SB 1448 An act to add Part 26.8 (commencing with Section 47600) to the Education Code, relating to charter schools. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SUB 1448, Hart. Charter schools. Under existing law, the public elementary and secondary schools are operated under the governance of school districts and county offices of education. This bill would establish a procedure for the establishment of not more than 100 "charter schools," which would receive certain public funding but would not be subject to the laws generally governing school districts. The bill would prohibit the conversion of a private school to a charter school under this authority. The bill would authorize a school district governing board or, as specified, a county board of education, in response to a petition signed by a specified percentage of credentialed teachers, to grant a revocable charter authorizing operation of a charter school for up to 5 years, subject to renewal for additional 5-year periods. The bill would allow a school district to convert all of its schools to charter schools only if certain conditions are met and the petition receives joint approval by the State Board of Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The bill would require a charter school to be nonsectarian, and to comply with the conditions of its charter petition, including the attainment of identified educational objectives, health and safety standards, and racial and ethnic balance. The bill would prohibit school districts having one or more charter schools from requiring any pupil to attend, or any employee to be employed at, a charter school. Charter schools would be prohibited from discriminating on the basis of ethnicity, national origin, gender, or disability, and from determining admission on the basis of the residence of the pupil or his or her parent or guardian. The bill would authorize a charter school to participate in the State Teacher's Retirement System, as specified. The bill would specify, for identified purposes of the California Constitution, that a charter school is under the authority of the public schools, and that it constitutes a "school district" for purposes of the state school funding guarantee for school districts and community college districts. The bill would require the State Department of Education to review the charter school approach and, not later than January 1, 1999, to report to the Legislature with recommendations regarding that approach. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement, including the creation of a State Mandates Claims Fund to pay the costs of mandates which do not exceed $1,000,000 statewide and other procedures for claims whose statewide costs exceed $1,000,000. This bill would impose a state-mandated local program by requiring school district governing boards to review and respond to petitions for the granting of charters within a specified time period. This bill would provide that no reimbursement shall be made from the State Mandates Claims Fund for costs mandated by the state pursuant to this act, but would recognize that local agencies and school districts may pursue any available remedies to seek reimbursement for these costs. The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Part 26.8 (commencing with Section 47600) is added to the Education Code, to read: PART 26.8. CHARTER SCHOOLS CHAPTER 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS 47600. This part shall be known, and may be cite, as the "Charter Schools Act of 1992." 47601. It is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this part, to provide opportunities for teachers, parents, pupils, and community members to establish and maintain schools that operate independently from the existing school district structure, as a method to accomplish all of the following: (a) Improve pupil learning. (b) Increase learning opportunities for all pupils, with special emphasis on expanded learning experiences for pupils who are identified as academically low achieving. (c) Encourage the use of different and innovative teaching methods. (d) Create new professional opportunities for teachers, including the opportunities for to be responsible for the learning program at the school site. (e) Provide parents and pupils with expanded choices in the types of educational opportunities that are available within the public school system. (f) Hold the schools established under this part accountable for meeting measurable pupil outcomes, and provide the schools with a method to change from rule-based to performance-based accountability systems. 47602. (a) The total number of charter schools operating in this state in any school year shall not exceed 100, with not more than 10 charter schools in any single school district. For the purposes of implementing this section, the State Board of Education shall assign a number to each charter notice it receives pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 47605, based on the chronological order in which the notice is received. (b) No charter shall be granted under this part that authorizes the conversion of any charter school. 