Education Week - June 3, 2019 - 23

jority of black students are enrolled in
noncharter schools.
The California legislative package
builds off of the momentum generated by a wave of teacher activism in
the state. Los Angeles and Oakland
teachers included charter regulations
alongside increased pay on their lists
of demands when they went on strike
in 2018.
While district schools "are struggling just for survival," charter
schools lobbying against the bills are
promoting a "false narrative around
school choice," David Goldberg, secretary treasurer of the California
Teachers Association, told thousands
of teachers gathered outside of the
state Capitol May 22.
"Meanwhile, none of our students
have the choice to have a fully funded
neighborhood school," he added.
"That's unacceptable." The assembled
teachers called for increased school
funding and put pressure on lawmakers, who later narrowly passed
one of the charter bills that day.
That measure, Assembly Bill 1505,
would eliminate the ability of charter
schools to appeal petition denials to
state and county authorizers, which
have sometimes overridden district
concerns in the past. It would let districts consider the fiscal and facilities
impacts alongside academics when a
charter applies for approval or reapproval, and allow for approval periods
as short as two years. And it would
require charter petitioners to explain
how they plan to enroll a proportion
of English-language learners and

special education students that reflects the overall district enrollment.
The Assembly passed the bill by a
42-19 vote.
Other bills in the package have yet
to see votes from a complete chamber of the legislature. They would
prohibit counties and districts from
authorizing charter schools outside of
their boundaries and cap the number
of charter schools at current levels
starting in 2020, only allowing for the
creation of a new charter if another
one closes in the same jurisidiction.
Supporters of the measures say
California's charter school law has
been unchanged for decades, leaving
accountability concerns, especially for
schools operated far from the jurisdictions that authorize them.
As debate continued last week, the
San Diego County district attorney announced an indictment against the A3
network of charter schools. Operators
of the schools are accused of stealing
more than $50 million from the state
by creating "phantom institutions" and
falsifying enrollment of 40,000 students, none of whom ever received any
services, the Associated Press reported.

complete a national "audit" of charters. He seeks to ban "for profit" charters (some are operated by for-profit
entities). And he wants to halt public
funding for new charter schools.
Sanders also wants changes for
those charters that stick around.
They'd have to have the same "oversight" as traditional public schools.
And for each charter school management board, half the members would
have to be parents and teachers.
(Charters are publicly funded, tuitionfree, independently managed schools.)
In 2016, the NAACP called for
a moratorium on charter school
expansion, a call Sanders directly
echoed. There's no direct federal
path to accomplish these proposals, however. Right now, the the
Department of Education provides
$440 million to help charter schools
get off the ground and for other aid.
Yet states still control a big part of
the policy Sanders is addressing.
Another detail: Charter schools
run by for-profit entities make up
less than 15 percent of all charters,
according to the National Alliance
for Public Charter Schools.
Less than four years ago, Sanders
expressed support for "public charter
schools," although his exact meaning
was unclear. Still, some Democrats
remain charter school fans; recent
polling by Democrats for Education
Reform found relatively high black
and Hispanic support for them.

Sanders' plan quickly inspired
political reporters to ask other candidates about their positions on
charters.
Some candidates, including former
U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas
and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker,
have been criticized for their past
support of charter schools.
Booker brushed aside a question
about charters at an Iowa event in
February, saying they represent a
small proportion of all schools and
he wants "great public education
for all of our children." O'Rourke,
whose wife, Amy, founded a charter school, said in April that there
is "real value" in charter schools
that are run by nonprofit organizations and share their ideas, but
"we cannot charter our way out of
public school challenges."
The drive to criticize charters represents a shift. President Barack
Obama's administration was considered friendly to charter schools. But
school choice advocates say DeVos
has become a visible and divisive
advocate for their cause, driving debates over the issue further into the
public conversation.
In contrast to Sanders', Biden's
plan doesn't address charter schools.
Asked about the issue by a teacher
after he unveiled his plan at the
Houston AFT event, Biden said only
that he doesn't support federal funding for for-profit charters.

broader latitude to deny their renewal applications could be abused,
and that new caps would squelch the
launch of expanded options for families who aren't satisfied with their
school options.
"The needs of our students should
always come before politics," Myrna
Castrejón, the president and CEO of
the California Charter Schools Association, said in a statement. "We
must work together to balance the
very real needs of local school districts with the needs of our students
who deserve schools where they can
learn and thrive. This is especially
important in communities where
good schools are too few."
While union members packed
the Capitol in support of the bills,

charter supporters showed up to
urge opposition.
Past attempts to amend California's charter law have stalled.
The winds have shifted in part
thanks to a receptive governor.
In March, Gov. Gavin Newsom,
a Democrat, signed a bill that requires charter schools to adhere to
the state's open records and public
meetings laws. Similar bills had
previously been vetoed by Gov.
Jerry Brown, also a Democrat. A
task force convened by Newsom to
analyze charters' effects will release a report in July.
Similar political shifts could boost
charter restrictions in other states,
said Ziebarth, of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

Shaping the Future

"I think it is symbolic, and in some
not-so-good ways," he said.
But some states have also passed
bills championed by charter supporters recently. Florida, for example,
passed a bill that will require districts to share tax dollars collected
through voter-approved referenda
with charter schools, and Tennessee
lawmakers created a statewide authorizing commission.
Coverage of how parents work with
educators, community leaders, and
policymakers to make informed decisions
about their children's education is
supported by a grant from the Walton
Family Foundation. Education Week
retains sole editorial control over the
content of this coverage.

Preparing
Tomorrow's
Innovators

Reassurance Falls Flat
Assemblyman Patrick O'Donnell, a
Democrat who chairs the Assembly's
education committee and who wrote
bill 1505, said "good charter operators" have nothing to worry about
under his bill.
But operators of existing charters
weren't comforted. They fear that

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