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Update: Since the Charter Schools Act was enacted in 1992, the State Board of Education has assigned numbers to 702 charter school petitions and eight all-charter districts, including nine charters approved by the State Board of Education after denial by local agencies. Of these 702 schools, approximately 510 are estimated to be in operation during the 2004/2005 school year. The cap on the number of charter schools is 850 for the 2004/2005 school year and will go to 950 in the 2005/2006 school year.

Resources

	2006 Legislative Summary Letter The 2006 legislative year ended with several important changes impacting charter school operations summarized by the CDE.
	New Model Oversight MOU from the SBE This Memorandum of Understanding has been recently released by the Department of Education (September 30, 2006) and is required for execution by a charter school receiving a State Board approved charter on appeal, or statewide charter applicants. Any charter petitioner believing that they might be ultimately seeking a charter from the State Board of Education should review this Memorandum of Understanding before beginning drafting the charter. The California Department of Education has indicated they will review an update this Memorandum of Understanding annually.
	CDE Legal Opinion Regarding Parent Participation Requirements This opinion from the CDE explains that a charter school may require a parent to sign a mandatory parent participation agreement as a condition of enrollment into the charter school. The mandatory parent participation agreement requires the parent/guardian to commit to volunteering a certain amount of time to the charter school during the school year.
	2005 Legislative Changes Related to Charter Schools This document identifies and summarizes the significant legislative changes made to the Charter Schools Act during the 2005 legislative session, including modifying the Charter Schools Funding Model and allowing a county superintendent of schools to request a Fiscal Crisis Management and Assistance Team (FCMAT) review of a charter school.
	The following is of our Top Ten (actually 15) suggestions developed by the attorneys at MYM to assist charter schools in reducing annual legal fees. This list was presented as part of MYM's Annual Workshop on "Avoiding Revocation, Nonrenewal and Revocable Audit Exceptions!"
	Proposition 39 and the Implementing Regulations (See also sample Prop 39 request) This document gathers together all the legislation and regulations related to Proposition 39 in one convenient document.
	Responsibility Governance and Fiscal Accountibility Guidance and Best Practices This Knowledge Brief, prepared by MYM and the California Charter Schools Association, provides guidance and best practices on navigating the governance and fiscal operations of charter schools. It includes discussions on applicable conflict of interest laws and suggests best practices for a number of common but potentially complicated governance situations.
	Guide for Charter Schools About Union Organization MYM developed a Guide For Charter Schools to assist them in understanding California's collective bargaining and labor laws. Please see the attached Guide which was published by the California Charter School's Association as a Knowledge Brief for charter school operators.
	Charter School Developers This page links to resources for people interested in opening a charter school. It includes a description of MYM’s charter development services as well as Power Point presentations and sample documents used by MYM in their Charter Developer workshops.
	Advisory Commission on Charter Schools (ACCS) Agendas and Notes This documents links to all the meeting agendas and minutes of the Advisory Commission on Charter Schools (ACCS) since 2001.
	CDE Analysis of State Board of Education Appeals The SBE has approved nine charter petitions on appeal. This link provides a copy of the CDE’s analysis and review of 15 SBE charter petition appeals; it includes their recommendations to the ACCS and State Board of Education.
	CDE Analysis of Application for Statewide Charter Schools. High Tech High (HTH) received the first SBE approval for a statewide charter school in January of 2006. This link provides the CDE’s analysis of the HTH charter petition and recommendation to the SBE that the petition be approved.
	State Board of Education Model Charter School Application The State Board of Education approved the model charter school application during its November 12-13th, 2003 meeting. The model charter school application is exemplary, not mandatory. There are three reasons stated by the Department of Education why its use is encouraged: to ensure the charter petitioners cover all minimum elements required by law in a systematic way;to expedite the process of appeal provide a measure of uniformity in evaluation from charter authorizer to charter authorizer. If you believe that your charter petition may end up before the State Board of Education on appeal and/or on a denied renewal, it is highly recommended that you adopt and follow the model charter school application.
