Educators, Classified Personnel, Parents and Students Believe AB 1505 will Lead to More Equitable Student Learning Environment in California’s Public Schools and Ask for Legislative Support
Contact Claudia Briggs, CTA, at 916-325-1550
SACRAMENTO – The California Teachers Association (CTA), the California Federation of Teachers (CFT), the California School Employees Association (CSEA) and the California Labor Federation issued this statement Wednesday following months of deliberations regarding legislation that would make common-sense changes to laws governing charter schools—laws that have negatively impacted students in neighborhood public schools.
“As educators, classified personnel and partners who work daily with students in California’s neighborhood public schools, we see and experience the challenges they face every day. They are the 6.1 million reasons why we’ve been fiercely advocating for AB 1505 by Assembly Member Patrick O’Donnell. After months of honest and difficult conversations, we have made significant progress on behalf of our students.
“All along, our goals have included ensuring locally-elected school board members have the discretion to make decisions to meet the needs of local students; allowing them to consider the fiscal impact of charter petitions, including the potential impact to programs and services currently provided to students; ensuring every student has a credentialed teacher in the classroom; and holding all taxpayer-funded public schools to the same high standards. The groundswell of action and support for this bill over the last several months underscores the sense of urgency in our communities to enact these much-needed changes to laws governing charter schools. We believe the measure California lawmakers will vote on will lead to a more equitable learning environment for students in California’s neighborhood public schools.
“We profoundly appreciate Assembly Member O’Donnell’s hard work on this bill and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s leadership and commitment to fixing the flawed decades-old laws. We look forward to working with lawmakers in the next two weeks to ensure AB 1505 is sent to the governor’s office for his signature.”