Last week both of the Legislature’s budget
subcommittees on education fi nance took up several charter-
related fi nance reform items proposed by the Governor.
Both subcommittees deferred action on most issues, but approved
a few minor ones. The tenor of the debate, however,
was interesting as it laid bare key legislators’ limited understanding
of fundamental charter policy issues and signal
that, even two decades after the introduction of chartered
schools in California, mainstream education lobby groups
continue to strenuously oppose even basic charter school
equity proposals. ... To read this article, please login and visit the "Finance" page under the "Resources" tab.

Recent announcements from the CDE have
confi rmed that schools submitting applications for the current
Public Charter Schools Grant Program (PCSGP) application
cycle (due April 30) may elect to allocate expenses
starting January 1, 2012. This early funding start date is optional and applicants
may choose to retain the original August 1, 2012 start date
as previously advised by the CDE. Choosing to include expenses prior to the original August
1, 2012 will have an impact on both your ... To read this article, please login and visit the "School Planning & Startup" page under the "Resources" tab.

SACRAMENTO — Last week the California Department of
Education Charter Schools Division delivered letters to all
43 applicants from the Fall (August-October) 2011 Public
Charter Schools Grant Program (PCSGP) application cycle.
These letters presented detailed information regarding the
outcomes of the PCSGP applications. Each letter was separated into two ... To read this article, please login and visit the "School Planning & Startup" page under the "Resources" tab.

SACRAMENTO - The Legislative Analyst estimates that state revenues will fall $6.5 billion short of the Governor’s January budget proposal estimates. This huge gap, combined with a slew of more minor issues and developments, mean the charter school funding picture for the 2012-13 budget remain very unclear and difficult-to project. Meanwhile, Governor Brown has signed Senate Bill 81, confirming the additional and unanticipated additional mid-year funding cuts that we discussed in our prior posting. This article reviews these major and several minor budget-related items including updated current-year funding rates, pending funding opportunities, deferral exemptions, and ... For more, please visit the "Finance" page under the "Resources" tab.

SACRAMENTO - The Education Audit Appeals Panel (EAAP)  recently approved new emergency audit regulations calling for charter school auditors to disallow average daily attendance (ADA) if immunization documentation does not prove that the student met recently-adopted pertussis (whooping cough) vaccination requirements.   The regulations will govern audits of schools’ current-year (2011-12) compliance with the pertussis vaccination requirements and direct auditors to disallow all attendance and related funding generated when students do not meet the requirement. ... For more, please visit the "Finance" page under the "Resources" tab.

The California Department of Education (CDE) is currently accepting Public Charter Schools Grant Program (PCSGP) applications for the January – March 2012 grant cycle.  Applications must be submitted by March 31, 2012 in order to be considered for this cycle.  The next grant cycle will be open August – October 2012.  PCSGP funds are administered by ... For more, please visit the "School Planning & Startup" page under the "Resources" tab.

SACRAMENTO - The California Legislature this week approved legislation (Senate Bill 81) to restore the cut to school districts’ Home-To-School Transportation funding program and instead cut school district and charter school general-purpose funding.   This fast-track legislation is said to have Governor Brown’s support and, if signed into law, would give charter schools an additional, unexpected mid-year funding cut ... For more, please visit the "Finance" page under the "Resources" tab.

The Governor’s proposed 2012-13 state budget would trigger an estimated $370 per ADA cut to K-12 education funding if voters fail to approve a proposed November ballot initiative to increase state sales and income taxes.  This chilling news means that charter schools once again likely face a two-track budget picture for the 2012-13 school year, dominating an otherwise-intriguing budget proposal that would largely re-write California’s Byzantine K-12 education finance system.  Governor Brown’s proposal also includes several charter-specific budget-related policy proposals that help equalize... For more, please visit the "Finance" page under the "Resources" tab.

Governor Brown proposes a sweeping overhaul and simplification of the K-12 education funding system, including several helpful changes to support charter schools in his 2012-13 state budget proposals. Many budget details were released yesterday, five days ahead of next Tuesday’s scheduled release, after staff inadvertently posted some ofthe budget details to a public web site. The Governor’s staff has yet to hold their usual briefings, so many details remain sketchy. What is clear is that ... For more, please visit the "Finance" page under the "Resources" tab.

The California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) yesterday called for non-renewal of charters for 10 schools. The recommendations, based on rankings from their Similar Schools Model (SSM) ranking methodology, are the association’s latest in a multi-pronged effort to shutter charter schools that post low standardized testing scores. The Charter Schools Development Center (CSDC) believes that the SSM ranking methodology is unsound and is asking CCSA to retract its recommendations ... For more, please visit the "Law & Policy" page under the "Resources" tab.

Governor Brown announced today that he will lightly squeeze the budget cut “trigger,” resulting in minor cuts to K-12 schools’ general purpose funding.    The announcement provides a bit of welcome relief in an otherwise-grim fiscal environment.  The Governor noted that his forthcoming proposal for next year’s (2012-13) state budget will also include a trigger mechanism, contingent on voter approval of a tax increase initiative he is proposing for the ... For more, please sign into your account and visit the "Finance" page under the "Resources" tab.

