Written by Urvi Sakurikar
AB 1316 is a newly drafted bill detailing a set of rules that would essentially destroy charter schools and homeschooling programs.
For one, tutors would be required to have official teaching credentials. Therefore, the pool of talented educators sought out by charter schools will face a dramatic decline and put them in the same boat as traditional public schools.
In addition, AB 1316 mandates that charter schools only enroll students located in the same counties, as opposed to the region-based coverage used currently. This would mean that all charters would have to separately apply for permission in each country where there are students enrolled.
AB 1316 also includes several “transparency” provisions that require additional auditing of enrollment, unnecessarily increasing administrative tasks for school staff.
As if the above regulations are not harsh enough, AB 1316 will cause financial devastation by giving less per pupil reimbursement to charter schools that offer distance learning. However, the legislation does not give any such consequences for traditional public schools.
All components of AB 1316 are designed to unfairly target charter schools, despite previous data that they were much more effective at the switch to online learning than public institutions.
Traditional public schools in California have only declined in quality, and it is only fair for parents to want a better education for their children.
AB 1316 would make that much more difficult, and mean peril for all charter schools.
