Charter schools: petitions.

The Charter Schools Act of 1992 permits teachers and parents to petition the governing board of a school district to approve a charter school to operate independently from the existing school district structure as a method of accomplishing, among other things, improved pupil learning. A charter petition is required to be signed by a specified number of teachers or parents who are meaningfully interested in either enrolling their children in the school or teaching at the school. If a school district denies a petition, the petitioners may submit the petition to the county board of education. If a county board of education denies a petition, the petitioners may submit the petition to the State Board of Education, which may designate its supervisorial and oversight responsibilities for a charter school it approves to any local educational agency in the county in which the charter school is located or to the governing board of the school district that first denied the petition. A county board of education is authorized to grant a charter petition submitted directly to it for a countywide charter school. In addition, a petition for the operation of a statewide charter school that will provide instructional services of statewide benefit may be submitted directly to the state board, in which case the state board may enter into an agreement with a 3rd party to oversee, monitor, and report on the operations of the state charter school. This bill would authorize a petition to establish a charter school to be submitted for approval to the governing board of a community college district if the petition proposes the operation of a charter school within the county in which the community college district maintains a campus. The governing board of a community college district would be authorized to grant a petition submitted to it for approval. The governing board of a community college district that grants a charter petition would be required to assume all of the duties, responsibilities, functions, and obligations that the governing board of a school district assumes when it grants a charter petition. A charter school established as specified in the bill would be required to receive the state aid portion of the charter school's total general-purpose entitlement, categorical block grant, other state and federal categorical aid, and lottery funds directly. The governing board of a community college district would be required to inform the state board if it elected to accept petitions for charter schools. The bill would require the state board to limit the number of charter schools established pursuant to these provisions to 10 schools. The bill would require the State Department of Education, by January 1, 2013, to prepare an analysis of the efficacy of community college districts approving charter school petitions.