Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Fresno City Gets Extension in Herndon 4-Story Apartment Case

1 day ago

With Major Heat Risk Forecast, This Is a Good Weekend to Stay Indoors in Fresno

1 day ago

Trump Says Intel Has Agreed to Deal for US to Take 10% Equity Stake

1 day ago

Epstein Associate Maxwell Says She Never Saw Trump Behave Inappropriately

1 day ago

Pew: US Immigrant Population Declines for First Time in Nearly 60 Years

1 day ago

Powell, Citing Jobs Risk, Opens Door to Cuts but Doesn’t Commit

2 days ago

FBI Agents Search Ex-Trump Adviser Bolton’s Home, Source Says

2 days ago

Gaza City Officially in Famine, With Hunger Spreading, Says Global Hunger Monitor

2 days ago

Gavin Newsom’s Redistricting Plan Is on Its Way to Voters. What You Need to Know

2 days ago
‘Common Sense Regulations’ or ‘an Extended Middle Finger’? How Far Will California Go on Charter Schools?
gvw_calmatters
By CalMatters
Published 6 years ago on
March 18, 2019

Share

With new fast-tracked transparency rules for charter schools in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom has fulfilled a January pledge to bring “long overdue” accountability measures to this growing sector of public schools.

Ricardo Cano
Analysis

CALmatters

Assembly Bills 1505, 1506, 1507 and 1508 would curb the growth of California’s charter schools, which educate about 10 percent of the state’s 6.2 million public-school students.

But the open meeting and disclosure law Newsom signed — after Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed similar bills twice in prior years — may turn out to be the least controversial part of the Capitol push for tighter charter school regulation.

Several bills, introduced as teachers strikes have amplified the issue, would impose far more consequential and politically loaded restrictions on the state’s 1,300-plus charters, publicly-funded schools that operate outside of the control of school districts and are mostly non-union.

Among them:

  • A cap on charter schools at their current level.
  • Strict limits on charter school locations and the appeal of charters denied by local school districts.
  • New rules that would let districts deny a charter based, at least in part, on the potential financial impact on traditional public schools.

Assembly Bills 150515061507 and 1508 would curb the growth of California’s charter schools, which educate about 10 percent of the state’s 6.2 million public-school students. Legislators pushing the proposals say they are long-needed revisions to laws that have gone mostly unchanged for decades.

But unlike Senate Bill 126, which Newsom signed, and on which most charter advocates were neutral, the forthcoming proposals can expect vigorous and organized pushback.

Newsom Was Noncommittal About Upcoming Charter Proposals

“These are the policy equivalent of an extended middle finger,” said Eric Premack, executive director and founder of the Sacramento-based Charter Schools Development Center.  “This is not the type of legislation that is designed to engender constructive discussion.”

Unions were equally adamant.

“These are the policy equivalent of an extended middle finger. This is not the type of legislation that is designed to engender constructive discussion.” — Eric Premack, executive director and founder of the Sacramento-based Charter Schools Development Center

“It’s been a long time coming,” Alex Caputo-Pearl, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, said of the proposed bills, which he called “common-sense regulations.”

“The massive community support that was seen in both the L.A. and Oakland teachers’ strikes showed that parents and communities and the public are willing to fight for the sustainability of public schools,” Caputo-Pearl said. He added that the charter cap bill sponsored by Assemblyman Kevin McCarty of Sacramento was the “most important” bill for the union.

Newsom was noncommittal about the upcoming charter proposals at a Tuesday ceremony for SB 126, which will make charter schools abide by the same conflict of interest and open meeting rules as traditional district schools.

But the governor also said that he was “exhausted” by the intense, polarizing debates surrounding the role of charter schools in California, grinding his knuckles together for emphasis. Newsom said he was “hopeful, but not naive” about the prospects for consensus, adding, “I want to make sure that I’m a conduit to a package that can be broadly supported.”

“The goal over the next few months is to work to address a number of these vexing issues that frankly need to be addressed,” Newsom told reporters. “It’s long overdue to have these conversations.”

Some Lawmakers Might Not Be Willing to Wait Until Summer

The governor emphasized that he’s already asked state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond to commission a report studying the financial impact of charter school growth on districts’ budgets.

But some lawmakers signaled they might not be willing to wait until summer, when Thurmond’s study is expected—a bucking of more moderate voices such as San Diego Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, who urged fellow Democrats to “take our time to make sure that the issues that are being raised have actually been taken through with some thought.”

