NEW ACCOUNTABILITY DEMANDS COMING FOR CHARTERS – STARTUPS AND RENEWALS

By Tom Chorneau, SI&A Cabinet Report | http://bit.ly/OdAMeL

Thursday, September 6, 2012  ::  Legislation pending before Gov. Jerry Brown seeks to resolve long-standing concerns of the U.S. Department of Education that not enough emphasis is placed on student achievement for all subgroups when it comes to charter school renewal in California.

The issue, which dates back more than two years, escalated enough that federal officials formally notified the state last summer that it was out of compliance with the Public Charter Schools Grant Program, putting at risk some $300 million California would receive from the program through 2015.

But SB 1290 by Sen. Elaine Alquist, D-Santa Clara, would require that charter authorizers must consider pupil academic achievement for all subgroups as measured by the API “as the most important factor” for renewal and revocation.

According to analysis from legislative staff, the state currently requires that a charter school must meet at least one of five criteria to receive renewal, including having attained its Academic Performance Index growth target in the prior year or in two of the last three years or in the aggregate for the prior three years.

But there is also room for an authorizing entity to determine that the academic performance of the charter school is at least equal to those traditional public schools in the surrounding area. And there’s an option that the charter has qualified under an alternative accountability system approved by the state.

Federal officials had argued that charters must have a binding contract with their authorizing agency on student performance. Authorizers must also place increases in student achievement for all subgroups as the most important factor when determining whether to renew or revoke a school’s charter – that includes the progress of economically disadvantaged students, students from major racial and ethnic groups, students with disabilities, and students with limited English proficiency.

The California Charter School Association has said in the past that they did not believe California’s current law is out of compliance with federal rules,but nonetheless became a supporter of the final version of SB 1290 to protect the federal grant money.

The association noted in a legislative memo to its members that a prior version of the bill would have drastically changed the renewal requirements.

The bill also has the support of state schools chief Tom Torlakson.

Meanwhile, the California State Board of Education will consider at its meeting next week related but independent changes to the charter application process.

As proposed, the state’s application for charters seeking access to the federal grant money would be revised in an effort to provide more clarity in the scoring criteria.

The federal Public Charter Schools Grant Program is generally used as startup funds for new charters.

Of the $290 million awarded to California through 2015, state officials estimate that $68.6 million will be available in the 2012-13 school year.