California Educator

October / November 2018

Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1035650

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Legislative Update By Julian Peeples Governor Vetoes School Start Time Bill A B I L L T H A T would have required all public schools to start no earlier than 8:30 a.m. died on the governor 's desk without his signature. Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed SB 328 (Portantino, D-La CaƱada Flintridge), which would have created an unfunded mandate for local school start times. CTA opposed the bill and delivered more than 1,000 letters from educators to the governor, urging him not to sign the bill into law. In his veto message, Brown cited teacher opposition as one of the main reasons he rejected the proposal. " This is a one-size-fits-all approach that is opposed by teachers and school boards," Brown said. "Several schools have already moved to later start times. Others prefer beginning the school day earlier. These are the types of decisions best handled in the local community." New Law Prohibits For-profit Charter Schools W I T H T H E S T R O K E of his pen, Gov. Brown banned for-profit corporations from operating and managing charter schools in California. The governor signed AB 406 (McCarty, D-Sacramento) in September after it passed with biparti- san support in the Legislature. The bill was supported by CTA, along with a broad coalition of education groups and labor unions. Co-authored by Assemblymember and Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate Tony Thurmond, AB 406 takes aim at charter school corporations that turn taxpayer funds into exorbitant executive salaries and robust profits with little or no trans- parency and accountability. This is a good first step in reining in charter schools run by for-profit corporations that divert millions in public funds every year from public schools into the pockets of their investors. " There should be no room for profit in public education," said Thurmond. "It's not fair to taxpayers, classroom teachers, and most importantly, it's not fair to students. When we allow profit to take priority over children in public edu- cation, we fail to fulfill our constitutional duty to provide quality education to all children equally." The law will go into effect July 1, 2019. 49 O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 018 Advocacy Jerry Brown

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