BILL NUMBER: AB 1909INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Nestande FEBRUARY 16, 2010 An act to add Section 47606.1 to the Education Code, relating to charter schools. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1909, as introduced, Nestande. Charter schools: community college governing boards. 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. 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 university or community college 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. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 47606.1 is added to the Education Code, to read: 47606.1. (a) The governing board of a community college district may approve a petition to establish a charter school for grades 9 to 12, inclusive, provided that the purpose of the charter school is to find innovative approaches to college preparation and career readiness that are best served by a partnership between the charter school and the community college district. (b) The governing board of a community college district that grants a charter petition shall assume all of the duties, responsibilities, functions, and obligations that the governing board of a school district assumes when it grants a charter petition. (c) Notwithstanding Section 47651, a charter school established pursuant to this section shall 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. Warrants for a charter school established pursuant to this section shall be drawn as specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 47651. The notification requirement specified in subdivision (b) of Section 47651 shall be given by a charter school established pursuant to this section to the county superintendent of schools of the county in which the charter school operates.