	The State Board of Education (“SBE”) is the governing and policy-making body of the California Department of Education. It has eleven members, including one student member, and sets K-12 education policy in the areas of standards, instructional materials, assessment, and accountability, and can grant waivers from certain educational laws and regulations. The SBE has numerous responsibilities relating to charter schools, including but not limited to: Selective granting of charter petitions that have been denied or not renewed by local education agencies, but that the State Board determines to have met statutory requirements; Taking appropriate action, including, but not limited to, revocation with respect to State Board-granted and locally-granted charters under specific circumstances set forth in statute; Establishing appropriate funding levels for non-classroom-based charter schools; Jointly with the State Superintendent, approving district-wide charter petitions when those petitions are determined to be satisfactory; Developing and adopting regulations to implement various provisions of the Charter Schools Act of 1992 (Part 26.8 of the Education Code, commencing with Section 47600); Approving or denying requests to waive otherwise applicable provisions of law; Assigning numbers to charter school petitions to ensure that the statutory cap on the number of charter schools is not exceeded; and Following the passage of AB 2030, overturning charter revocations if the SBE determines that the revocation was not based on substantial evidence. SBE members and bios
	The Advisory Commission on Charter Schools (“ACCS”) was established by the SBE in April of 2002 and is composed of nine members with extensive experience in the field of education. The ACCS advises the SBE on all aspects of the SBE’s duties under the Charter Schools Act of 1992. The ACCS helps with: Selective granting of charters; Taking appropriate action, including, but not limited to, revocation of charters; Establishing appropriate funding levels for non-classroom based charter schools and passing the recommendations on to the SBE for final approval. Evaluating the charter schools appealing to the SBE for approval (the ACCS then makes a recommendation to the SBE to approve or deny the petition; Developing charter school-specific regulations for approval by the SBE. ACCS members and bios
	State Board of Education Approved Charter Schools Oversight Documents Charter schools approved by the State Board of Education will be required to operate under the conditions set forth in these documents:
	Duties of Charter School and Oversight Agent SBE Expectations for Oversight and Supervision
	State Board of Education Regulations for the Review and Approval of Charter School Petitions on Appeal This document lists the regulations the SBE uses when reviewing the elements of a charter petition submitted for its approval. These regulations attempt to convey to charter petitioners the State Board of Education's understanding of the meaning of the elements specified in Calif. Educ. Code § 47605(b).
	State Board of Education regulations for the review and approval of Statewide Charter Schools This document lists the regulations the SBE uses when reviewing the elements of a statewide benefit charter school petition submitted for its approval. These regulations attempt to convey to charter petitioners the State Board of Education's understanding of the meaning of the elements specified in Calif. Educ. Code § 47605.8.
	Education Audit Appeals Panel Regulations for Audits of Charter Schools Charter schools are required to undergo yearly independent audits. A challenge to an audit finding is brought before the Education Audit Appeals Panel (EAAP). This link brings together in one convenient location the regulations EAAP uses to review appeals of audit findings.
	The Emerging Influence of the Advisory Commission on Charter Schools This article, written by Lisa Corr of MYM and published in CANECtions Magazine, discusses the increasing influence of the Advisory Commission on Charter Schools, especially in areas including funding determinations for non-classroom-based charter schools, reviewing charter petition appeals to the SBE, and special education.
	Harnessing Charter School Employment Flexibility This article, written by Jim Young of MYM and published in the CCSA Charter Journal Magazine in 2004, discusses the flexibility enjoyed by charter schools in establishing and maintaining a workforce, and offers suggestions for how charter schools can make the best uses of this flexibility.
	How to Avoid Costly Credentialing Mistakes This article, written by Paul Minney of MYM and published in CANECtions Magazine in 2003, discusses the CDE’s position on teacher credentialing in charter schools as well as offering suggestions on appropriate credentialing for core and non-core teachers in charter schools.
Note: Some above documents are in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format. This format allows the retention of all formatting and creates documents that are much smaller than the original word processing files. To be read, .pdf files require the Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not already have this application, it can be downloaded for free from Adobe at: http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html. If you would prefer to receive the documents in Microsoft Word, please contact Melanie McAlpine at 916.646.1400 or mmcalpine@MYMlaw.com.
Charter Land is a humorous board game for folks interested in learning about the charter school world. Created by experts in the field, this challenging game will undoubtedly provide hours of fun and education, leaving you with more insight and knowledge in numerous charter school-related topics. From people who have been in the charter school world since its inception, to those who are new to the scene, all are sure to enjoy this fun teaching/learning tool. Charter Land is a creative way to get your team together in the spirit of learning. To order, please send a check for $21.95 plus $5.95 shipping and handling to: Middleton, Young & Minney, LLP, 7 Park Center Drive, Sacramento, CA 95825.