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Two Charter School Initiatives Enter Circulation

SACRAMENTO - Secretary of State Debra Bowen today announced the proponent of two new initiatives may begin collecting petition signatures for his measures.

The Attorney General prepares the legal title and summary that is required to appear on initiative petitions. When the official language is complete, the Attorney General forwards it to the proponent and to the Secretary of State, and the initiative may be circulated for signatures. The Secretary of State then provides calendar deadlines to the proponent and to county elections officials. The Attorney General’s official title and summary for the first measure is as follows:

CHARTER SCHOOLS. PUBLIC RECORDS. OPEN MEETINGS. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Requires charter schools and related entities to comply with state laws providing for public records upon request, providing for public access to meetings, and governing financial conflicts of interest. Requires public disclosures before charter school approval of certain contracts over $10,000. Prohibits for-profit operation of charter schools. Restricts charter school investment of public funds to government bonds and federally insured accounts. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Costs to charter schools, of at least several million dollars annually statewide, to undertake additional legal, financial, and disclosure-related work. Minor annual costs to school districts, county offices of education, and two state agencies to provide additional oversight and assistance to charter schools. (13-0056.)

The Secretary of State's tracking number for this measure is 1640 and the Attorney General's tracking number is 13-0056.

The Attorney General's official title and summary for the second measure is as follows:

CHARTER SCHOOLS. PUBLIC RECORDS. OPEN MEETINGS. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Requires charter schools and related entities to comply with state laws providing for public records upon request, providing for public access to meetings, and governing financial conflicts of interest. Requires public disclosures before charter school approval of certain contracts over $10,000. Prohibits for-profit operation of charter schools. Restricts charter school investment of public funds to government bonds and federally insured accounts. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Costs to charter schools, of at least several million dollars annually statewide, to undertake additional legal, financial, and disclosure-related work. Minor annual costs to school districts, county offices of education, and two state agencies to provide additional oversight and assistance to charter schools. (13-0057.)

The Secretary of State's tracking number for this measure is 1641 and the Attorney General's tracking number is 13-0057.

The proponent for the measures, Thomas A. Willis, must collect signatures of 504,760 registered voters (five percent of the total votes cast for governor in the 2010 gubernatorial election) for each measure in order to qualify it for the ballot. The proponent has 150 days to circulate petitions for the measures, meaning the signatures must be submitted to county elections officials by July 7, 2014.

The proponent can be reached at (510) 346-6200.

To sign up for regular ballot measure updates via email, RSS feed, or Twitter, go to www.sos.ca.gov/multimedia.

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