A California bill that would strengthen state oversight of charter schools has come one step closer to becoming law, passing the California Senate and heading to the General Assembly, possibly within days. [For earlier coverage, see http://www.edexcellence.net/gadfly/issue.cfm?issue=3#48.] AB 1137 would require charter authorizers to ensure that the schools they oversee comply with specified reporting requirements and meet at least one of several objective academic performance criteria in order to receive a charter renewal. Sadly, though, a companion bill, AB 1464, which would allow colleges and universities, mayors and, in some cases, nonprofit organizations to authorize charter schools [as recommended by the Fordham Institute publication Charter School Authorizing: Are States Making the Grade?] is dead for this year. Passing 1137 and not 1464 would severely put out of whack the accountability-cum-freedom tradeoff that makes charter schools the promising innovations they are.
"Charter school bill advances," by Jennifer M. Fitzenberger, Sacramento Bee, September 9, 2003