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AB14 provides opportunities for charter schools to qualify for funding
for new facilities construction. The Implementation Committee of the
State Allocation Board is currently considering criteria that will determine
which charter school programs may qualify for funding for new facilities
construction under AB14.
It has been suggested that the Implementation Committee use the 80% instructional
minutes criteria as the threshold for determining qualifying charter
schools. This criteria certainly has its merit, as it is a widely recognized
and accepted threshold that has been used in education to distinguish
between a “site-based or classroom-based” charter school
program and a “non-site” based, “non-classroom” based,
or technically “Independent Study” type charter school program.
Unfortunately, this measurement alone would not be a fair and equitable
criterion across the entire population of charter schools. It would immediately
eliminate from any consideration for funding for new facilities all charter
school programs that are technically classified under the Independent
Study guidelines. Why would this be a problem?
Of the more than 400 charter schools currently operating in California,
this translates to an immediate elimination from consideration of more
than 100 charter school programs, or in excess of 25% of the total number
of charter schools. A majority of these so-called Independent Study charter
schools are in reality hybrid “Personalized Learning” charter
school programs that tailor learning according to the individual needs
of each student using both classroom-based and non-classroom based learning
environments. These Personalized Learning charter schools vary in size
from around 100 students to several thousand, and have a significant
need for facilities for instruction-related use. It is estimated that
more than 40,000 students attend a Personalized Learning type charter
school program. A substantial and growing percentage of these students
are so-called “at risk” type students, or students who have
dropped out from or failed in the strict classroom-based environment
of the standard public school system. Through this more tailored, individualized
approach to learning, these students are now discovering academic success
for themselves where previously they had been labeled failures. Currently,
these Personalized Learning type charter schools have little or no provisions
available to them from the State for qualifying for facilities, and in
most cases, must settle for low rent, vacant office spaces in which to
house their learning programs.
Personalized Learning charter schools use instruction-based facilities
for classroom instruction, as well as for a wide variety of other instruction-related
uses, including computer and science labs, resource libraries, meetings
between teacher, parent, and students, teacher professional development
programs, student assessment and testing, and special education needs.
Personalized Learning charter school programs are a vitally important
component to our public education system in California, and are playing
an important and unique role in helping to serve a very diverse and complex
California student population. It would not be in the best interest of
the California education system to make policy decisions that eliminate
these valuable charter schools from equitable consideration for important
education support programs such as facilities.
APLUS+ proposes that the Implementation Committee consider adding an
additional criteria measurement that would give hybrid Personalized Learning
charter schools the opportunity for consideration for facilities under
AB14. The charter school criteria for qualifying for funding for new
facilities construction would therefore be an “either or” measurement.
Either a charter school qualifies under the 80% instructional minutes
measurement (which includes all site based charter schools), or it qualifies
under the second measurement. The second measurement is made up of two
parts:
a). Space Allocation. The
charter school guarantees that at least 80%
of the facility space will be wholly dedicated
for instruction-related purposes (in a manner
as outlined above).
b). Student Accessibility. The
charter school guarantees that the facility
will be accessible for student use at least
five days per school calendar week, and seven
hours per school calendar day for the duration
of the school calendar year, excluding Holidays,
state mandated testing days, maintenance days,
and teacher in-service days.
If a Personalized Learning charter school is willing and able to satisfy
this second, two-part criteria, then it may qualify for facilities funding
as well under AB14.
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