Assembly Education Committee advances package of bills on charter loans, Holocaust education, immigrant protections and school safety

The Assembly Education Committee on July 1 advanced a slate of bills on charter school financing, classroom instruction about the Holocaust and genocide, protections from immigration enforcement on campus, student-notification rules about immigration agents, educator-misconduct reporting and several other education measures.

The committee voted to move several measures to other committees with the purpose of carrying them forward this session. Supporters said the bills address long-standing gaps in school safety, civic education and student services; opponents did not appear at the hearing in notable numbers.

Senate Bill 631, authored in the Senate and presented to the committee by Senator Richardson, would change the charter school revolving loan fund administered by the California School Finance Authority (CSFA) and the state treasurer—s office. The measure would increase the maximum loan award and broaden eligibility from only new charter startups to all charter schools, while giving priority to startup charters and those affected by natural disasters. "Since assuming program administration of the program in 2014, the California School Finance Authority ... have seen a steady decline in the number of applications to the program," said Kai Morton, a deputy treasurer with the Office of the State Treasurer, in support of the bill. Committee testimony identified a fund balance of about $27,000,000 and noted eight loans were awarded in recent years with an aggregate award amount near $2,000,000; the bill would raise the per-loan cap (previously $250,000) to better match current costs and encourage use of the fund.…