Parent Power!

California

U.S.
Rank
#34 D
Overall PPI Score: 64%
California Overview
Opportunity
Innovation
Policy Environment

Charter Schools

Score
72%
Grade: C
Rank: #35

Once upon a time, California was a leader in innovation and charter schooling, providing multiple pathways to open schools, allowing lots of flexibility and autonomy and funding closer to equity than it is in many states. But today despite charter successes and parent demands, the state's law remains restrictive, a result of bad policy making influenced by unions after pro-charter governors were replaced by system-fans. This makes choices more difficult to obtain and parent power a dream for most parents in the areas most in need of change, like LA and Oakland.

Fast Facts:

Law enacted: 1992

Number of charter schools: 1281

Number of charter students: 709,600

Cap on the number of schools allowed: Yes, up to 100 new schools annually.

Virtual charters allowed: Yes

Charter Law Analysis:

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. A 2019 law also setback 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: According to statute, California limits the total number of newly established charter schools that can be approved, which is 100 schools every year. 

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. In some places, like Los Angeles public charter schools receive as much as $5,000 fewer per student than their counterparts in traditional public schools. In Oakland, the gap is even larger. While California is supposed to provide charters access to public buildings, there are limited funds for charter school facilities development compared to the size of the state and number of charter schools.


Choice Programs (Scholarships, Vouchers, Tax Credits, etc.)

Score
50%
Grade: F
Rank: #47

California has no private school choice programs.

Fast Facts:

Teacher Quality

USE OF STUDENT DATA IN EVALUATING TEACHER PREP

"California does not use student achievement or growth data to hold teacher preparation programs accountable."

This is just one indicator from The National Council on Teacher Quality, which collects and analyzes states on how well their policies and practices lead to well-prepared teachers. They collect data on state laws and regulations concerning the preparation of teachers, the policies that govern their oversight and the contracts that guide their employment. Learn more about your state here.