California Legislature Sends Charter Schools Transparency Bill to Gov. Newsom

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Credits: Wikipedia

The California Legislature passed a bill that requires charter schools to comply with the state’s accountability and transparency laws. The bill is now headed to Governor Gavin Newsom for final approval.

On Thursday, SB 126, the Charter School Accountability and Transparency Bill obtained an overwhelming support from the California State Assembly. A week earlier, the state Senate also approved the bill unanimously.

California has 1,300 charter schools that receive public funding, but are not currently subject to the same strict transparency requirements, which traditional public schools observe.

SB 126 will ensure that the governing boards of charter schools will follow the Ralph M. Brown Act, the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, the California Public Records Act, and the Government Code Section 1090.

In January, Gov. Newsom called on the Legislature to send him a legislation that increases accountability and transparency to charter schools. At the time, he said, “We want to get a [charter] transparency bill on my desk as soon as possible. I’m going to be advancing with a sense of urgency.