SBX5 1 (Romero) Is Not The “Reform” California Needs
California School Boards Association expresses serious concerns regarding content of bill
West Sacramento, Calif. – The so-called reforms offered in SBX5 1, by Gloria Romero—which are intended to comply with federal regulations that have not even been finalized—would do little to improve public schools. CSBA supports the goal of ensuring that resources and support go to the schools struggling the most, however, the bill would significantly limit the options for intervention. In fact, the three proposed interventions for low-performing schools in the bill (converting to a charter school, putting them under private management or restaffing) have been shown by multiple studies to be ineffective. The most recent charter school study, conducted by Stanford University, shows that charter schools actually underperform non-charter schools more than twice as often as they outperform public schools.
While CSBA supports the provision to include accounting and auditing requirements for charter schools, eliminating the cap would be acceptable only if those accounting and auditing requirements are combined with tough conflict of interest laws. Charter school governing boards are the only private, self-appointed entities to receive direct appropriations of taxpayer dollars. To avoid the mismanagement, abuse and waste of public dollars that has occurred in the past, charter school governing boards must be subject to the same conflict of interest, open records and public meeting laws that apply to school board members.
The provisions in SBX5 1 regarding the “Open Enrollment Act,” which are not even needed to comply with proposed federal requirements, also raise serious policy concerns. While ostensibly prohibiting it, the bill does not provide enough real protection against “cherry picking,” the process of recruiting and accepting the best students from neighboring districts. California already provides options for parents to choose their children’s school, but the fact is most parents want their neighborhood school to be their school of choice. Making that a reality is where the real focus should be.
For all of these reasons, CSBA will continue to urge the Legislature to reconsider SBX5 1 in light of what is best for California, not what may be required by still unknown federal regulations.
For more information about CSBA’s position on SBX5 1, please contact Brittany McKannay, Public Information Officer, at 916.669.3244.