Governor signs bills on school accountability

By: Associated Press | Wednesday, September 28, 2005 5:43 PM PDT ∞

SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday signed legislation that requires public schools to give more information about where their money is going and gives county superintendents more oversight of charter schools.

School spending: California schools will now have to report the average per-pupil spending and teachers' salaries at individual schools in the annual accountability reports they are required to give parents and the state.

The change should shed light on the inequities in spending within school districts, such as whether some schools have more qualified teachers than others, said Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, who introduced the bill, SB687. Previously, districts only had to report districtwide averages.

"I think this measure will force some difficult conversations in districts around the state. I think they are conversations we need to have," Simitian said Wednesday.

A report earlier this month by the public policy research group Education Trust-West found that schools with higher numbers of poor and racial minority students have teachers who earn less and are generally less experienced than their counterparts at more affluent schools -- even within the same district.

State law requires schools to post annual school accountability report cards listing everything from test scores to building maintenance.

Charter schools: Charter schools will have more oversight from county superintendents under SB430, which the governor signed Wednesday.

The bill, authored by Sen. George Runner, R-Lancaster, gives the superintendents authority to audit charter school finances and management.

It comes a year after the state's largest charter school operator -- California Charter Academy -- closed amid a state audit and allegations of mismanagement.

The audit found lax oversight by the schools' governing boards and said the school districts in charge of monitoring the schools allowed the operators to spend millions in public funds on questionable contracts and generous salaries for family members of the academy's founder, C. Steven Cox.

California approved charter schools in 1992, setting up a system of public schools that are free from many state regulations, with the hope that greater flexibility will improve academics.

Just under 3 percent, or 180,000, of California's K-12 students now attend the state's 510 charter schools.

On the Net: www.senate.ca.gov

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