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July 1, 2008
TO: All Interested Parties
FR: Laura Preston, ACSA Legislative Advocate
RE: AB 2115 (Mullin) Charter schools: governing
boards.
AB 2115 (Mullin) has been amended to apply public conflict
of interest regulations and the Brown Act to all charter
school boards. You may recall that last year, ACSA and
others opposed the CA Charter School Association's conflict
of interest regulations put forth before the State Board of
Education. Their proposed language diminished the conflict
of interest regulations for charter schools that all public
school boards must comply with. As a result, legislation
has been introduced to require all charter school boards to
comply with the same conflict of interest requirement that
all entities that receive public funds must adhere to.
The Education Code states that charter schools are
considered public schools in order to receive public funds.
Charter school officers and employees are also part of the
public school system. Because of these two facts, ACSA
believes charter school officers and employees must comply
with the same conflict of interest provisions of the
Government Code and Education Code as any other public
school officer or employee.
There have been a number of charter schools that have been
forced to close their doors due to fiscal mismanagement.
One of the most famous was uncovered by a 2005 Fiscal Crisis
and Management and Assistance Team (FCMAT) investigation
that found numerous conflict of interest violations on the
part of the founder of the California Charter Academy. The
founder was charged with criminal conflict of interest
violations. But, because the law is unclear whether the
conflict of interest violations and remedies applied, no
charges were brought against the CA Charter Academy school
board members.
The inability to bring conflict of interest charges against
charter school board members who are complicit in the misuse
of public funds was never the intent of granting flexibility
to charter schools. While charter schools are excluded from
many of the provisions of the Education Code, conflict of
interest regulations that govern public schools are part of
the Government Code and Education Code and were never
intended to be waived as they apply to public charter
schools.
AB 2115 holds charter school boards accountable to the same
conflict of interest requirements as those that govern all
other public school boards. The measure explicitly states
that charter school boards must follow the conflict of
interest requirements set forth in Government Code Section
87100 et seq. and Education Code Section 35107 et seq.
Requiring fiscal transparency to charter school boards will
ensure those few individuals who abuse charter schools for
their own financial gain will be held accountable.
AB 2115 has passed the Assembly, two committees in the
Senate and is now waiting to be heard on the Senate Floor.
As you can imagine, the charter school community is strongly
opposed to AB 2115. Please take a moment to draft a letter
and/or call your own Senator to encourage their support for
AB 2115. Below is ACSA's letter of support for the bill.
Please feel free to use any part of my letter to help in
drafting your own correspondence. I encourage you to do
this sooner than later since we are unsure when the bill
will be heard. Remember, all letters should be written to
"your State Senator,"State Capitol, Sacramento, CA 95814.
Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions
or need additional information. AB 2115 is in an uphill
battle for approval. Your help in securing it's passage is
critical at this time. Thank you in advance for your help.
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June 30, 2008
The Honorable (Your State Senator)
California State Senate
State Capitol, Room
Sacramento, CA 95814 AB 2115:
SUPPORT
Dear Senator:
On behalf of the Association of California School
Administrators, ACSA, I am pleased to inform you of our
support for AB 2115 (Mullin). AB 2115 will be heard on the
Senate Floor soon.
AB 2115 applies public conflict of interest regulations to
all charter school boards. Charter schools are considered
public schools in order to receive public funds. Charter
school officers and employees are also part of the public
school system. Because of these two facts, charter school
officers and employees must comply with the same provisions
of the Government Code (Sections 1090 et seq. and 87100 et
seq.) as any other public school officer or employee does.
In 2002, a school district sought advice from the Fair
Political Practices Commission, FPPC, as to whether the
Government Code sections apply to a charter school operated
by a non-profit corporation. The FPPC concluded that this
school is a local government agency and the governing board
members subject to the conflict of interest statutes. In a
1998 opinion, the Attorney General of California clarified
that, although a charter school operates independently of an
existing school structure, it may not be formed as a legal
entity separate from the school district that granted the
charter. This is true of non-profit corporations that
govern a charter school; they are still public schools and
are still reviewed by the entity that authorized its
existence, the school district, county office of education,
or the state. The California Department of Education has
reinforced this opinion and has stated that a charter school
is considered a governmental agency and part of the public
school system.
The Government Code sections apply to school districts,
county offices of education and charter schools. It does
not make a distinction between charter schools operated by a
school district, county office of education or a charter
school operated by a non-profit corporation.
Currently, there are charter school boards that believe they
are not covered by the Government Code and have attempted to
legislate an alternative conflict of interest statute. By
creating a separate conflict of interest system for charter
schools operated by non-profit corporations, a separate
school system would be created which is unconstitutional.
AB 2115 will clarify that charter school boards are to be
held accountable to the same conflict of interest
requirements as those that govern other public school
boards.
Finally, ACSA does not believe there will be any cost to the
state, school districts, county offices of education or
charter schools in order to comply with the provisions of AB
2115.
On behalf of ACSA, I encourage your support of AB 2115 when
it is heard on the Senate Floor.
Sincerely,
Laura Preston
ACSA Legislative Advocate
lpreston@acsa.org
(916) 329-3807 |
