Bill Text: CA SB739 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Construction manager at-risk construction contracts: City of Elk Grove: zoo project.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-06-27 - From committee: Be re-referred to Com. on L. GOV. pursuant to Senate Rule 29.10(d). (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) Re-referred to Com. on L. GOV. [SB739 Detail]

Download: California-2023-SB739-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Senate  March 21, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 739

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Introduced by Senator Alvarado-Gil

February 17, 2023

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An act to amend Section 47607.4 of, and to repeal and amend Section 47607.2 of, the Education Code, relating to school accountability.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 739, as amended, Alvarado-Gil. School accountability: COVID-19 performance gaps. charter schools: renewal.

The Charter Schools Act of 1992 authorizes the establishment and operation of charter schools. Existing law prohibits a chartering authority from renewing a charter school if the charter school has not met certain performance goals for the 2 consecutive years immediately preceding the renewal decision unless the charter school can demonstrate increases in pupil performance or strong postsecondary outcomes using “verified data,” as provided.

This bill would clarify that a chartering authority is only required to consider “verified data” if it is provided by the charter school.

Existing law requires a chartering authority to consider pupil performance schoolwide and among all subgroups of pupils when making the decision on whether to renew a charter school, and requires the chartering authority to consider “verified data” for this decision until January 1, 2026.

This bill would require a chartering authority to instead consider “verified data” only if provided by the charter school and would indefinitely extend the operation of this requirement.

Existing law authorizes a chartering authority to renew the approval of a charter school petition under specified procedures. Existing law authorizes a charter to be granted by a chartering authority under designated provisions for a period not to exceed 5 years, except that existing law required all charter schools whose term expires on or between January 1, 2022, and June 30, 2025, inclusive, to have their term extended by 2 years.

This bill, notwithstanding the renewal process and criteria effective July 1, 2021, would require all charter schools whose term expires on or between January 1, 2024, and June 30, 2027, inclusive, to have their term extended by an additional 2 years.

By imposing new duties on local educational agencies acting as chartering authorities, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law establishes a single system for providing support to local educational agencies and schools, known as the statewide system of support, to build the capacity of local educational agencies to perform certain activities. Existing law requires the State Department of Education to develop and maintain the California School Dashboard for publicly reporting local educational agency performance data. Existing law prohibits the department from publishing the California School Dashboard in 2020 and 2021 and from identifying a local educational agency during the 2020–21 or 2021–22 school year for the technical assistance or intervention process based on the performance criteria used for the California School Dashboard.

This bill would declare the Legislature’s intent to enact subsequent legislation to implement revisions to the state K–12 education accountability system to address data and performance gaps resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NOYES   Local Program: NOYES  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 Section 47607.2 of the Education Code, as added by Section 9 of Chapter 486 of the Statutes of 2019, is repealed.

47607.2.

(a)(1)The chartering authority shall not renew a charter if either of the following apply for two consecutive years immediately preceding the renewal decision:

(A)The charter school has received the two lowest performance levels schoolwide on all the state indicators included in the evaluation rubrics adopted pursuant to Section 52064.5 for which it receives performance levels.

(B)For all measurements of academic performance, the charter school has received performance levels schoolwide that are the same or lower than the state average and, for a majority of subgroups performing statewide below the state average in each respective year, received performance levels that are lower than the state average.

(2)A charter school that meets the criteria established by this subdivision and paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 47607 shall only qualify for treatment under this subdivision.

(3)The chartering authority shall consider the following factors, and may renew a charter that meets the criteria in paragraph (1) only upon making a written factual finding, specific to the particular petition, setting forth specific facts to support the finding that the charter school is taking meaningful steps to address the underlying cause or causes of low performance, and those steps are reflected, or will be reflected, in a written plan adopted by the governing body of the charter school.

(4)For a charter renewed pursuant to this subdivision, the chartering authority may grant a renewal for a period of two years.

(b)(1)For all charter schools for which paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 47607 and subdivision (a) of this section do not apply, the chartering authority shall consider the schoolwide performance and performance of all subgroups of pupils served by the charter school on the state indicators included in the evaluation rubrics adopted pursuant to Section 52064.5 and the performance of the charter school on the local indicators included in the evaluation rubrics adopted pursuant to Section 52064.5.

(2)The chartering authority shall provide greater weight to performance on measurements of academic performance in determining whether to grant a charter renewal.

(3)The chartering authority may deny a charter renewal pursuant to this subdivision only upon making written findings, setting forth specific facts to support the findings, that the charter school has failed to meet or make sufficient progress toward meeting standards that provide a benefit to the pupils of the school, that closure of the charter school is in the best interest of pupils and, if applicable pursuant to paragraph (2), that its decision provided greater weight to performance on measurements of academic performance.

(4)For a charter renewed pursuant to this subdivision, the chartering authority shall grant a renewal for a period of five years.

(c)This section shall become operative on January 1, 2026.

SEC. 2.

 Section 47607.2 of the Education Code, as amended by Section 57 of Chapter 44 of the Statutes of 2021, is amended to read:

47607.2.

 (a) (1) The chartering authority shall not renew a charter if either of the following apply for two consecutive years immediately preceding the renewal decision:

(A) The charter school has received the two lowest performance levels schoolwide on all the state indicators included in the evaluation rubrics adopted pursuant to Section 52064.5 for which it receives performance levels.

