Charter regulations dominate a busy State Board meeting
Charter revocation rules adopted; Parent Empowerment, SIG also on Sept. 7-8 agenda
Published: September 13, 2011
Formal adoption of Parent Empowerment regulations and the distribution of funding for the second year of beefed-up School Improvement Grants were among the items on a busy State Board of Education’s agenda last week, but the most significant issues may have been those dealing with charter schools.
Separate sets of regulations have been under development to govern charter renewals and, when necessary, revocations. Revocation regulations that were more than two years in development were submitted late last year to the Office of Administrative Law as the final step before they could take effect, but the OAL sent them back for rework over procedural and documentation issues. The revised draft regulations are now available for public review and comment through Sept. 26 under the “Proposed Rulemaking & Regulations” section of the State Board’s website: Charter Revocation and Revocation Appeals.
“Most of CSBA’s requested changes have been accepted” in the draft regulations, CSBA Senior Legislative Advocate Brian Rivas reports in a “This Just In from CSBA” video update posted on CSBA’s website; he remains concerned, however, that authorizers could be forced to wait for charter operators to address conditions that could put pupil health or safety at risk before the authorizers can respond.
“We’re going to continue to work with the Department of Education to make sure the process works smoothly and authorizers can act very swiftly when circumstances arise that warrant revocation,” Rivas said.
Rivas also addresses charter renewal regulations, which are now headed back to the OAL for final adoption after CDE staffers determined that no relevant input was received after a public comment period closed Aug. 2.
“Unfortunately, these provisions include language that specifies that when a charter renewal petition is submitted and the authorizer fails to act within 60 days, the renewal request will be deemed automatically approved. CSBA objected to this provision but unfortunately it wasn’t changed, so districts need to prepare for these regulations to take effect,” Rivas said.
Charters: Student achievement ‘the primary consideration,’ U.S. says
Another charter-related item on the State Board’s agenda was a notice that California is out of compliance with some provisions of a federal Public Charter Schools Grant Program, under which CDE stands to receive $290 million over the next five years to help fund new charter start-ups.
Federal officials consider the state out of compliance with grant provisions mainly “because increases in pupil academic achievement in all groups of pupils … [are] not the ‘primary consideration’ in the approval, renewal, and revocation of California charter schools,” according to a CDE staff report. More information is expected at the State Board’s next meeting in November, and changes in state laws and regulations may be needed.
“CSBA is going to be monitoring this very closely, because any changes in state law or regulations that apply to the charter application process will have a direct effect on local [charter] authorizers,” Rivas said.
School Improvement Grants
On the School Improvement Grant program, CDE staff produced corrective action plans received from the 90 local educational agencies currently funded by the federal program, which is temporarily enhanced by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act reform funding for selected schools targeted for increased student performance. The corrective action plans satisfy concerns about increased learning time and other conditions required under SIG by the U.S. Department of Education—concerns often driven at least in part by ambiguity in the federal regulations.
The State Board also agreed to pursue federal waivers offered for SIG schools whose grants are tied to teacher and principal evaluation systems. Many states have reported problems with developing and implementing new evaluation systems, part of larger SIG requirements that are considered models of the Obama administration’s broader education reform agenda.
Affected schools still must develop the evaluation systems this year and “at a minimum, pilot them for all teachers and principals no later than the 2012-13 school year,” according to a CDE staff report. “The piloted systems should be capable of being used for decisions regarding, for example, retention, promotion, compensation, and rewards, no later than the 2013-14 school year.”
Parent Empowerment
With no changes required following the latest public comment period on permanent regulations proposed to implement the Parent Empowerment Act, the State Board was able to formally adopt the regulations, clearing the way for final action by the OAL.
The law stirred considerable controversy when it was swiftly enacted as part of the state’s bid for federal Race to the Top grant funding in 2010. It allows parents or guardians of students in 75 underperforming schools to petition for the implementation of one of RTTT’s reform models, from adding instructional hours and making other modifications to shutting a school down. The proposed regulations in their current form reflect a consensus approach devised by CSBA and other stakeholders.
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