It is time for our Grassroots Advocacy Campaign!

CANEC is sponsoring legislation this spring to expand the number and types of chartering entities to include our universities and colleges, mayors of large cities and large non-profit agencies.
The bill is patterned after charter school laws in other states, mainly in Minnesota, New York, Indiana and Michigan; states that use entities other than local school districts to authorize and oversee charter schools.
As many of us know, many school districts are reluctant to authorize what they perceive as their 'competition'. This would improve the oversight process by allowing sponsoring agencies that have a vested interest in the success of their charter schools to serve as sponsors.


One of our biggest legislative priorities this session is to fix the authorizing model through a legislative solution, Assembly Bill 1464, authored by Assembly Member Pat Bates.
Enclosed is a form letter of support for AB 1464 (see page 3). If you can each take a brief moment to modify it to make it pertinent to your local school, and print it out and get it to Assembly Member Bates' office, as well as those of your local legislators prior to May 7, when it is heard in front of the Assembly Education Committee, this will go a long way towards seeing this bill through. Again, please feel free to modify as you see fit.


If you can mail this letter to Assembly Member Bates' office, or fax it to her at (916) 319-2173, it would be most appreciated.
Feel free to pass this letter along to other charter school supporters who may be interested in supporting this.
I am also happy to assist you with any further information, including fact sheets and talking points for your use. If there is anything else I can do to assist you, please do not hesitate to call.
Gary Larson
Director of Communications
California Network of Educational Charters (CANEC)
(916) 996-3089

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Sample letter

April 20, 2003The Honorable Patricia Bates
State Capitol, Room 6031
Sacramento, CA 95814

Re: Support for your measure, Assembly Bill 1464

Dear Assemblywoman Bates:

I am writing to express the support of <NAME OF ORGANIZATION> for your bill, AB 1464. Thank you for introducing this measure to improve the quality of California’s education system by expanding the number and types of entities that may sponsor charter schools. AB 1464 would extend the authority to sponsor and oversee California’s charter schools to institutions of higher education, mayors of cities with population exceeding 250,000, and major non-profit organizations. In other states, these entities have established a proven track record of providing high-quality, accountable oversight to charter schools.

<NAME OF ORGANIZATION> is pleased to offer its support for AB 1464.

Sincerely,
<NAME>

cc: Assembly Committee on Education

Hello charter administrators, developers and supporters!

We are our own best resource and need to work together to help each other. We share many of the same problems and issues and can share some of the answers and resources. The key to our success in the education reform movement is cooperation and teamwork.

What issues face your schools? Is a facility your primary concern? Are the mounting state regulations and accountability requirements so onerous we need to develop a regional business cooperative? Is your special education cost skyrocketing and you need to share resources? Do you need a centralized student database for all your school records but the site license too expensive for a single school? Are you a new developer who needs access to standardized forms, permission slips, and policies? Are you a high school and require UC course outlines for accreditation? Is your school hampered by a lack of sports opportunities and you need to develop a local sports league? Do you want to offer more drama, art, music or computer classes but can't afford to hire another teacher? Did your wonderful foreign language teacher move across the bay and is now looking for work? Does your school hold successful fund raising activities or do you know of a good grant writer? Do you have a strong relationship with your elected officials? Do you have a great school web site full of resources we should provide a link to? Do you have digital portfolio assessments which would be of value to similar grades? Do you have a successful student tutoring program? Did you develop successful teacher mentor relationships? Do you need help developing resources for the HSEE?

Let us use these pages to share innovative solutions and resources.