(B) For all measurements of academic performance, the charter school has received performance levels schoolwide that are the same or lower than the state average and, for a majority of subgroups performing statewide below the state average in each respective year, received performance levels that are lower than the state average.

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), if the two consecutive years immediately preceding the renewal decision include the 2019–20 or 2020–21 school year, the chartering authority shall not renew a charter if either of the following apply for two of the most recent years for which state data is available preceding the renewal decision:

(A) The charter school has received the two lowest performance levels schoolwide on all the state indicators included in the evaluation rubrics adopted pursuant to Section 52064.5 for which it receives performance levels.

(B) For all measurements of academic performance, the charter school has received performance levels schoolwide that are the same or lower than the state average and, for a majority of subgroups performing statewide below the state average in each respective year, received performance levels that are lower than the state average.

(3) A charter school that meets the criteria established by this subdivision and paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 47607 shall only qualify for treatment under this subdivision.

(4) The chartering authority shall consider the following factors, and may renew a charter that meets the criteria in paragraph (1) or (2) only upon making both of the following written factual findings, specific to the particular petition, setting forth specific facts to support the findings:

(A) The charter school is taking meaningful steps to address the underlying cause or causes of low performance, and those steps are reflected, or will be reflected, in a written plan adopted by the governing body of the charter school.

(B) There is clear and convincing evidence showing either of the following:

(i) The school achieved measurable increases in academic achievement, as defined by at least one year’s progress for each year in school.

(ii) Strong postsecondary outcomes, as defined by college enrollment, persistence, and completion rates equal to similar peers.

(C) Clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (B) shall be demonstrated by verified data, as defined in subdivision (c).

(5) Verified data, as defined in subdivision (c), shall be considered by the chartering authority until June 30, 2025, for a charter school pursuant to this subdivision, operating on or before June 30, 2020, only for the charter school’s next two subsequent renewals. authority, if provided by the charter school.

(6) For a charter renewed pursuant to this subdivision, the chartering authority may grant a renewal for a period of two years.

(b) (1) For all charter schools for which paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 47607 and subdivision (a) of this section do not apply, the chartering authority shall consider the schoolwide performance and performance of all subgroups of pupils served by the charter school on the state indicators included in the evaluation rubrics adopted pursuant to Section 52064.5 and the performance of the charter school on the local indicators included in the evaluation rubrics adopted pursuant to Section 52064.5.

(2) The chartering authority shall provide greater weight to performance on measurements of academic performance in determining whether to grant a charter renewal.

(3) In addition to the state and local indicators, the chartering authority shall consider clear and convincing evidence showing either of the following:

(A) The school achieved measurable increases in academic achievement, as defined by at least one year’s progress for each year in school.

(B) Strong postsecondary outcomes, as defined by college enrollment, persistence, and completion rates equal to similar peers.

(4) Subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (3) shall be demonstrated by verified data, as defined in subdivision (c). (c), if provided by the charter school.

(5)Verified data, as defined in subdivision (c), shall be considered by the chartering authority for the next two subsequent renewals until January 1, 2026, for a charter school pursuant to this paragraph.

(6)

(5) The chartering authority may deny a charter renewal pursuant to this subdivision only upon making written findings, setting forth specific facts to support the findings, that the charter school has failed to meet or make sufficient progress toward meeting standards that provide a benefit to the pupils of the school, that closure of the charter school is in the best interest of pupils and, if applicable pursuant to paragraphs (2) and (3), that its decision provided greater weight to performance on measurements of academic performance.

(7)

(6) For a charter renewed pursuant to this subdivision, the chartering authority shall grant a renewal for a period of five years.

(c) (1) For purposes of this section, “verified data” means data derived from nationally recognized, valid, peer-reviewed, and reliable sources that are externally produced. Verified data shall include measures of postsecondary outcomes.

(2) By January 1, 2021, the state board shall establish criteria to define verified data and identify an approved list of valid and reliable assessments that shall be used for this purpose.

(3) No data sources other than those adopted by the state board pursuant to paragraph (2) shall be used as verified data.

(4) Notwithstanding paragraph (3), a charter school under consideration for renewal before the state board’s adoption pursuant to paragraph (2) may present data consistent with this subdivision.

(5) Adoption of the criteria pursuant to this subdivision shall not be subject to the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).

(6) The state board may adopt and make necessary revisions to the criteria in accordance with the requirements of the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).

(7) Upon adoption of a pupil-level academic growth measure for English language arts and mathematics, the state board may reconsider criteria adopted pursuant to this subdivision.

(d)This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2026, and as of that date is repealed.

SEC. 3.

 Section 47607.4 of the Education Code is amended to read:

47607.4.

 Notwithstanding the renewal process and criteria established in Sections 47605.9, 47607, and 47607.2 or any other law, effective July 1, 2021, all charter schools whose term expires on or between January 1, 2022, and June 30, 2025, inclusive, shall have their term extended by two years. years, and all charter schools whose term expires on or between January 1, 2024, and June 30, 2027, inclusive, shall have their term extended by an additional two years.

SEC. 4.

 If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

SECTION 1.

 It is the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation to implement revisions to the state K–12 education accountability system to address data and performance gaps resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.