California moved one step closer to pulling a state budget cut trigger when the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) yesterday released its annual state budget prognosis.  The LAO estimated that 2011-12 state revenues will fall $3.7 billion short of levels assumed when the state budget was adopted last June.  The bad news is that trigger cuts are very likely.  The good news is that ... For more, please sign into your account and visit the "Finance" page under the "Resources" tab.

A three-judge panel in the Sixth Appellate District unanimously ruled this week that the Los Altos School District short-sheeted Bullis Charter School when the district used deceptive tactics to justify offering a proportionally smaller facility to the charter school.  At issue was whether the facilities offered by Los Altos to Bullis Charter School were “reasonably equivalent” to those of comparison district schools, as required under Proposition 39, which mandates that school districts share their facilities with charter schools ... For more, please sign into your account and visit the "Facilities" page under the "Resources" tab.

U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) released the first comprehensive proposal for reauthorization of the massive federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, formerly known as No Child Left Behind) today. CSDC has only begun to digest its 800+ pages of proposed amendments, but our preliminary analysis indicates the proposal is a decidedly mixed bag for chartered schools.  They include a few positive changes such as dropping the ridiculous 100 percent proficiency targets in current law.  The proposed amendments, however, would turn the current federal charter school grant program upside-down and could leave California out of the running for future charter school grant funding ... For more, please sign into your account and visit the "Finance" page under the "Resources" tab.

Over the last few years, educators have witnessed the improved design and sophistication of many online instructional technology programs, especially those that teach mathematics and reading.  While some school leaders have embraced these tools and are reporting improved outcomes of students who use these programs, other school leaders remain skeptical, perhaps disillusioned by past technology initiatives that ... For more, please sign into your account and visit the "Studies & Research" page under the "Resources" tab.

The Charter Schools Development Center is pleased to announce two of California’s leading charter policy experts as guest speakers for this year's Fall Leadership Update conference!

Come learn from the experience and insight of two prominent education leaders who have had, and continue to have, a profound impact on the charter school movement in California.  Both will be sharing their thoughts about the direction of the charter school movement, looking both from a historical perspective and looking forward at the future evolution of the movement.   

Don’t wait to register for this year’s conference, regular registration deadlines are quickly approaching so sign up now before the rates increase.

The power of social and emotional learning (SEL) is borne out by a growing body of research that associates SEL with numerous positive outcomes including, improved academic performance, higher attendance, improved conduct, decreased bullying ... For more, please sign into your account and visit the "Instruction & Assessment" page under the "Resources" tab.

President Obama proposes a third major round of economic stimulus that would provide a combination of formula-based general-purpose and facilities funding that, if appropriated as proposed, would benefit most, if not all charter schools.  Details of the proposal surfaced today.  According to CSDC’s preliminary review of the legislation as introduced The American Jobs Act of 2011 would provide the following two major sources of funding ... For more, please sign into your account and visit the "Finance" page under the "Resources" tab.

Most charter school stakeholders place a high value on creating a safe, supportive learning community and hope that students will develop fully, academically and personally. These goals are important to students’ well-being not just at school but after the school years as well. Strong school climate also correlates to higher academic performance. How well do schools self-assess their effectiveness in these areas? Many schools have informal knowledge of how they are doing. Schools that implement more systematic measures are often surprised by ... For more, please sign into your account and visit the "Instruction & Assessment" page under the "Resources" tab.

SACRAMENTO - Governor Brown signed a revised state budget for the 2011-12 fiscal year that is based on very optimistic state revenue.  If the optimistic revenue estimates hold, charter funding will track closely to CSDC’s prior estimates and will increase slightly with respect to the prior year.  If state revenues fall short, the budget legislation could trigger mid-year cuts to schools’ funding of up to...  For more, please sign into your account and visit the "Finance" page under the "Resources" tab.

SACRAMENTO - CSDC advises charter schools to pick-up the phone and make a few quick phone calls to their legislators to oppose several anti-charter bills that are up for hearing over the next two weeks in the Senate Education Committee.  Meanwhile the Legislature deliberated over several budget-related bills this week with little practical progress on key tax extension matters.... For more, please sign into your account and visit the "Law & Policy" page under the "Resources" tab.

SACRAMENTO - Governor Brown proposed a $3 billion increase in K-14 education funding, scaling-back K-12 education funding deferrals, and eliminating funding for the troubled CALPADS and CALTIDES pupil and teacher data systems as part of his annual “May Revise” budget proposals.  While the proposals come as welcome news, they remain contingent on Brown’s revised proposals to ask voters to extend “temporary” tax increases that are currently slated to expire along with many other controversial proposals... For more, please sign into your account and visit the "Finance" page under the "Resources" tab.

SACRAMENTO - Governor Brown this morning proposed a $3 billion increase in K-14 education funding, reducing some of the pending K-12 funding deferrals, and eliminating funding for the troubled CALPADS and CALTIDES pupil and teacher data systems as part of his annual “May Revise” budget proposals.  The proposals come as welcome news to K-12 schools that had feared massive and draconian budget cuts, but remain contingent on a slightly reformulated tax revenue extension proposals that the governor advocates placing on a statewide ballot. For more, click the "Finance" link under the "Resources" tab.