Assemblyman Patrick O’Donnell, a Democrat from Long Beach and chair of the Assembly Education Committee, is part of the group of legislators pushing for further regulations on charters. O’Donnell said he would consider the Thurmond-led panel’s recommendations when they’re expected to come out July 1, but did not plan to wait for the report’s completion to advance the bills.

“I’m not going to kick the can down the road, which has been done so many times in Sacramento, and wait and hope that some committee that someone has put together comes up with wise recommendations. I’m going to act,” O’Donnell told CALmatters.

“This is the year where I’ve seen the largest push and the most fervor and a sense of urgency (to address this issue),” O’Donnell said.

Assemblyman Kevin Kiley of Rocklin, the education committee vice chair and its sole Republican legislator, said the proposed bills are “all very bad ideas – each and every one.”

“This is just fundamentally an issue of educational equity,” Kiley said, “and I think the debate over these bills is going to be a chance to see who in the Legislature cares about providing every child in California access to a great education and who has other priorities.”

High-Profile Teacher Strikes, Both Nationally and in California

The new political landscape follows a long period during which California’s powerful teachers unions and charter school movement often fought to a draw in Sacramento as charter enrollment exploded. In moderate Democrats, Republicans and Brown, who started two charter schools when he was mayor of Oakland, the charter movement often found an ally; teachers unions, meanwhile, have largely counted on the support of progressive Democrats.

“I think that probably trumps a certain reckoning on the part of some legislators who haven’t wanted to step in because the Democratic legislators have felt like if they take action to try to rationalize this (charter school) system, they will get pushed back and pay some cost relative to the charter lobby.” — John Rogers, professor of education at UCLA

The 2018 elections, however, upended part of that political calculus. Unions and billionaire school reform advocates pumped tens of millions of dollars into the primary and general election campaigns, with Newsom and Thurmond—labor-backed candidates—emerging as the victors.

High-profile teacher strikes, both nationally and in California, further underscored the charter growth question, which charter advocates have presented as an antidote to low-performing public schools in low-income areas, and unions have framed as a drain on funding and resources for traditional public schools.

John Rogers, professor of education at UCLA, said the 2018 election “sent a signal to Democratic legislators that there is a change afoot in the way the broader public, in particular Democratic voters are thinking about charters.”

“I think that probably trumps a certain reckoning on the part of some legislators who haven’t wanted to step in because the Democratic legislators have felt like if they take action to try to rationalize this (charter school) system, they will get pushed back and pay some cost relative to the charter lobby.”

High Growth Among Charters

Both of the deals that resolved the strikes in Los Angeles and Oakland included symbolic resolutions from local school boards that called on the state to enact a moratorium on charter school growth while its impact on districts’ budgets is studied.

Soon after the Los Angeles Unified school board passed its resolution, Newsom asked Thurmond to lead a panel, despite concerns among charter advocates that the strike rhetoric unfairly scapegoated charters. The L.A. and Oakland districts have both experienced high growth among charters, though their financial turmoil stems from numerous factors, including rising employee pension and health care costs and declining enrollment unrelated to charter schools.

Myrna Castrejón, president and CEO of the California Charter Schools Association, joined Newsom in his bill-signing ceremony Tuesday. Though the association took a neutral stance on SB 126, Castrejón called the legislation “a balanced and comprehensive resolution” and touted Newsom’s leadership.

Castrejón said the proposed charter regulation bills soon to be debated were “terrible policy,” but expressed hope that Newsom could guide those conversations toward consensus.

“With the leadership of our new governor and partners willing to come to the table and have serious conversations and solve serious problems, we’re hopeful that that spirit can carry us through to a better conversation about this package of bills that in the end would damage California’s students,” Castrejón said.

CALmatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno State Bulldogs Can’t Find Answer for Daniels in Loss at Kansas

DON'T MISS

Hegseth Authorizes Troops in DC to Carry Weapons

DON'T MISS

Texas, Florida Seek to Join Legal Challenge to Abortion Pill

DON'T MISS

Wrongly Deported Migrant Abrego Released, May Be Detained Again

DON'T MISS

Judge Blocks Trump From Withholding Funds From Los Angeles, Other Sanctuary Cities

DON'T MISS

Lyle Menendez Denied Parole After 35 Years in Prison for Parents’ Shotgun Murders

DON'T MISS

California Cities Lack Unified Response On Homeless Encampments

DON'T MISS

Trump Crime Crackdown Deploys Troops in Washington’s Safest Sites

DON'T MISS

California Voters Still Support High-Speed Rail, Even If It Never Gets Done

DON'T MISS

Turkish First Lady Urges Melania Trump to Speak out on Gaza

UP NEXT

California Cities Lack Unified Response On Homeless Encampments

UP NEXT

California Voters Still Support High-Speed Rail, Even If It Never Gets Done

UP NEXT

Pew: US Immigrant Population Declines for First Time in Nearly 60 Years

UP NEXT

Gavin Newsom’s Redistricting Plan Is on Its Way to Voters. What You Need to Know

UP NEXT

CARB Executive Leader Rips Trump’s EPA for Seeking to Kill Proven Climate Science

UP NEXT

California Lawmakers Advance First Two Bills in Democrats’ Redistricting Plan

UP NEXT

Trump Administration Cuts California Grant Over Transgender Policies

UP NEXT

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Latest Role Is Social Media Troll

UP NEXT

James Dobson, American Evangelical Activist, Dies at 89

UP NEXT

California Supreme Court Paves the Way for Democrats’ Redistricting Plan

Wrongly Deported Migrant Abrego Released, May Be Detained Again

12 hours ago

Judge Blocks Trump From Withholding Funds From Los Angeles, Other Sanctuary Cities

12 hours ago

Lyle Menendez Denied Parole After 35 Years in Prison for Parents’ Shotgun Murders

12 hours ago

California Cities Lack Unified Response On Homeless Encampments

12 hours ago

Trump Crime Crackdown Deploys Troops in Washington’s Safest Sites

12 hours ago

California Voters Still Support High-Speed Rail, Even If It Never Gets Done

12 hours ago

Turkish First Lady Urges Melania Trump to Speak out on Gaza

12 hours ago

Fresno Crash Sends Car Into Building After Running Red Light

1 day ago

Fresno City Gets Extension in Herndon 4-Story Apartment Case

1 day ago

Atwater Prison Inmate Charged for Threatening to Kill Prosecutor’s Family

1 day ago

Fresno State Bulldogs Can’t Find Answer for Daniels in Loss at Kansas

The Bulldogs could not stop Jalon Daniels. If the Kansas sixth-year quarterback wasn’t accurately completing passes, he was running out of t...

47 minutes ago

47 minutes ago

Fresno State Bulldogs Can’t Find Answer for Daniels in Loss at Kansas

Soldiers with the 30th Armored Combat Brigade from the South Carolina National Guard at Union Station in Washington, Aug. 20, 2025. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has authorized National Guard troops deployed to Washington to bring their weapons with them on their mission. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times)
10 hours ago

Hegseth Authorizes Troops in DC to Carry Weapons

A patient prepares to take Mifepristone, the first pill in a medical abortion, at Alamo Women's Clinic in Carbondale, Illinois, U.S., April 9, 2024. (Reuters File)
12 hours ago

Texas, Florida Seek to Join Legal Challenge to Abortion Pill

Kilmar Abrego Garcia walks, after he has been released from the Putnam County Jail in Cookville, Tennessee, U.S., August 22, 2025. (Reuters/Seth Herald)
12 hours ago

Wrongly Deported Migrant Abrego Released, May Be Detained Again

U.S. flag and Judge gavel are seen in this illustration taken, August 6, 2024. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)
12 hours ago

Judge Blocks Trump From Withholding Funds From Los Angeles, Other Sanctuary Cities

Lyle Menendez attends his Board of Parole hearing online from the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California, U.S., August 22, 2025, that could lead to freedom after decades in prison for the 1989 shotgun murders of his parents. The final decision will rest with the governor, who can either accept or reject the board's recommendation. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation/Handout via REUTERS
12 hours ago

Lyle Menendez Denied Parole After 35 Years in Prison for Parents’ Shotgun Murders

12 hours ago

California Cities Lack Unified Response On Homeless Encampments

Members of the Mississippi National Guard eat ice cream and boba tea on the National Mall after U.S. President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard and ordered an increased presence of federal law enforcement to assist in crime prevention, in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 21, 2025. (Reuters/Al Drago)
12 hours ago

Trump Crime Crackdown Deploys Troops in Washington’s Safest Sites

Search

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Send this to a friend