Charter Schools, Unions Call a Truce as Newsom Brokers Deal on Contentious Bill

Gov. Gavin Newsom brokered an agreement Wednesday on a high-profile charter-school regulation proposal at the center of this year’s contentious battle between teachers unions and charter advocates, removing a key hurdle for its passage this session.

The compromise on Assembly Bill 1505 comes after months of lobbying by the state’s two most influential education interest groups and several impassioned hearings over sweeping proposed changes to how the publicly funded, independently managed schools operate in California.

Initiated in the early 1990s as a way to bring innovation into California’s K-12 school system, charter schools have sharply grown over the years, primarily in the state’s urban school systems, and have become a flashpoint for unions, which contend they draw enrollment away from traditional public schools — depriving them of critical funding and resources.

In a joint statement, Newsom and Senate and Assembly leaders characterized the deal on AB 1505 as one that “significantly reforms the Charter Schools Act to address long-standing challenges for both school districts and charter schools.”

“This agreement focuses on the needs of our students,” the statement from the Governor’s Office read. “It increases accountability for all charter schools, allows high-quality charter schools to thrive, and ensures that the fiscal and community impacts of charter schools on school districts are carefully considered.”

The California Charter Schools Association removed its opposition — formally shifting to a “neutral” position — to AB 1505 after the group said it secured “significant protections” for charter schools, including some preservation of appeals to counties and the state, as well as granting high-performing charters a fast track toward renewal.

“For 25 years, California’s charter public school movement has relentlessly run towards the greatest challenges in public education,” Myrna Castrejón, president and CEO of the state’s charter association, said in a statement.

“Far too many of our most vulnerable students have been underserved by our current public school system, which is exactly why we’ve engaged in thoughtful conversations and shown a willingness to compromise on this important legislation.”

News of the agreement marked a striking departure from previous sessions in which teachers unions and charter advocates bitterly fought the opposing sides’ proposals to a legislative stalemate.

But Newsom, who won office amid heavy opposition from deep-pocketed charter supporters, signified soon after he took office in January that he planned to play an active role in mediating California’s charter school debate.

One of the first bills Newsom signed this year, Senate Bill 126, requires charters to adhere to the same public-records and open-meeting laws as traditional district schools — a proposal that had previously passed but was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown. Legislators fast-tracked the bill partly in response to the large Los Angeles teachers’ strike in January that amplified the debate over charter school restrictions.

“The goal over the next few months is to work to address a number of these vexing issues that frankly need to be addressed. It’s long overdue to have these conversations,” Newsom said in March after signing SB 126.

The original version of AB 1505 called for granting local school districts sole power over authorizing charter schools in California, granting wide latitude to school boards over charter approvals and removing appeals to the county and state boards altogether.

The bill was introduced as the centerpiece of a package of charter restriction bills by Democratic legislators, and immediately set off an intense public debate. Charter advocates, including the state charter association, decried the original proposal as “poisonous” and an existential threat to charters in California. Teachers unions and supporters of the legislation said the accountability proposals were “commonsense” reforms that were long overdue.

AB 1505 gradually has been amended as it has cleared each successive legislative hurdle, but it became clear it would become the vehicle for a consensus revision after it cleared the Assembly in a narrow and dramatic floor vote. Another charter regulation bill, AB 1507, which would prohibit school districts from authorizing charters outside of their geographic boundaries, also remains active.

Democratic Assemblyman Patrick O’Donnell, chair of the Assembly’s education panel and author of AB 1505, said the agreement “represents a step in the right direction to reform our state’s outdated charter school laws that have been in place since 1992.”