47603. This part shall not be construed to prohibit any private person or organization from providing funding or other assistance to the establishment or operation of a charter school. CHAPTER 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF CHAPTER SCHOOLS 47605. (a) A petition for the establishment of a charter school within any school district may be circulated by any one or more persons seeking to establish the charter school. After the petition has been signed by not less than 10 percent of the teachers currently employed by the school district, or by not less than 50 percent of the teachers currently employed at one school of the district, it may be submitted to the governing board of the school district for review. (b) No later than 30 days after receiving a petition, in accordance with subdivision (a), the governing board of the school district shall hold a public hearing on the provisions of the charter, at which time the board shall consider the level of employee and parental support for the petition. Following review of the petition and the public hearing, the governing board shall either grant or deny the charter within 60 days of receipt of the petition, provided, however, that the date may be extended by an additional 30 days if both parties agree to the extension. A school district governing board may grant a charter for the operation of a school under this part if it determines that the petition contains the number of signatures required by subdivision (a), a statement of each of the conditions described in subdivision (d), and descriptions of all of the following: (1) A description of the educational program of the school, designed, among other things, to identify those whom the school is attempting to educate, what it means to be an 'educated person' in the 21st century, and how learning best occurs. The goals identified in that program shall include the objective of enabling pupils to become self- motivated, competent, and lifelong learners. (2) The measurable pupil outcomes identified for use by the charter school. "Pupil outcomes," for purposes of this part, means the extent to which all pupils of the school demonstrate that they have attained the skills, knowledge, and attitudes specified as goals in the school's educational program. (3) The method by which pupil progress in meeting those pupil outcomes is to be measured. (4) The governance structure of the school, including, but not limited to, the process to be followed by the school to ensure parental involvement. (5) The qualifications to be met by individuals to be employed by the school. (6) The procedures that the school will follow to ensure the health and safety of pupils and staff. These procedures shall include the requirement that each employee of the school furnish the school record summary as described in Section 44237. (7) The means by which the school will achieve racial and ethnic balance among its pupils that is reflective of the general population residing within the territorial jurisdiction of the school district to which the charter petition is submitted. (8) Admission requirements, if applicable. (9) The manner in which an annual audit of the financial and programmatic operations of the school is to be conducted. (10) The procedures by which pupils can be suspended or expelled. (11) The manner by which staff members of the charter schools will be covered by the Sate Teachers' Retirement System, the Public Employees' Retirement System, or federal social security. (12) The public school attendance alternatives for pupils residing within the school district who choose not to attend charter schools. (13) A description of the rights of any employee of the school district upon leaving the employment of the school district to work in a charter school, and of any rights of return to the school district after employment at a charter school. (c) Charter schools shall meet the statewide performance standards and conduct the pupil assessments required pursuant to Section 60602.5. (d) In addition to any other requirement imposed under this part, a charter school shall be nonsectarian in its programs, admission policies, employment practices, and all other operations, shall not charge tuition, and shall not discriminate against any pupil on the basis of ethnicity, national origin, gender, or disability. Admission to a charter school shall not be determined according to the place of residence of the pupil, or of his or her parent or guardian, within this state, except that any existing public school converting partially or entirely to a charter school under this part shall adopt and maintain a policy giving admission preference to pupils who reside within the former attendance area of that public school. (e) No governing board of a school district shall require any employee of the school district to be employed in a charter school. (f) No governing board of a school district shall require any pupil enrolled in the school district to attend a charter school. (g) The governing board may require that the petitioner or petitioners provide information regarding the proposed operation and potential effects of the school, including, but not limited to, the facilities to be utilized by the school, the manner in which administrative services of the school are to be provided, and potential civil liability effects upon the school and upon the school district. (h) In reviewing petitions for the establishment of charter schools within the school district, the school district governing board shall give preference to petitions that demonstrate the capability to provide comprehensive learning experiences to pupils identified by the petitioner or petitioners as academically low achieving pursuant to the standards established by the State Department of Education under Section 54032. (i) Upon the approval of the petition by the governing board of the school district, the petitioner or petitioners shall provide written notice of that approval, including a copy of the petition, to the State Board of Education. (j) (1) If the governing board of the school district denies a charter, the county superintendent of schools, at the request of the petitioner or petitioners, shall select and convene a review panel to review the action of the governing board. The review panel shall consist of three governing board members from other school districts in the county and three teachers from other school districts in the county unless only one school district is located in the county, in which case the panel members shall be selected from school districts in adjoining countries. (2) If the review panel determines that the governing board failed to