2022 to move the bill to the State Senate. Under legislative rules all measures that failed the house of origin deadline will have that opportunity to move onto the other house. We will ask you to stay vigilant and will keep you posted on new education developments in the future.

Anti-Charter School Bill (AB 1316)

Assemblyman Patrick O’Donnell introduced an anti-charter school bill scheduled to be heard in the Assembly Education Committee next Wednesday, April 28th. The bill would have a devastating impact on charter schools and create new mandates on school districts.

(To view the bill go to leginfo.legislature.ca.gov and put in the bill number AB 1316.)

In short, the bill does the following:
  • Creates new auditing and accounting standards to create parity between school districts and charter schools. Requires training for auditors and creates an Office of Inspector General in the Department of Education, among other things.
  • Creates a new funding determination process for non-classroom-based charter schools that would reduce the amount of funding they receive from the state.
  • Rewrites Independent Study law in California to require more teacher and student contact, a minimum school day, and metrics for ending Independent Study agreements.
  • Change vendor contracts by requiring vendor personnel to hold an appropriate credential, enforce competitive bidding and prohibit agreements from being calculated as a percentage of charter school revenue.
  • Prohibits the use of multi-year track systems.
  • Limits the ability of small school districts to authorize additional charter schools.
  • Increases oversight fees that charter schools pay their authorizer.

Again, these statutory changes would be devastating to charter schools, and the financial impact would be incredibly harmful. We ask everyone to call or email the members of the Assembly Education Committee and state their opposition to these changes. Below is the contact information for those members.

Assembly Education Committee:

Assemblyman Patrick O’Donnell (Chair)
Phone number: (916) 319-2070
Email address: assemblymember.odonnell@assembly.ca.gov

Assemblyman Kevin Kiley (Vice Chair)
Phone number: (916) 319-2006
Email address: assemblymember.kiley@assembly.ca.gov

Assemblyman Steve Bennett
Phone number:(916) 319-2037
Email address: assemblymember.bennett@assembly.ca.gov

Assemblywoman Megan Dahle
Phone number: (916) 319-2001
Email address: assemblymember.dahle@assembly.ca.gov

Assemblyman Alex Lee
Phone number: (916) 319-2025
Email address: assemblymember.lee@assembly.ca.gov

Assemblyman Kevin McCarty
Phone number: (916) 319-2007
Email address: assemblymember.mccarty@assembly.ca.gov

Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva
Phone number: (916) 319-2065


Update: AB 1316 Moves Out of Committee

On Wednesday, AB 1316 by Assemblyman O’Donnell was voted out of the Assembly Education Committee on a party line vote, 5-2.  As we have described before the measure has a number of anti-charter school provisions that were developed without input from parents, students, administrators and teachers.  AB 1316 also creates several new mandates on school districts and creates an Office of Inspector General in the California Department of Education.

The measure next goes to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for a fiscal analysis and vote.  The author is pushing this as a good governance measure that is needed to ensure that non-classroom based schools are good stewards of public dollars but it goes well beyond that.  It would have a devastating impact on many schools and their programs and is an attempt to force more students back into in person instruction.  Coming off a year where the state forced almost all public schools students into a distance learning model it is ironic that there is legislation attempting to curb that model of education.

We will keep you updated as the bill continues through the process.

You can view AB 1316 here.

Though there are still votes to be tallied we wanted to get you an early election update on some California races. Over the next week or so as additional ballots are counted some of these races will change. As expected, Joe Biden carried California in the Presidential race so we will focus on other races of note.

The two biggest fights in the state were over Proposition 15 and Proposition 22. Proposition 15 was an effort to increase property taxes on businesses to fund education and other programs in the state. It was supported by a number of labor unions, elected officials and liberal advocacy groups. It was heavily opposed by the business community and other groups. Proposition 15 is currently headed to defeat with a 48.3% – 51.7% margin. Going in the opposite direction Proposition 22 is headed to passage with a 58.4% – 41.6% margin.crowd hands raised

Proposition 22 was pushed by Uber, Lyft and the gig companies as an answer to AB 5 which passed the legislature last year. AB 5 mandated that a number of companies make their workers employees and not contractors. As a result Uber and Lyft led a coalition of companies in sponsoring the ballot measure which changes the law. It was a huge win for them and a bigger loss for the legislature which refused to carve certain companies out when passing AB 5.

