A California task force on charter schools delivered a report to Gov. Gavin Newsom on June 7 that recommends local school districts have more leeway in deciding whether to approve new charter schools by including criteria like saturation and need for new schools as factors to consider. The task force consisted of charter school representatives, labor unions and local school administrations.

The task force also unanimously recommended that school boards have an extra month to decide on charter school applications. It proposed that the state create new agencies to oversee charter schools and remove the state Department of Education from that process. The task force further called for school districts to be reimbursed for one year of per-pupil aid lost due to students transferring to charters, just as districts are reimbursed for enrollment lost for other reasons.

About 11 percent of public school students in the state attend charters. California has more than 1,300 charter schools — the most of any state in the nation.

EdSource, June 7