Panel OKs Charter School Funding Cuts

A controversial bill that seeks to bolster classroom-based charter schools in poor urban areas by slashing state funding to their home-based counterparts cleared a legislative committee Tuesday.

Fallout from the measure extends beyond the realm of charter schools, however.

The bill is among a variety of issues dividing Republicans and Democrats over passage of the state’s next budget. It also could materialize as a campaign issue in the race for the next state superintendent of public instruction.

Legislation by Sen. Jack O’Connell (D-San Luis Obispo) proposes to cut funding by at least 10% in the 2001-02 budget year to classroom-less charter schools unless school officials can justify their expenses to the State Board of Education, in which case they would be granted a waiver. The funding reduction would grow to at least 30% by 2003-04.

Bill Could Affect 30,000 Children

O’Connell said a need exists for the board to review funding for these charter schools, many of which are of the home-based variety, because in some cases the state is spending thousands of dollars on students who see teachers as little as once a month. By one estimate, the measure could affect 91 schools that serve 30,000 children.

“The state has a clear role to play when it is blatantly obvious that children are not benefiting from the resources allocated to their schools,” O’Connell said.

At the same time, the measure proposes establishing an annual $10-million grant program to aid classroom-based charter schools in low-income neighborhoods with their rent and lease costs.

The Assembly Education Committee approved the bill, SB 740, on a vote of 10 to 3 before a packed audience that included many supporters of home-based charter schools along with their children.

The measure, which now heads to the Assembly, faces stiff opposition from Republican lawmakers.

Critics say the legislation is unfair because it presumes the schools are guilty of misconduct until they prove their innocence. They also decry the shift in authority from local chartering school districts to the State Board of Education.

Walnut Creek Assemblywoman Lynne Leach, who was one of three Republicans to vote against the measure Tuesday, accused O’Connell of “whittling away” at home-based charter schools.

“We’re taking money from a whole group of these home-study charter schools . . . when there are only a few that are not performing well,” she said.

Leach and O’Connell are each expected to make a run next year to replace Delaine Eastin, who is facing term limits, as the next state superintendent of public instruction.

‘There Are Things That Need to Be Fixed’

The legislation is contained in a bill that accompanies the state’s 2001-02 budget plan, which is being held up by Republicans who are seeking a continuation of a quarter-cent cut in the state sales tax.

Lancaster Assemblyman George Runner, the Republican point man on budget matters in the lower house, took issue with the fact that schools are not expected to learn whether they have been granted waivers until early next year--well after the start of the academic year.

“We as Republicans are going to again use this as an example of why this budget doesn’t need to go forward right now,” Runner said. “There are things that need to be fixed.”

What is in need of fixing, according to testimony by State Board of Education President Reed Hastings on Tuesday, is a system that fails to protect children, taxpayers and well-run charter schools from bad operators. Proponents say they expect most schools to receive waivers.

“There is a need in my judgment to have somebody go through school by school and try to separate which ones are really serving kids and which ones are making a mockery of the whole charter school system,” he said.