In the State Legislature the Democrats will continue to hold super-majorities in both the State Assembly and State Senate. In the State Assembly Democrats will actually lose a seat as two Republicans were running against each other in the 38th district where Christy Smith ran for Congress instead of reelection. In the 38th Suzette Martinez Valladares will be the new Republican member. In the State Senate Republicans are threatened with a possible loss of up to 4 seats. The 23rd district is an open Republican seat where Republican Rosilice Ochoa Bogh is tied at 50% of the vote with Democrat Abigail Medina. In the 21st Republican incumbent Scott Wilk is barely ahead of Democrat Kipp Mueller 50.1% – 49.9%. In both the 29th and 37th districts Republican incumbents are trailing their Democratic challengers. Former Democratic Senator Josh Newman is up 51.6% – 48.4% over Republican Ling Ling Chang in the 29th. In the 37th Republican incumbent John Moorlach is trailing his Democratic challenger Dave Min 48.1% – 51.9%. If these Senate results hold it could leave the Republicans with only a handful of members in the body.

As stated earlier there are still votes to be counted but these are the state of some of the races at the current time.

You can use this website to locate which Assembly and Senate district that you reside in: FindYourRep.Legislature.ca.gov.

Legislature is impeding charter school growth

This year when the California Legislature passed their budget they did not provide funding for growing schools, both traditional and charter schools. In the education budget trailer bill, SB 98, the CA Legislature held school district and charter school funding harmless at the 2019 – 2020 levels which essentially capped funding and provides no new dollars for additional students enrolled in the 2020 – 2021 school year.

This created a lot of acrimony and opposition from different sectors in the education community. Governor Newsom acknowledged the issue, in a message to the legislature, when he signed the budget trailer bill urging them to craft a targeted solution for the funding issue.

Due to this lack of funding four charter schools have filed a lawsuit against the state and numerous education reform groups are lobbying the legislature to address the issue. The legislature adjourns for the year on August 31st so the race is on to enact a fix.

The Department of Finance has released their first draft of language to provide a legislative fix. Though it might work for some traditional schools it is not an ideal fix for charter schools. Additionally, the language specifically leaves non-classroom based charter schools out of the fix. There is no policy rationale to cut off funding for students deciding to change schools during this pandemic that is gripping the nation.

Many non-classroom based charter schools experience growth throughout the year and the COVID – 19 virus has seen these numbers increase for the 2020 – 2021 school year.

I urge you to call your legislator and advocate that they fund all students in California, regardless of what public school they attend. It is an issue of equity and fairness that should not be taken lightly.

You can use this website to locate which Assembly and Senate district that you reside in: FindYourRep.Legislature.ca.gov.

2020 Florida Legislative Season Kickoff Update: Teacher Pay

Florida Legislative Update Charter Schools2020 Florida legislative season update: Could mean big things for teacher pay.

Florida is ranked 26th in the nation. No, not in college football, but in teacher pay.

According to statistics from the National Education Association in Washington, DC, Florida’s average starting teacher pay at $37,636 ranks 26th in the nation. In early October, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis rolled out a legislative proposal to change that statistic by giving a pay raise to over 100,000 teachers in public schools across the state.

The Governor is recommending the state invest over $600 million to increase the minimum salary to $47,500 that would raise Florida’s ranking to 2nd in the nation.

But much like football, governing is a team sport, and in this case, not all the players are working from the same playbook.

Shortly after the Governor’s announcement at a traditional public school in Clay County, the Speaker of the Florida House responded by issuing a press release that said the Governor’s request will be “properly considered” during the upcoming Regular Legislative Session—not exactly a ringing endorsement. Following the Speaker’s press release, the leadership at the Florida Education Association, the state’s largest teacher’s union, issued their own press release calling the proposal a “step in the right direction” but that more attention (and money) should be directed to veteran teachers. Again, lukewarm support (at best) of DeSantis’s pay plan.

In addition to restructuring teacher pay, the Governor has also proposed eliminating the current state-funded teacher/principal bonus programs and reallocate those state dollars to a new bonus scheme that focuses more on learning gains and retaining highly effective teachers in Title I schools.

So, what does this all mean for charter schools?

First, the good news. Any legislative policy and/or appropriations addressing salary and performance bonus payments for public school teachers also applies to teachers in public charter schools. This means that under the Governor’s proposal, teachers in public charter schools (currently making less than $47,500 per year) would be eligible for a salary increase the same as their traditional district school counterparts and would also be eligible for bonus money if they meet the eligibility requirements.

But the flip side of the coin is not as rosy.

In order to fund teacher’s pay raises, the legislature would have to appropriate state dollars to school districts who negotiate teacher salaries with local teacher unions through a collective bargaining process. Current legislators are not able to bind future legislators, so any money in the next year’s budget for teacher salary is not necessarily guaranteed in future years.

This could mean charter schools that give pay increases to teachers using potential one-time money would then have to fund those increased salaries in future years without government funds if the state does not provide this appropriation in future years. This could potentially put a charter school in an awkward position of having to rescind salary increases or make cuts in other areas such as operations or capital improvements to continue to fund the personnel costs.

