California
U.S.
Rank
- Opportunity
- Innovation
- Policy Environment
Score:
72%
Grade:
C
Rank:
#24
California’s charter law took a plunge this year because of the passage in September, 2019 of AB1505, which gives districts sole power to authorize and make arbitrary decisions about their existence and operations. It was the biggest roll back since the law was first enacted in 1992, a result of increased political power of opponents.
Law passed: 1992
Most recently amended: 2019
Number of charter schools: 1,313
Number of charter students: 652,933 students
Cap on the number of schools allowed:? Yes, but in essence it is very high. 100 new schools per year are permitted and total current total cap is 2,250 statewide.
Virtual charters allowed? Yes, but a two-year moratorium on virtuals started in 2020
AUTHORIZERS: Whereas, prior to 2019, authorizers included local districts and county boards as well as the state board of education, the board can no longer act as an authorizer and is only an appeals board if the charter being denied can prove the district violated the law.
The new 2019 law also set back California’s charter law by giving broad authority that gives school district authorizers arbitrary, subjective power to deny a charter school that “would substantially undermine” existing schools in a neighborhood, that they can use to deny charter schools.
GROWTH: A modest increase of 48 schools and approximately 24,000 more students since 2018, the state with the most charter schools and students in the U.S. over time has slowed, with restrictions and attacks by prominent school boards. The 2019 changes further deterred applicants, and larger districts like Los Angeles have banned expansions. The Los Angeles union contract requires the school board to delay any approvals until they “study” charter school impacts, a proxy for banning charter school growth.
OPERATIONS: Charter schools have a blanket waiver from most regulations under the law, but in practice, district authorizers had and now have increased power to impose additional constraints. New virtuals are not allowed.
EQUITY: Charter schools are funded using the same formula as traditional district schools for state and local funds. Instead of local tax dollars, though, they may request a transfer of funds from their local district. This leads to inequity, as local districts generally do not provide equitable local tax funding to charters. Also, the new 2019 law allows districts to block a charter if they claim that approving it would push the district’s budget projections into deficit. While California is supposed to provide charters access to public buildings, there are limited funds ($800 million) for charter school facilities development due to the size of the state and number of charter schools.
Score:
Grade:
F
Rank:
#35
There are no choice programs in this state.
Score:
Grade:
D
Rank:
#42
While the state does well in rewarding teachers for teaching high needs areas or subjects and gives districts latitude to tie pay to performance in various ways, it fails to meet teacher prep requirements and content knowledge goals.
TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT: 60%
General Teacher Preparation 58%
Elementary Teacher Preparation 62%
Secondary Teacher Preparation 60%
Special Education Teacher Preparation 55%
Alternate Routes 65%
STAFFING AND SUPPORT: 58%
Hiring 60%
Retaining Effective Teachers 55%
TEACHER EVALUATION: 59%
TEACHER COMPENSATION: 88%
Score:
72%
Grade:
C
Rank:
#24
California’s charter law took a plunge this year because of the passage in September, 2019 of AB1505, which gives districts sole power to authorize and make arbitrary decisions about their existence and operations. It was the biggest roll back since the law was first enacted in 1992, a result of increased political power of opponents.
Law passed: 1992
Most recently amended: 2019
Number of charter schools: 1,313
Number of charter students: 652,933 students
Cap on the number of schools allowed:? Yes, but in essence it is very high. 100 new schools per year are permitted and total current total cap is 2,250 statewide.
Virtual charters allowed? Yes, but a two-year moratorium on virtuals started in 2020
AUTHORIZERS: Whereas, prior to 2019, authorizers included local districts and county boards as well as the state board of education, the board can no longer act as an authorizer and is only an appeals board if the charter being denied can prove the district violated the law.
The new 2019 law also set back California’s charter law by giving broad authority that gives school district authorizers arbitrary, subjective power to deny a charter school that “would substantially undermine” existing schools in a neighborhood, that they can use to deny charter schools.
GROWTH: A modest increase of 48 schools and approximately 24,000 more students since 2018, the state with the most charter schools and students in the U.S. over time has slowed, with restrictions and attacks by prominent school boards. The 2019 changes further deterred applicants, and larger districts like Los Angeles have banned expansions. The Los Angeles union contract requires the school board to delay any approvals until they “study” charter school impacts, a proxy for banning charter school growth.
OPERATIONS: Charter schools have a blanket waiver from most regulations under the law, but in practice, district authorizers had and now have increased power to impose additional constraints. New virtuals are not allowed.
