Resources
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Overview: School Planning and Startup
Category: School Planning and Startup
The U.S. has witnessed tremendous growth in charter schools, with over a million students being served in over 4,600 charter schools across the country. Charter schools serve a diverse array of students with education programs that highly vary in focus, delivery, and design. Yet despite the growth of charter schools, planning, opening, and operating a charter school remains a tremendous challenge. Successful charter school developers...
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Meeting Charter Implementation Grant Deadlines And Training Requirements
Category: School Planning and Startup
by Michael Agostini, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 03/18/2011 SACRAMENTO - Schools in the process of completing their Public Charter School Grant Program (PCSGP) applications should submit all application materials to the CDE's Charter Schools Division by Thursday, March 31 if seeking funds before the beginning of the upcoming school year. Because there is a good chance that the state budget will not be passed on...
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Updated Details for PCSGP Webinar
Category: School Planning and Startup
by Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 11/03/2010 SACRAMENTO - The California Department of Education will be holding an optional informational webinar regarding the 2010-2015 Public Charter Schools Grant Program (PCSGP) at 10:00AM on Thursday, November 4, 2010. For more, please view the following links: Webinar login instructions (.pdf) Webinar handouts (.pdf) Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 11/03/2010
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Accountability and Renewal Overview
Category: Accountability and Renewal
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Authorizing and Oversight Overview
Category: Authorizing and Oversight
In 1991, Minnesota passed the first law allowing for the creation of charter schools. As of 2011, 40 states and the District of Columbia have laws that allow for the operation of charter schools. Charter laws in the 40 states allow different mixes of agencies to grant charters including local school districts, universities, state boards of education and in some states, specifically designated agencies whose...
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Facilities Overview
Category: Facilities
One of the biggest ongoing obstacles for charter schools is acquiring an affordable facility. While there are a number of programs that can help on this front, charter schools typically need to pursue a variety of facilities strategies over the long-term in order to locate in a building that meets their needs. SB 740 One of the more successful charter school facilities programs was authorized by Senate...
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Appellate Court Spanks Los Altos School District for Shorting Charter School on Prop 39 Facilities Offer
Category: Facilities
by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 10/28/2011 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...
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Proposition 39 Facilities Reminder
Category: Facilities
by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center. Posted on 02/26/2010 Charter schools that are seeking facilities from school districts through the "Prop 39" facilities process need to respond to school districts' preliminary facilities proposals by March 1st. Background Education Code section 47614 (et. sec.), which was promulgated by Proposition 39 in 2000 ("Prop 39"), generally requires school districts to provide "rent free" facilities to charter schools. Extensive and controversial...
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No, You're Not Done Yet: Proposition 39 Next Steps
Category: Facilities
by Miles Denniston, Charter Schools Development Center. Originally published in the Fall 2008 edition of Charter Currents. Introduction Proposition 39 is a statewide proposition approved by voters in 2000 that generally requires school districts to provide charter schools with facilities. Due to new regulations that are now in effect, the process and timeline for requesting such facilities have substantially changed. For both operating charter schools and for...
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Finance Overview
Category: Finance
California's charter schools are funded much like other non-charter California public schools, but generally at lower rates. They receive funding from a mix of local property taxes, state education aid programs, the California Lottery, federal education aid programs, fundraising, and other sources. They are prohibited from charging tuition, but may charge fees for certain items to the same extent as non-charter public schools. California's original charter...
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Reversal of Transportation Trigger Cuts Adds Insult to Charter Funding Disparity
Category: Finance
by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 02/03/2012 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...
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Governor’s Budget Includes Potential $370/ADA Trigger Cut
Category: Finance
Please click here to read this update.
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Governor Releases Budget Proposal Early-Backs Many Charter "Wish List" Items
Category: Finance
by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 01/06/2012 SACRAMENTO - 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....
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Governor Pulls Budget “Trigger," Spares Most K-12 Funding From Cuts
Category: Finance
by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 12/13/2011 SACRAMENTO - 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,...
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One Step Closer to Pulling Budget Trigger
Category: Finance
by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 11/18/2011 SACRAMENTO - 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...
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Proposal to Reauthorize Key Federal Funding Laws Could Eliminate Charter Grants for California
Category: Finance
by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 10/13/2011 SACRAMENTO - 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...
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Obama Unveils Details of Education Jobs Bill Part II
Category: Finance
by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 09/16/2011 SACRAMENTO - 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...
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Governor Signs Hair-Trigger Budget
Category: Finance
by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 07/01/2011 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...
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Deferral Exemption Deadline Reminder
Category: Finance
by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 05/25/2011 SACRAMENTO - Charter schools that want to seek an exemption from one or both sets of major deferrals need to submit their deferral exemption request to the California Department of Education by either May 31 or June 1st, depending on the specific exemptions requested. Charter schools’ deferral exemption requests must be certified by the charter-granting agency (in consultation...
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Expanded Analysis of Governor Brown's "May Revise" Budget Proposals
Category: Finance
by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 05/20/2011 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...
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Governor Brown’s “May Revise” Proposes Increased Funding, Fewer Deferrals for K-12 Schools
Category: Finance
by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 05/16/2011 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...
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Budget Committee Rejects Proposed Charter Facilities Aid Cut; Larger Budget Picture Fuzzy
Category: Finance
by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 03/08/2011 SACRAMENTO - The Legislature’s 2011-12 budget conference committee wrapped-up its work last week, rejecting a proposed $25 million cut to the Charter School Facilities Grant Program and, at least in appearance, keeping pace with Governor Brown’s proposal to send an early budget package forward by a self-imposed March 10 deadline. While the committee’s actions lend the appearance...
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An Expanded Look at Governor Brown's January Budget Proposal
Category: Finance
by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 01/17/2011 SACRAMENTO - Funding for K-12 education and charter schools would remain largely static under Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed 2011-12 state budget. Though the flat funding proposal generally is welcome news in the midst of a massive state budget shortfall, the flat funding proposal is contingent on enacting a laundry list of controversial reforms, cuts, and tax increases....
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Governor Brown Proposes Linking K-12 Education Funding to Voter Approval of Tax Hike Extensions
Category: Finance
by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 01/10/2011 SACRAMENTO - Governor Brown would hold K-12 education funding static and fully fund the state’s constitutional funding guarantee for education under his 2011-12 state budget proposal, but only if voters enact a ballot measure in June to extend several temporary tax increases. The Governor’s overall 2011-12 state budget proposes $12.5 billion in cuts, including a 10 percent...
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Short Fuse on October Deferral Exemption Deadline
Category: Finance
by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 10/13/2010 SACRAMENTO - This afternoon the California Department of Education posted information on the process for requesting an exemption from the recently-authorized October state aid apportionment deferral. As we reported earlier this week, state budget “trailer” legislation authorized a deferral of the October state apportionment into November to give the state treasury time to market a revenue anticipation...
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