Bill Text: CA SB645 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Charter schools: charter renewal.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-08-25 - Set, second hearing. Held in committee and under submission. [SB645 Detail]

Download: California-2011-SB645-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 645	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 11, 2011
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 25, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Simitian
    (   Coauthor:   Senator   Alquist
  ) 

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2011

   An act to amend Sections 47607 and 47607.5 of the Education Code,
relating to charter schools.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 645, as amended, Simitian. Charter schools: charter renewal.
   The Charter Schools Act of 1992 (Charter Schools Act) specifies
the procedures for the submission, review, and approval or denial of
a petition to establish a charter school. The Charter Schools Act
limits the duration of charters to a period not to exceed 5 years,
and authorizes the chartering authority to grant one or more
subsequent renewals for an additional period of 5 years. The Charter
Schools Act prescribes the requirements a charter school must meet in
order to have its charter renewed, including a requirement that a
charter school that has been in operation for 4 years satisfy at
least one of several specified criteria regarding academic
performance.
   This bill would change the criteria a charter school is required
to meet in order to have its charter renewed.  The bill would
make these criteria inoperative if the state board adopts an
academic accountability system and finds that the system it adopts is
consistent with specified characteristics. The bill also would
require the State Board of Education to adopt regulations designating
a level of annual academic achievement growth that qualifies a
charter for renewal. 
   The bill would authorize a charter school not meeting the renewal
criteria to apply to the  state board   State
Board of Education  for a determination of academic eligibility
for the renewal of its charter by submitting evidence of the school's
academic success. The bill would require the advisory committee that
is appointed by the state board to recommend criteria to the state
board for the determination of funding for nonclassroom-based
instruction to publicly hear an application for the determination of
academic eligibility and make a recommendation to the state board on
the application. The bill would require the state board to issue a
positive determination of academic eligibility if the state board
finds that the charter school adequately demonstrates that the
academic performance of the charter school meets or exceeds its
predicted performance based on a statistical evaluation of similar
pupil populations.
   The bill also would make a conforming change.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 47607 of the Education Code is amended to read:

   47607.  (a) (1) A charter may be granted pursuant to Sections
47605, 47605.5, and 47606 for a period not to exceed five years. A
charter granted by  a school district governing board
  the governing board of a school district  , a
county board of education  ,  or the state board  ,
 may be granted one or more subsequent renewals by that
entity. Each renewal shall be for a period of 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. The
authority that granted the charter may inspect or observe any part of
the charter school at any time.
   (2) Renewals and material revisions of charters are governed by
the standards and criteria in Section 47605, and shall include, but
not be limited to, a reasonably comprehensive description of any new
requirement of charter schools enacted into law after the charter was
originally granted or last renewed.
   (b) The authorizer of a charter school that has been in operation
for at least four years shall not consider or grant the renewal of
the school's charter unless the school  meets  ,
based on data available as of October 1 of the fiscal year of the
renewal,  meets  at least one of the following criteria:
   (1) An Academic Performance Index (API) score of at least 700 in
the most recent year.
   (2) A cumulative API growth of at least a total of 30 points over
the last three API cycles. For purposes of this paragraph, API growth
for one cycle is the difference between a current year growth API
and the prior year's base API. The growth required pursuant to this
paragraph shall not be measured as the difference between the most
recent growth API score and the growth API score from three years
prior to that score.
   (3) A rank in any decile between 6 to 10, inclusive, on the API
for a demographically comparable school in the prior year or in two
of the last three years for which demographically comparable school
ranks are available. A school that does not generate a
demographically comparable school rank is ineligible to meet this
criterion.
   (4) Participation in the alternative accountability system
pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 52052.
   (5) Receipt of a  positive  determination of academic
eligibility for renewal from the state board within the prior 12
months.
   (c) (1) A charter school  that does not meet at least one of
the criteria set forth in paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive, of
subdivision (b)  may apply to the state board for a
determination of academic eligibility for the renewal of its charter
by submitting evidence of the school's academic success. Evidence
supporting an application may include, but is not limited to,
information on individual pupil achievement, including longitudinal
data that demonstrate individual pupil progress, analysis of similar
pupil populations, or other relevant data as determined by the
school.
   (2) The advisory committee created pursuant to subdivision (b) of
Section 47634.2 shall publicly hear an application for a
determination of academic eligibility for the renewal of a charter,
and shall make a recommendation to the state board on the
application.
   (3) The state board shall issue a positive determination of
academic eligibility if the state board finds that the charter school
adequately demonstrates that the academic performance of the charter
school meets or exceeds its predicted performance based on a
statistical evaluation of similar pupil populations. 
   (d) If the state board adopts an academic accountability system
and finds that the system it adopts is consistent with subdivisions
(b) and (c) of Section 52052.6, paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive, of
subdivision (b) of this section shall become inoperative and the
state board shall adopt regulations designating a level of annual
academic achievement growth that qualifies a charter for renewal.
 
