Credit: Henry de Saussure Copeland / flickr

Dozens and possibly hundreds of the state's charter schools have adopted policies that illegally require parents to volunteer, the nonprofit constabulary firm Public Advocates charged in a report issued on Th.

Some schools give parents the alternative of paying hundreds of dollars in lieu of volunteering and some charters policies threaten to dis-enroll children whose parents don't comply, the Public Advocates written report states (see school by school policies).

Public Advocates examined online documents of 555 of the state'south 1,184 lease schools, including charter petitions, handbooks and letters to parents. It constitute that 30 pct – 168 schools – imposed volunteer quotas. The written report did not say how many of the charters had policies stating students would not be allowed to re-enroll if parents did non volunteer. An appendix summarizes all of the schools' requirements and conditions.

John Affeldt, Public Advocates' managing partner, said his house did not contact any of the schools whose policies were cited to see how the schools enforced the policies and if they followed through with threats to preclude re-enrollment, he said. Just, he said, the fact that a school has a policy requiring parents to volunteer is illegal and "discourages people from enrolling in a schoolhouse who have a right to go there."

Jed Wallace, the CEO of the California Charter Schools Association, said that Public Advocates' findings may be a case where charters' "paperwork has not caught upwards with their actual practice." The clan has non heard of instances where charters accept sanctioned students for their parents' failure to volunteer. If it had, the association would have spoken out about this, he said.

Public Advocates said that the practice of requiring volunteer quotas violates children's right nether the State Constitution to a "complimentary public school." The firm also said it violates a 2022 state law banning public schools from enervating parents to provide "money or donations or goods or services." Such policies discriminate against poor and working families, the report said, noting, "No public schoolhouse should ever penalize or exclude a student because his or her parent or guardian cannot or chooses not to donate time or labor to the school."

Wallace agrees. He said Thursday that the association has posted legal communication on the members' portion of its website stating that "it is non legal or appropriate to take actions against students because of the deportment of a parent." He said that charters should actively encourage parents to volunteer and exist flexible in seeking means to involve families but they must not require it.

"No public school should ever penalize or exclude a student because his or her parent or guardian cannot or chooses non to donate fourth dimension or labor to the school," the study said.

Some of the schools Public Advocates reviewed had ambiguous policies or did non postal service policies online, the report stated. Volunteering requirements ranged from ane effect per twelvemonth to one 24-hour interval per week, with thirty hours per year a common amount. Some charters permitted parents to buy back the hours at $v to $25 per hour.

Public Advocates' report calls on charter schools to halt the practice immediately and for districts to revoke charters of schools that keep information technology. Public Advocates as well wants the State Board of Instruction to prefer regulations and the Legislature to amend charter laws to state that a forced donation of services constitutes an illegal fee and to need that districts and county offices of education monitor for compliance.

Charters are public schools of choice, open to those who utilise, that are independently managed – most often by nonprofit boards consisting of educators, parents and community leaders. They are overseen by school districts merely are free from many of the regulations that the state Pedagogy Code imposes on districts. However, they are non exempt from the prohibition on charging fees and parental volunteer quotas, Public Advocates said.

The report cited the policies of a dozen schools, including Manzanita Charter Center School, chartered past the West Contra Costa Unified School District. Information technology requires at to the lowest degree 96 hours of parental volunteering per school year and participation in two "mandatory school cleanings" to remain "in good standing." A family "not in skillful standing … will not receive priority admission for a sibling the following school yr," the schoolhouse handbook says.

James Trombley, Manzanita's executive manager, said the 150-educatee middle school relies on parents to be involved in the classroom and to help with custodial work. The schoolhouse tries to adapt scheduling conflicts and medical needs of its by and large low-income families. Those families that exercise not receive a waiver from the volunteer requirement lose their priority enrollment status simply can enter the lottery the next twelvemonth for access, he said.

"We're a distinguished school recognized for our parent partnerships," he said.

Some confusion may come from a 2006 memo by Michael Hersher, deputy full general counsel of the state Department of Pedagogy. Hersher wrote that it was his opinion that a charter school proposal "may lawfully include reasonable access criteria, including a requirement that parents agree to do work for the charter schoolhouse." Affeldt said the memo is no longer on the Department of Education website, but at to the lowest degree one police firm serving charter school clients has posted it on its website. He wants the Department of Instruction to disavow it.

In 2010, the American Civil Liberties Union in California sued the state for permitting dozens of schoolhouse districts to routinely charge fees, including charges for textbooks, AP exams, lab materials and gym uniforms. That led to the passage of AB 1575, which explicitly prohibits all public schools from charging fees for participating in an educational action at the school. Public Advocates argues that forced volunteering constitutes a fee.

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