EQUITY: Charter schools are funded using the same formula as traditional district schools for state and local funds. Instead of local tax dollars, though, they may request a transfer of funds from their local district. This leads to inequity, as local districts generally do not provide equitable local tax funding to charters. Also, the new 2019 law allows districts to block a charter if they claim that approving it would push the district’s budget projections into deficit. While California is supposed to provide charters access to public buildings, there are limited funds ($800 million) for charter school facilities development due to the size of the state and number of charter schools.
Score:
Grade:
F
Rank:
#35
There are no choice programs in this state.
Score:
Grade:
D
Rank:
#42
While the state does well in rewarding teachers for teaching high needs areas or subjects and gives districts latitude to tie pay to performance in various ways, it fails to meet teacher prep requirements and content knowledge goals.
TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT: 60%
General Teacher Preparation 58%
Elementary Teacher Preparation 62%
Secondary Teacher Preparation 60%
Special Education Teacher Preparation 55%
Alternate Routes 65%
STAFFING AND SUPPORT: 58%
Hiring 60%
Retaining Effective Teachers 55%
TEACHER EVALUATION: 59%
TEACHER COMPENSATION: 88%
Score:
Grade:
D
Rank:
#36
In April 2020, the Superintendent announced the creation of the Closing the Digital Divide Task Force, which focuses on closing the digital gap for millions of students across the state of California. The program is especially focused on low-income and rural populations.
The pandemic has revealed that California has an ongoing digital divide, especially in rural and low income communities—and the urgent need for devices is on a continuous rise. “California needs at least 708,400 laptops and 322,100 Wi-Fi hotspots to connect all students to the internet from home, a significant jump from previous estimates, according to data from the California Department of Education shared with EdSource on June 17.”
California has 18 school districts that are members of the Digital Promise League of Innovative Schools, giving more than 850,000 students access to digital learning opportunities. The League of Innovative Schools is a network of school leaders in 114 districts in 34 states that aim to enhance and scale digital learning opportunities for students across the nation.
Bandwidth: “99.1% of students in California can access the Internet at speeds of 100 kbps per student, and many students are connected at higher speeds. But there is still work to be done. 50,927 students still need more bandwidth for digital learning.”
There are no statewide commitments or requirements for personalized learning, though some districts and charters have made great strides in this area. Some innovative school districts and charters offer completely personalized instruction, such as Lindsay Unified, Summit Charter Schools and others.
California’s response to educating its students during the COVID-19 crisis has not always prioritized students’ needs. The communications and distance learning guidelines were released quickly — March 17, 2020 — and Gov. Newsom ordered each district to develop their own remote learning plan. But that resulted in the two massive districts of Los Angeles and San Francisco negotiating that teachers not be required to provide instruction for more than 4 hours per day, and to not have to deliver live instruction. San Francisco and other areas had similar agreements.
Across the state, thousands of students went weeks with no instruction at all while others received online learning from day one.
Governor Newsom never officially ordered schools to be closed.
California did provide information for how families could gain affordable internet access during the pandemic, but the state did not directly expand internet access for at need families. Learn more.
California requires all schools – public, private or charter – to return only with remote learning. However they also issued guidelines that small groups of students in need of in-person support could be organized with non-school oversight.
Fast Facts
4th Grade Math Proficiency:
8th Grade Math Proficiency:
12th Grade Math Proficiency:
4th Grade Reading Proficiency:
8th Grade Reading Proficiency:
12th Grade Reading Proficiency:
Graduation Rate:
Average SAT Score:
Average ACT Score:
Public School Enrollment:
Percent Enrolled in Charter Schools:
Average Student Funding:
Score:
Grade:
D
Rank:
#36
In April 2020, the Superintendent announced the creation of the Closing the Digital Divide Task Force, which focuses on closing the digital gap for millions of students across the state of California. The program is especially focused on low-income and rural populations.
The pandemic has revealed that California has an ongoing digital divide, especially in rural and low income communities—and the urgent need for devices is on a continuous rise. “California needs at least 708,400 laptops and 322,100 Wi-Fi hotspots to connect all students to the internet from home, a significant jump from previous estimates, according to data from the California Department of Education shared with EdSource on June 17.”
California has 18 school districts that are members of the Digital Promise League of Innovative Schools, giving more than 850,000 students access to digital learning opportunities. The League of Innovative Schools is a network of school leaders in 114 districts in 34 states that aim to enhance and scale digital learning opportunities for students across the nation.
Bandwidth: “99.1% of students in California can access the Internet at speeds of 100 kbps per student, and many students are connected at higher speeds. But there is still work to be done. 50,927 students still need more bandwidth for digital learning.”
