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Newsletter - Special Edition: September 5, 2006

Urgent Request

In this newsletter edition please find:

AB2954 would end charter school development in California!

AB2954 would empower school districts to arbitrarily deny charter school petitions, thereby halting all new charter school development.

Authored by Assemblywoman Carol Liu (44th District in Los Angeles County), this bill would authorize districts to deny petitions if the proposed charter school would have an adverse financial impact on the district. Since virtually all charter schools attract students and their funding away from traditional schools, every district would be adversely affected.

With the general shortfall in school funding, even districts that support charter schools would be forced to deny petitions. Districts that see charter schools as unwanted competition would be given the power to arbitrarily block them.

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We Need Your Help to Defeat AB2954

Please write to Governor Schwarzenegger urging him to veto AB 2954. Send the letter either by email to http://www.govmail.ca.gov/ or by mail to:

     The Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger
     State Capitol Building
     Sacramento, CA  95814

Below are two draft letters. One provided by the California Charter School Association and a shorter version written by the Foster City High School Foundation.

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Letter by Foster City High School Foundation

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:

Please veto AB 2954 because the bill would:

Along with hundreds of my fellow residents, I have been supporting the creation of a public charter high school in Foster City. For five years, dozens of dedicated people have donated thousands of hours of personal time to this effort. If AB 2954 becomes law, all their work and sacrifice will have been for nothing, and parents in our community will have lost the opportunity to improve the quality of their children’s education.

Sincerely,

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Letter by California Charter School Association

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:

I am writing to oppose AB 2954 by Assemblywoman Carol Liu.

AB 2954 is in direct conflict with the legislative intent of the
State's charter school law. Charter schools are intended to give
California students and parents public school options. When parents
choose to lawfully send their students to a public charter school,
they are exercising a right, "to establish and maintain schools that
operate independently from the existing school district structure."
Under existing law there are eight different reasons for denying a
charter school on educational grounds, this measure goes in the
opposite direction by allowing the charter to be denied because of a
fear of fiscal competition.

AB 2954 would place a moratorium on charter schools in California.
Allowing an authorizer to deny a charter for vague and undefined
reasons would mean the end to charter schools in the state. This
measure would allow underperforming school boards to deny competition
and choice to parents and teachers who seek improved pupil learning,
increased learning opportunities, innovative teaching methods, new
professional opportunities, and performance based accountability.

For the above reasons, I would ask you to veto AB 2954. Thank you
for your consideration of this matter.

Sincerely,

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This newsletter can be accessed at the following:
http://www.fchighschool.org/news/newsletters/2006-09-05.php

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For more information:
http://www.fchighschool.org

Foster City High School Foundation, Inc.
P.O. Box 8146, Foster City, CA 94404
(650) 349-5676

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