Progress in Sacramento

The success of the Legislature’s charter school reform bill, which increases the potential number of special campuses and makes them easier to create, provides a lesson in the lost art of compromise. A popular educational experiment across the nation, charter schools operate independently of local school districts and provide a competitive option for students and families.

Prodded by the threat of a statewide ballot initiative that would have removed the cap on the number of schools and made other changes, all the major players came to the table, an unusual accomplishment in a capital dominated by bitterly partisan politics and overly powerful special interests. The major backers of the initiative, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Reed Hastings and San Carlos Supt. of Schools Don Shalvey, deserve credit for giving the Legislature one last chance before they pulled the trigger and filed the signatures, which would have qualified the measure for the November ballot. The initiative’s promoters were included in the final debate instead of getting the usual Sacramento brushoff while a deal was cut behind closed doors.

This give-and-take also included Gov. Wilson’s representatives and and resulted in a bill that the governor has indicated he will sign.

In its current form, AB 544, sponsored by Assemblyman Ted Lempert (D-San Carlos), would raise the state ceiling on the number of charter schools to 250 for the 1998-99 school year, and then allow 100 additional charter schools to be created annually. The initiative’s sponsors had proposed totally removing the cap, while the California Teachers Assn. had called for limiting to 35 the number of charter schools created annually. Both sides gave ground to achieve the compromise. California currently authorizes 130 charter campuses, which accommodate just a fraction of the students who want to attend them.

Charter schools are popular with teachers and students, but the new law will provide a more reliable measure of effectiveness: a report card from the Legislative Analyst’s office by July 1, 2003. The results should encourage experimentation to improve pupil learning or put a stop to charter schools that do not work. In addition, if a charter school run by a nonprofit group fails, the authorizing school district won’t get stuck with the bills.

The legislation would also make it easier for teachers and students to petition local, county or state boards of education for permission to become a charter school. All teachers would require some level of credentials--a new requirement that may inhibit full-fledged experimentation. But if that is what it took to get this measure from a bill to a law, the requirement is worth it.

Public policy is best made by the Legislature, not by ballot initiative. In the case of charter schools, Sacramento has proved that compromise, though rare, remains possible and fruitful.