There are no statewide commitments or requirements for personalized learning, though some districts and charters have made great strides in this area. Some innovative school districts and charters offer completely personalized instruction, such as Lindsay Unified, Summit Charter Schools and others.
California’s response to educating its students during the COVID-19 crisis has not always prioritized students’ needs. The communications and distance learning guidelines were released quickly — March 17, 2020 — and Gov. Newsom ordered each district to develop their own remote learning plan. But that resulted in the two massive districts of Los Angeles and San Francisco negotiating that teachers not be required to provide instruction for more than 4 hours per day, and to not have to deliver live instruction. San Francisco and other areas had similar agreements.
Across the state, thousands of students went weeks with no instruction at all while others received online learning from day one.
Governor Newsom never officially ordered schools to be closed.
California did provide information for how families could gain affordable internet access during the pandemic, but the state did not directly expand internet access for at need families. Learn more.
California requires all schools – public, private or charter – to return only with remote learning. However they also issued guidelines that small groups of students in need of in-person support could be organized with non-school oversight.
4th Grade Math Proficiency:
8th Grade Math Proficiency:
12th Grade Math Proficiency:
4th Grade Reading Proficiency:
8th Grade Reading Proficiency:
12th Grade Reading Proficiency:
Graduation Rate:
Average SAT Score:
Average ACT Score:
Public School Enrollment:
Percent Enrolled in Charter Schools:
Average Student Funding:
Gavin Newsom (D)
First term began in 2019 (two-term limit)
Governor Gavin Newsom supported legislation in 2019 that was devastating to charter schools in the state. The legislation the governor signed into law that transitions the charter schools currently authorized by the State Board over to the whims of the local school district or county office of education and prioritizes Public School officials over educational access and opportunity. His campaign was heavily funded by unions, and it shows.
Like the Governor, both the House and Senate are highly responsive to unions and not in favor of increasing education opportunities for families in California. Passing education reform legislation is not only an uphill battle here, but staving off efforts to further limit choice also has to be a big focus.
The State Superintendent of Public Instruction (an elected position) is Tony Thurmond.
The appointed chair of the state board is Linda Darling-Hammond. Neither are pro-reform.
California has a very strict interpretation of its Blaine Amendments. “That interpretation prevents any public body from the state down to the local school board from allowing any public money from any source whatsoever to go to a religious or private school. California courts have explicitly rejected the distinction between aiding students versus aiding schools.” (Institute for Justice)
California is transparent with their school and accountability data. School report cards are easily found on the California DOE website under the Testing and Accountability subheading, by clicking California School Dashboard. This takes you to the California School Dashboard site where you can view school and district reports. Report cards are extremely busy, making it hard to use and understand. Data is displayed in multiple speedometers that are color coded by student groups, and you must click to another page with more speedometers and lots of text.
Information about educational options are accessible in one click under Specialized Programs, where you can find information on charter schools and independence study.
California holds school board elections during the general election cycle, which gives parents more power in their decision making because of higher voter turnout.
Gavin Newsom (D)
First term began in 2019 (two-term limit)
Governor Gavin Newsom supported legislation in 2019 that was devastating to charter schools in the state. The legislation the governor signed into law that transitions the charter schools currently authorized by the State Board over to the whims of the local school district or county office of education and prioritizes Public School officials over educational access and opportunity. His campaign was heavily funded by unions, and it shows.
Like the Governor, both the House and Senate are highly responsive to unions and not in favor of increasing education opportunities for families in California. Passing education reform legislation is not only an uphill battle here, but staving off efforts to further limit choice also has to be a big focus.
The State Superintendent of Public Instruction (an elected position) is Tony Thurmond.
The appointed chair of the state board is Linda Darling-Hammond. Neither are pro-reform.
California has a very strict interpretation of its Blaine Amendments. “That interpretation prevents any public body from the state down to the local school board from allowing any public money from any source whatsoever to go to a religious or private school. California courts have explicitly rejected the distinction between aiding students versus aiding schools.” (Institute for Justice)
California is transparent with their school and accountability data. School report cards are easily found on the California DOE website under the Testing and Accountability subheading, by clicking California School Dashboard. This takes you to the California School Dashboard site where you can view school and district reports. Report cards are extremely busy, making it hard to use and understand. Data is displayed in multiple speedometers that are color coded by student groups, and you must click to another page with more speedometers and lots of text.
Information about educational options are accessible in one click under Specialized Programs, where you can find information on charter schools and independence study.
California holds school board elections during the general election cycle, which gives parents more power in their decision making because of higher voter turnout.