Charter Schools Association Announces Support for Alternative Authorizers Charter Legislation

Business Wire, April 25, 2005

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Proposal Would Allow Public Colleges and Universities Authority to Directly Sponsor Charters and Hold Authorizers More Accountable

The California Charter Schools Association today announced its support for new charter school legislation that would expand the types of charter school authorizers to include public colleges and universities. The proposal, Senate Bill (SB) 844, is authored by State Senator Chuck Poochigian (R - Fresno) and sponsored by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Senate Education Committee is expected to hear SB 844 this Wednesday, April 27.

While this proposed legislation represents the third time that the charter community has pushed for colleges and universities to play a greater role in California's public schools, it is the first year that a provision has been included to hold charter school authorizers more accountable. SB 844 grants the State Board of Education (SBE) the authority to revoke negligent authorizers' abilities to oversee charter schools. Earlier this month, in light of the recent audit of the California Charter Academy (CCA), called for last year by the charter school community, the Association introduced a proposal to revoke the authorizing abilities of negligent school districts that approve charters to unqualified groups and then fail to provide sufficient oversight.

The Association's authorizer accountability proposal, which has been added in part to SB 844, was introduced following a more than three-year period when the charter school community embraced tough new standards for themselves to stop the abusive business practices of CCA, an organization with four charters approved by three school districts who collected oversight fees and performed virtually no oversight.

"California's colleges and universities are willing to step up and take a more active role in our public school system -- particularly in our urban cities where quality public schools are so desperately needed," said Caprice Young, CEO of the California Charter Schools Association. "It is clear that our school district-only model of oversight is preventing charter schools from reaching their full potential. By enacting our proposal into law, our legislature can take a dramatic step to improve charter school accountability while allowing our colleges and universities to unleash their talents into our public schools."

"I am pleased to work with the California Charter Schools Association on such a critical issue for strengthening charter schools," said State Senator Poochigian. "California's promising charter school system will benefit from having the special resources of our outstanding higher education system. Allowing colleges and universities to authorize and oversee charter schools will help to hold them more accountable and benefit students, parents, and the state."

"Charter schools enable you to think outside the box and to dream new curricula," Vida Samiian, Fresno State's dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, told the Fresno Bee earlier this month. Samiian helped launch the high performing University High, located on the campus of Fresno State.

Adding support for SB 844 includes a major report released in January 2004 by the California Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO), which recommended the Legislature to hold charter authorizers more accountable, and to include public colleges and universities as authorizers of charter schools. According to the Legislative Analyst, "A multiple-authorizer system might promote valuable and educationally beneficial partnerships between K-12 schools and teacher education programs, higher education more generally, and nonprofit community groups."

This proposal is good public policy for California since many public colleges and universities have demonstrated a strong commitment to improving K-12 public education and are currently involved in the ongoing operation of California's charter schools.

Experience in other states has also shown that having more than just school districts oversee charter schools improves charter school oversight. Since California passed its charter school law in 1992, thirty-eight states have passed charter school laws, many with provisions that allow entities other than school districts to authorize charter schools. SB 844 is similar to charter school laws in New York, Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin - states whose charter school movements have a healthy oversight process.

"Competition among authorizers also would be likely to improve the quality of oversight and technical assistance available to interested charter school groups," said the Legislative Analyst in its 2004 report. "A multiple-authorizer system would address the perverse incentives that currently weaken oversight efforts."

SB 844 still seeks to give school districts the ability to continue to participate in the chartering process. It also gives community groups that reside in areas where school districts are incapable of developing the expertise to oversee charter schools an opportunity to benefit from charter school law.