We all love payday, but in the case of the 2020 Florida legislative season, the devil is in the details and legislators have some tough decisions to make in the upcoming session when it comes to teacher pay.


Charter School Capital logoSince the company’s inception in 2007, Charter School Capital has been committed to the success of charter schools. We help schools access, leverage, and sustain the resources charter schools need to thrive, allowing them to focus on what matters most – educating students. 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 $2 billion in support of 600 charter schools that have educated over 1,027,000 students across the country. For more information on how we can support your charter school, contact us. We’d love to work with you!

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2020 California Legislative Prospectus

California Legislative ProspectusWith the year ending, it is time to focus on where the 2020 California Legislature may go on charter schools next year. This year, we saw the passage of AB 1505 and AB 1507 which changed the way that charter schools will be approved and renewed. The bills also put major restrictions on non-classroom based charter schools including a two-year moratorium on their authorization. Finally, AB 1507 placed new limits on where these charters can locate and where they can have resource centers.

During the two year moratorium, we should expect to see a further examination and crackdown on non-classroom based charters. Some members of the State Assembly have made it clear that they view AB 1505 and AB 1507 as just the start of chaining the laws that govern charter schools. We also anticipate that there will be both Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Teeam (FCMAT) and Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC) audits on several of these type of charter schools, which will give the Legislature several different ways to put these charter schools under a microscope. The FCMAT audits would be requested by local education agencies (LEAs) while the JLAC audits would be requested by the Legislature.

Additionally, the administration has expressed a clear concern about two different aspects of non-classroom based charters:
1. How they generate Average Daily Attendance (ADA)
2. How many charter schools should small school districts be allowed to authorize?

The ADA questions is much broader than charter schools and would focus on how independent study programs generate ADA since charters generate ADA the same way. The focus on small school districts is much more concerning because a lot of small districts use non-classroom based charter schools to supplement programs that they cannot manage themselves, thus serving a student population that may be difficult to serve.

As the new year begins and new California legislative measures are introduced, we will keep you updated as to the impact they will have on charter schools.


Charter School Capital logoSince the company’s inception in 2007, Charter School Capital has been committed to the success of charter schools. We help schools access, leverage, and sustain the resources charter schools need to thrive, allowing them to focus on what matters most – educating students. 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 $2 billion in support of 600 charter schools that have educated over 1,027,000 students across the country. For more information on how we can support your charter school, contact us. We’d love to work with you!

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California Charter School Legislation

California Legislative Update: Anti-Charter School Legislation Moves Closer to Becoming Law

Here is the latest California legislative update:

Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed both AB 1505 by Assemblyman O’Donnell and AB 1507 by Assemblywoman Smith out of committee. Both measures would place severe restrictions on charter schools in California.

AB 1505 would change how charter schools are authorized and renewed, while also preventing the State Board of Education from authorizing or overseeing any charter schools. Additionally, the measure would slowly take away the teacher credentialing flexibility that charter schools have and allow an authorizer to consider the charter school’s ‘fiscal impact’ when considering whether to allow the charter to open.

The most egregious portion of the bill places a moratorium on non-classroom based schools for two years. This will be the most punitive charter school measure ever enacted into law in California. Leadership in both houses of the legislature and the Governor have signed off on it and the California Charter Schools Association has taken a neutral position. This means the legislation will fly through the legislature and make it to the Governor’s desk before session adjourns for the year on September 13th. The Charter Schools Association’s neutral position is a signal to moderate Democrats that they can vote for the bill and a serious blow to charter school advocacy in the state.

AB 1507 is also almost assured to make it onto the Governor’s desk as he has already endorsed it. This bill would basically remove all charter school out-of-district or county resource centers, testing sites, and meeting places from the state. A charter school would only be allowed to have resource centers within the boundaries of their authorizer’s district. In effect, the measure limits a charter school’s ability to have meaningful independent study programs.

As with AB 1505, the Charter Schools Association has actually worked with the author of this legislation and is attempting to move to a neutral position. Both of these bills will have a huge impact on every charter school in the state and represent the education reform movement losing a lot of ground in California.

Based on the November election results, this is not a big surprise but it is disheartening to see the Charter Schools Association capitulating to education reform opponents across the board. The measures should pass the legislature by September 13th and then the Governor will have a month to act on each of them.


Charter School Capital logoSince the company’s inception in 2007, Charter School Capital has been committed to the success of charter schools. We help schools access, leverage, and sustain the resources charter schools need to thrive, allowing them to focus on what matters most – educating students. 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 $1.8 billion in support of 600 charter schools that have educated over 1,027,000 students across the country. For more information on how we can support your charter school, contact us. We’d love to work with you!

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