appropriately consider the charter request, or acted in an arbitrary manner in denying the request, the review panel shall request the government board to reconsider the charter request. In the case of a tie vote of the panel, the county superintendent of schools shall vote to break the tie. (3) If, upon reconsideration, the governing denies a charter, the county board of education, at the request of the petitioner or petitioners, shall hold a public hearing in the manner described in subdivision (b) and, accordingly, may grant a charter. A charter school for which a charter is granted by a county board of education pursuant to this paragraph shall qualify fully as a charter school for all funding and other purposes of this part. 47606. (a) A school district may convert all of its schools to charter schools under this part only if it meets all of the following conditions: (1) Fifty percent of the teachers within the school district sign the charter petition. (2) The charter petition contains all of the requirements set forth in subdivisions (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f) of Section 47605 and a provision that specifies alternative public school attendance arrangements for pupils residing within the school district who choose not to attend charter schools. (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (b) of Section 47605, the districtwide charter petition shall be approved only by joint action of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education. 47607. (a) A charter may be granted pursuant to Sections 47605 and 47606 for a period not to exceed five years. A charter granted by a school district governing board or county board of education may be granted one or more subsequent renewals by that entity. Each renewal shall be for a period not to exceed five years. A material revision of the provisions of a charter petition may be made only with the approval of the authority that granted the charter. (b) A charter may be revoked by the authority that granted the charter under this chapter if the authority finds that the charter school did any of the following: (1) Committed a material violation of any of the conditions, standards, or procedures set forth in the charter petition. (2) Failed to meet or pursue any of the pupil outcomes identified in the charter petition. (3) Failed to meet generally accepted accounting standards of fiscal management. (4) Violated any provision of law. CHAPTER 3. CHARTER SCHOOL OPERATION AND FUNDING 47610. A charter school shall comply with all of the provisions set forth in its charter petition, but is otherwise exempt from the laws governing school districts except as specified in Section 47611. 47611. If a charter school chooses to participate in the State Teacher's Retirement System, all employees of the charter school who qualify for membership in the system shall be covered under the system, and all provisions of Part 13 (commencing with Section 22000) shall apply in the same manner as if the charter school were a public school in the school district that granted the charter. 47612. (a) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall make all of the following apportionments to each charter for each fiscal year: (1) Form funds appropriated to Section A of the State Fund for apportionment for that fiscal year pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 42238) of Chapter 7 of part 24, an amount for each unit of regular average daily attendance in the charter school that is equal to the current fiscal year base revenue limit for the school district to which the charter petition was submitted. (2) For each pupil enrolled in the charter school who is entitled to special education services, the state and federal funds for special education services for that pupil that would have been apportioned for that pupil to the school district to which to charter petitions was submitted. (3) Funds for the programs describe in clause (i) of subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 54761, and Sections 63000 and 64000, to the extent that any pupil enrolled in the charter school is eligible to participate. (b) A charter school shall be deemed to be under the exclusive control of the officers of the public schools for purposes of Section 8 of Article IX of the California Constitution, with regard to the appropriation of public moneys to be apportioned to any charter school, including, but not limited to, appropriations made for the purposes of subdivisions (a) and (b). (c) A charter school shall be deemed to be a "school district" for purposes of Section 41302.5 and Section 8 and Section 8.5 of Article XVI of the California Constitution. CHAPTER 4. NOTICE 47615. The State Board of Education shall distribute information announcing the availability of the charter school process described in this part to each school district, county office of education, and public postsecondary educational institution and, through press releases, to each major newspaper in the state. 47616. The State Department of Education shall review the educational effectiveness of the charter school approach authorized under this part and, not later than January 1, 1999, shall report to the Legislature accordingly with recommendations to modify, expand, or terminate that approach. SEC. 2. No reimbursement shall be made from the State Mandates Claims Fund pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code for costs mandated by the state pursuant to this act. It is recognized, however, that a local agency or school district may pursue any remedies to obtain reimbursement available to it under Part 7(commencing with Section 17500) and any other provisions of law. Notwithstanding Section 17580 of the Government Code, unless otherwise specified in this act, the provisions of this act shall become operative on the same date that the act takes effect pursuant to the California Constitution.