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Thursday, July 1, 2010

The Educated Guess � Charter advocates defeat restrictions

The Educated Guess � Charter advocates defeat restrictions

Charter advocates defeat restrictions

Posted in Charters
Charter schools’ lobby and friends have beaten back the latest effort to tighten financial and academic oversight of charter schools.
AB 1950 had easily passed the Assembly. But on Tuesday, the eve before her bill would have been heard – and likely voted down — in the charter-friendly Senate Education Committee, the bill’s sponsor, Democratic Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, withdrew it.
That will be it for imposing additional charter regulations for the session, unless Brownley and the California Charter School Assn. can cut a deal on new rules for closing poorly performing charter schools. Bill Lucia, CEO of EdVoice, an advocacy group that organized to kill AB 1950, said yesterday that he still hoped a compromise can be reached.

“Bad charters should be shut down,” he said, “ but not at a cost of stifling growth of the charter movement.”
California has dozens of excellent charters but also too many lousy ones whose test scores bring down the average for all. A half-dozen charter schools appeared