On Wednesday evening (Aug. 28), Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that an agreement has been reached with legislative leadership on Assembly Bill 1505 (O’Donnell, D-Long Beach), a bill that would make substantial changes to processes governing charter school petitions and renewals.
The exact details of this agreement are still being worked out, and the amended bill language is not yet in print as of this writing. CSBA will report on additional details of AB 1505 when the amended language is made public.
“We feel that the bill has been headed in the right direction, and we are continuing to work with the author and key stakeholders,” said Carlos Machado, CSBA legislative advocate. “We appreciate the consideration given to the impacts of charters on existing district services and the needs and interests of local communities.”
AB 1505 was amended in July to reflect several of CSBA’s key concerns, and those amendments reflected several recommendations made by CSBA’s Charter Schools Task Force in its Uncharted Waters report. It is not yet known when the most recent amendments (reflecting the legislative agreement) will be in print.
The bill is currently on the Senate Appropriations Committee’s suspense file. Appropriations committees in both houses will hear their respective suspense files on Friday, Aug. 30 – the 2019 legislative year ends on Friday, Sept. 13.
