Taking on charter schools in California through the Legislature

With Governor Newsom open to exploring the role of charters on the California education landscape, a new wave of legislation has been proposed to restrict or reduce the role of charters across the state.  The pro-charter movement in the state played a large role in the 2018 election.  In the gubernotrial primary, charter supporters gave $23 million to pro-charter candidate Antonio Villaraigosa, who failed to make it in to the top 2 spots for the general election.  They also spent an estimated $36 million to support pro-charter candidate Marshall Tuck for State Superintendent of Education.  Tuck lost narrowly to Tony Thurmond.  Now, with Newsom and Thurmond in place, legislators are working on bills that rethink the charter movement:

• SB 126 requires new transparency by charters.  Proposed in the Senate and passed quickly through both houses, the bill was signed into law by Governor Newsom on March 5, 2019.  Under the new law, charter schools must follow the same rules of open transparency as traditional public schools.  They are required to have board meeting open to the public.  Furthermore, charter school board members are forbidden from voting on any matter in which they have a financial interest.  In the Assembly, a trio of bills is slated to place new rules on charters in the state.
• AB-1505 puts the granting of charters back into the hands of school districts.  As the law exists now, if a school district denies a petition for a charter school, the petitioner can go to the county or state level for approval.  AB-1505 would give districts the final say.  The bill also reduces the length of charter renewals from every five years to as short as every year.  Furthermore, the law addresses concerns regarding inclusion (or discrimination against) of English Language Learners and children with disabilities. 
• AB-1506 limits the number of the charter schools in the state.  This essentially would cap the number of charters to the existing 1,300+ schools.
• AB-1507 limits charter schools from establishing themselves outside the boundaries of the district that granted them the charter.  This seems like commonsense, but apparently it isn't in the current policy related to charters.
• AB-1508 if passed would allow charter-granting bodies to consider the fiscal, academic, and facilities impact on the district when considering new charter school petitions.  This bill alone has the potential to make a large impact.  Several reports suggest that the financial impact on school districts presented by charter schools is large and needs to be addressed.

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Related news:

• Oakland teachers reached an agreement with the district recently than in addition to pay increases included a moratorium on charter schools in the district.
• And in a recent special election for a new Los Angeles Unified School Board member, charter candidates are running behind progressive, anti-charter candidates.  Read more here.