Principal reacts to charter school law aimed at “transparency” and “accountability”

At George Washington Charter School in Palm Desert, Principal Alan Lehmann reacted to the new law.

“We welcome SB 126,” said Lehmann.

Lehmann says his charter school is already fully compliant with the new law.

It requires California’s 1,300 plus charter schools to follow the same laws governing open meetings, public records and conflicts of interest that apply to school districts.

“We appreciate that there is now clarity that is provided for charter schools and other stakeholders out there,” said Lehmann.

The new requirements include ensuring board meetings are open to the public, providing records to the public upon request and, to prevent personal gain, banning board members from voting on contracts in which they have a financial interest.

Among those who oppose the law, is the Charter Schools Development Center. The lobbying group says the law sets “onerous requirements.”

The Executive Director for the group, Eric Premack, says SB 126 is the first of a handful of bills, supported by teacher’s unions in the state, aiming to “cripple California’s charter schools”.

Premack says SB 126 will require charter schools, with more than one campus, to set up two way teleconference capabilities at each school to allow people to participate in school board meetings, something that is not required of regular school districts.

The new law goes into effect January 1st, 2020.

“Charter schools have been around since 1993, and since they’ve come around, i think what its done is it has changed the landscape in public education, but it has improved the education product,” said Lehmann.

During the recent teacher’s strikes in Los Angeles and Oakland, the unions there were pushing their respective local school boards to limit the growth of charter schools, arguing the schools take away funding from traditional public schools.

Currently, the state assembly is considering 4 other bills that would further regulate charter schools.