Senator Steven Glazer remarks on Senate Floor regarding Assembly Bill 1507 (Charter Schools)

Senator Steven Glazer made remarks on the Senate floor regarding Assembly Bill 1507. The following is a full transcript of those remarks. 

STEVEN GLAZER, Senator from the 7th Senate District: Thank You Mr. President and members and I'm sorry to say again that we're kind of back in the same place we were earlier in the week and talking about charter schools versus talking about the broader challenges facing our education system. And once again it certainly puts me in conflict with the bill that's before you.

When you think about the challenges facing our schools there's no doubt that the teachers are on the front line of that challenge our superintendents, our principals, our school board members and it's not an easy challenge that they face. And yet it's probably the most important thing we do as a state is to educate our kids. And so I know it's a very difficult job and certainly we've had financial challenges we have social economic challenges that, that make it difficult. And I know that if I were a school board member and I had schools that were failing in my district that when a group of parents would come to me and say we're not happy, the schools not working for our kids we were looking for alternatives that I would understand that sentiments I would appreciate that, that it's a stressful time for them and for us. But I know that if that charter school was formed it's gonna diminish the resources that I would have as a school board member to, to help get the rest of the kids.

And this is the this is the, the natural conflict that charter school efforts come into play with our regular public school system is because both sides are trying to do what's best those parents of potential charter schools and then the school boards, the superintendent's, the teachers all the others that are involved in the regular school system I know that they're not happy. But when that conflict occurs there is self-interest involved in the choice meaning that school boards are not interested for in, in most cases in supporting new public charter schools. Okay that's the conflict and yet we have a law that allows for these public charter schools to be formed. A process for them to file applications to, to create a school and so and there you have the conflict.

So if that charter school gets approved maybe not by that school board maybe it's appealed to the County Board or the State Board now you get to the issue of where's that charter school going to be located and you get back to that conflict again if there are empty school facilities in a school district and that, that community of parents in that public charter school want to use that facility there's conflict again because there's a conflict of interest again because of the issue I discussed earlier. So what is that newly formed charter school to do? Well they're they know that they're bringing in a parent community in that from the neighborhood's from the community that's around that school but yet they can't use a facility that's nearby but yet they want one. So they look around they try to find empty offices or other facilities to begin their school and sometimes that means that the location of that school goes outside a line, a line on a map. And their, their view is I know that they want to make it a comfortable place, they want to make it a convenient place so you look for transit routes to locate that school they want to make it as close as they can from that community of parents that have come out of that school district that school area and that's what happens. And so you have a public charter school that is outside of a line a line on a map.

And a bill like this creates a serious impediment to the ability to have that charter school function because they need a location within a line not outside of a line. Now think about it in your district members the lines that are on the map for you I know in my area this is gonna surprise you but the senator from Napa County represents an area that’s in my district almost 30-40 miles away from his office, it's only about five miles from mine but it's a line on a map happens to be Pleasant Hill. And that's, that's the circumstance we find ourselves in. Is it reasonable well it's the way the lines were drawn and that's what happens in school districts too that's what happens with our city lines too. But those parents are not trying to create a charter school in a place that's, that's far away they're trying to make it as close as they can to the neighborhood in which that charter community was born where they have their lifeblood where their friends and their neighbors are living. Yet this bill would take that away.

You know when a when a parent makes a choice to be a part of a public charter school network it is probably maybe the most difficult choice that they make in their lives. Why is that? Because it's a complete disruption of their life, their friends, theirs their children's friends are nearby and they want to play together, they want to go to school together, they break that up. And when they have to get up early in the morning and come home at night they're not going to the neighborhood school, they have to find a way to get to that place where that charter school has been formulated because they, they know it's, it's the lifeblood from their point of view for their, their child's future and they have to inconvenience their whole professional life or work life whatever it is to make that attendance at that charter school work. And then we have a bill like this that says no, no we're not gonna even allow that charter school because it's outside that line that little line on the map under legislation like this.

And so my friends it is not what we should be doing it is not focusing on the problems of Education in our state as I discussed a few days ago. Over 700 failing schools, 25 of them charter, public charter schools. Do I like that? No I don't like failing schools anywhere whatever they are. We all have to work together to raise all boats. But this this this legislation that says a line on the map is going to make it even harder for public charters isn't the solution it's not going to help these parents yes tens of thousands of them hundreds of thousands of them that now utilize the public charter school network. And when they tuck their children to bed tonight what are they thinking about: how am I going to get my kid ready in the morning? How am I going to get them to that school? The same things that all parents think about it. Yet if you're in a public charter school believe me you're thinking about it twice as hard because it's more inconvenient and that's a choice that they're making. Shouldn't we support that choice today? And unfortunately this bill does not do that that's why I respectfully ask for a no vote.