California Educator

October/November 2019

Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1175948

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Charter school accountability CTA members, parents, community groups, and part- ners in education and labor worked with key legislators to pass CTA-co-sponsored AB 1505 (O'Donnell) and AB 1507 (Smith). Gov. Gavin Newsom signed these his- toric charter school accountability bills into law Oct. 3. Our coalition partners lobbied in Sacramento, visited legislators in their district offices, used social media to boost our digital voices, made countless calls and emails to lawmakers, and packed the State Capitol on CTA's #RedForEd Day of Action in May. All these efforts made this victory for our students possible. "This would not have happened without the unrelent- ing advocacy of CTA members across the state," said CTA President E. Toby Boyd at the bills' signing. "This will go a long way in changing the landscape of public educa- tion in our state and putting control back into the hands of those closest to students." CTA-supported SB 126 (Leyva, O'Donnell) requires privately operated charters to follow the same laws governing open meetings, public records and conflicts of interest that apply to school districts. Under this law, beginning Jan. 1, 2020, board meetings will be open to the public, and these charters must provide records upon request. To prevent personal gain, board members are banned from voting on contracts in which they have a financial interest.Signed by Gov. Newsom March 5. CTA-supported AB 967 (Smith) provides development, adoption and transparency requirements for Local Con- trol and Accountability Plans in charter schools, holding privately managed charter schools to the same LCAP requirements as all public schools. At press time, await- ing Gov. Newsom's signature. School facilities bond Following a near-unanimous vote by the Assembly just prior to adjournment, CTA-supported AB 48 (O'Donnell, Glazer) was signed by Gov. Newsom Oct. 7. This places on the March 3 primary election ballot the Public Pre- school, K-12, and College Health and Safety Bond Act — expected to generate $15 billion in revenue for K-12 schools, community colleges and universities. Student support services The following CTA-co-sponsored bills focus on identify- ing additional resources to increase the number of student support personnel at school sites. AB 258 (Jones-Sawyer) authorizes the use of Legislative Session Ends With Landmark Victories Bills fixing charter school system, guaranteeing parental leave become law By Claudia Briggs T H E 2 0 19 C A L I F O R N I A L E G I S L A T I V E S E S S I O N saw huge gains for students and public education, with major pieces of CTA-sponsored legislation signed into law, including significant reforms to the broken charter school system. Visit cta.org/legislation for a closer look at these and other bills. Gov. Gavin Newsom signs AB 1505 and AB 1507, as CTA President E. Toby Boyd (third from left) looks on. Key legislators and CTA's partners in education and labor are present, along with state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond (third from right). 33 O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 019 Advocacy

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