As a result of an agreement reached last week between Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders, California charter school teachers will have to get the same background checks and the same credentials, certificates or permits as teachers in regular public schools.
The agreement, which addresses a major point of contention in the push to reform California’s nearly three decades old charter school law, would eliminate at least one of the many disparities in how charter schools and regular public schools operate, with ramifications for the over 600,000 students attending charter schools in California. These students comprise just over 10 percent of California’s public school enrollment of 6.2 million students.
But if Assembly Bill 1505 is approved by the full Legislature, the changes will happen in phases. By July 1, 2020, all teachers in charter schools, whether credentialed or not, would have to obtain a “Certificate of Clearance” from the state before they would be allowed to teach.
