August 2022 ACCS - Item 1 Public Comment 1

To receive an electronic copy of the below communication, contact the Charter Schools Division by email at charters@cde.ca.gov.

[The following information was provided on California Teachers Association (CTA) letterhead.]

August 8, 2022

RE: CTA COMMENTS REGARDING ITEM #1

Consideration of Requests for Determination of Funding as Required for Nonclassroom-Based Charter Schools Pursuant to California Education Code sections 47612.5 and 47634.2, and Associated California Code of Regulations, Title 5.

Dear Commissioners,

The California Teachers Association (CTA) would like to express our continued concerns with the funding determination process for Nonclassroom-based charters (NCB). This process is broken and does not provide the level of transparency needed for the members of the Advisory Commission on Charter Schools (ACCS) nor the State Board of Education (SBE) to provide appropriate public oversight on these funding determinations.

The disconnect between this state level process, the NCB and the charter authorizer continues to be significant. This disconnect open doors to bad actors such as the folks who ran the A3 charters and other groups who have taken advantage of these loopholes. It was announced in June that the leaders of the A3 Charter Scandal, despite such a theft of hundreds of millions of dollars, will not spend a day behind bars (In One of the Largest Charter School Scams in History, No One Will Serve Jail Time ).

Additionally, the co-founders and past Chief Financial Officer of EPIC Charter in Oklahoma were arrested for fraud and they currently have links to schools in California (Epic Co-Founders, Former CFO Arrested on Embezzlement, Racketeering Charges ).One of these linked schools is the Next Generation Education DBA EPIC California Charter School is authorized by the Orange County Board of Education and has not posted their governing board meeting agendas online since August 2021 (EPIC Charter School Board Meeting Schedule ) and there doesn’t seem to be a budget posted on their website (as of July 2022).

CTA looks forward to working with the California Department of Education, SBE and ACCS to fix this broken process before it is too late.

Sincerely,

E. Toby Boyd, President
California Teachers Association

Copy to: CTA Executive Officers
Teri Holoman, Associate Executive Director, CTA
Lori Easterling, Manager, CTA Legislative Relations
Commissioners, Advisory Commission on Charter Schools
Stephanie Farland, Director, Charter Schools Division, California Department of Education
Brooks Allen, Executive Director, State Board of Education
Kyna Collins, CTA Liaison to the ACCS

Return to August 2022 ACCS Meeting Agenda