   (e) 
    (d)  A charter may be revoked by the authority that
granted the charter under this chapter if the authority finds,
through a showing of substantial evidence, 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.
   (2) Failed to meet or pursue any of the pupil outcomes identified
in the charter.
   (3) Failed to meet generally accepted accounting principles, or
engaged in fiscal mismanagement.
   (4) Violated any provision of law. 
   (f) Prior to 
    (e)     Before  revocation, the
authority that granted the charter shall notify the charter public
school of any violation of this section and give the school a
reasonable opportunity to remedy the violation, unless the authority
determines, in writing, that the violation constitutes a severe and
imminent threat to the health or safety of the pupils. 
   (g) Prior to 
    (f)     Before  revoking a charter for
failure to remedy a violation pursuant to subdivision  (f)
  (e)  , and after expiration of the school's
reasonable opportunity to remedy without successfully remedying the
violation, the chartering authority shall provide a written notice of
intent to revoke and notice of facts in support of revocation to the
charter school. No later than 30 days after providing the notice of
intent to revoke a charter, the chartering authority shall hold a
public hearing, in the normal course of business, on the issue of
whether evidence exists to revoke the charter. No later than 30 days
after the public hearing, the chartering authority shall issue a
final decision to revoke or decline to revoke the charter, unless the
chartering authority and the charter school agree to extend the
issuance of the decision by an additional 30 days. The chartering
authority shall not revoke a charter, unless it makes written factual
findings supported by substantial evidence, specific to the charter
school, that support its findings. 
   (h) 
    (g)  (1) If a school district is the chartering
authority and it revokes a charter pursuant to this section, the
charter school may appeal the revocation to the county board of
education within 30 days following the final decision of the
chartering authority.
   (2) The county board may reverse the revocation decision if the
county board determines that the findings made by the chartering
authority under subdivision  (g)   (f)  are
not supported by substantial evidence. The school district may
appeal the reversal to the state board.
   (3) If the county board does not issue a decision on the appeal
within 90 days of receipt, or the county board upholds the
revocation, the charter school may appeal the revocation to the state
board.
   (4) The state board may reverse the revocation decision if the
state board determines that the findings made by the chartering
authority under subdivision  (g)   (f)  are
not supported by substantial evidence. The state board may uphold
the revocation decision of the school district if the state board
determines that the findings made by the chartering authority under
subdivision  (g)   (f)  are supported by
substantial evidence. 
   (`i) 
    (h)  (1) If a county office of education is the
chartering authority and the county board revokes a charter pursuant
to this section, the charter school may appeal the revocation to the
state board within 30 days following the decision of the chartering
authority.
   (2) The state board may reverse the revocation decision if the
state board determines that the findings made by the chartering
authority under subdivision  (g)   (f)  are
not supported by substantial evidence. 
   (j) 
    (i)  If the revocation decision of the chartering
authority is reversed on appeal, the agency that granted the charter
shall continue to be regarded as the chartering authority. 
   (k) 
    (j)  During the pendency of an appeal filed under this
section, a charter school, whose revocation proceedings are based on
paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision  (e)   (d)
 , shall continue to qualify as a charter school for funding and
for all other purposes of this part, and may continue to hold all
existing grants, resources, and facilities, in order to ensure that
the education of pupils enrolled in the school is not disrupted.

   (l) 
    (k)  Immediately following the decision of a county
board to reverse a decision of a school district to revoke a charter,
the following shall apply:
   (1) The charter school shall qualify as a charter school for
funding and for all other purposes of this part.
   (2) The charter school may continue to hold all existing grants,
resources, and facilities.
   (3) Any funding, grants, resources, and facilities that had been
withheld from the charter school, or that the charter school had
otherwise been deprived of use, as a result of the revocation of the
charter shall be immediately reinstated or returned. 
   (m) 
    (l)  A final decision of a revocation or appeal of a
revocation pursuant to subdivision  (e)   (d)
 shall be reported to the chartering authority, the county
board, and the department.
  SEC. 2.  Section 47607.5 of the Education Code is amended to read:
   47607.5.  If either a school district governing board or a county
board of education, as a chartering agency, does not grant a renewal
to a charter school pursuant to Section 47607 and the charter school
is eligible for renewal pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 47607,
the charter school may submit its application for renewal pursuant
to the procedures pertaining to a denial of a petition for
establishment of a charter school, as provided in subdivision (j) of
Section 47605.