Overview
Charter schools are an important and significant part of today’s education landscape. California is home to 1,300 charter schools (including seven all-charter districts), serving nearly 630,000 students statewide — approximately 11 percent of all K-12 students in California.
This guide is designed to help California’s school governance leaders understand and execute their governance and charter school oversight responsibilities in a productive manner that effectively educates all students.
Since this book was last published in 2016, significant changes to California’s education systems have impacted all public schools, including charter schools. Charter schools are adapting to new academic content standards and accountability requirements, along with additional reforms passed by the Legislature and State Board of Education in 2019 and 2020. These, and many other updates, are changing the way in which charter schools operate and how governance teams fulfill their responsibilities as charter school authorizers.
The new edition includes an overview of California’s charter school laws and funding, and provides guidance about the petition review process, facilities and oversight responsibilities. It also includes updated content related to California’s renewal process, revocation of charters, revocation appeals and charter school closure. Additionally, the guidebook provides governance team members information about CSBA’s charter school policies, a summary of key state legislation and legal cases.
Click here to purchase the new Charter School Manual e-publication.
CSBA Resources
The following resources are available from CSBA:
- Uncharted Waters: Recommendations for Prioritizing Student Achievement and Effective Governance in California’s Charter Schools
- Governance Brief: Charter Schools in Focus, Issue 2: Ensuring Effective Oversight (October 2017)
- Governance Brief: Charter Schools in Focus, Issue 1: Managing the Petition Review Process (November 2016)
- Gamut Online - Subscribers to CSBA's policy services have access to the following charter school-specific sample policies and regulations:
- BP/AR 0420.4 - Charter School Authorization
- BP/E 0420.41 - Charter School Oversight
- BP 0420.42 - Charter School Renewal
- BP 0420.43 - Charter School Revocation
- BP/AR 7160 - Charter School Facilities
External Resources
- California Department of Education - This CDE page contains resources for charter school authorizers.
- National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) - NACSA works with local experts to create the conditions needed for quality schools to thrive and pushes for high standards for authorizers and the environments in which they work.
- California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) - CCSA supports charter schools through state and local advocacy, leadership on accountability, and resources for member schools. The organization is also a source of data and information on California's charter schools for parents, authorizers, legislators, the press, and other interested groups.
