SAN JOSE, CA – The California Department of Education (CDE) has selected the Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE) and the California Charter Authorizing Professionals (CCAP) to expand and strengthen support for charter school authorizing and oversight by school districts and county offices of education.
The program, funded by subgrants of CDE’s federal Charter Schools Program grant, is called the Charter Authorizer Support Initiative (CASI). SCCOE and CCAP are working collaboratively to develop and implement an action plan for providing professional development and resources to the state’s 329 school district and county office charter school authorizers through workshops, regional meetings, and toolkits. There is a special emphasis on building networks among small and rural authorizers.
Santa Clara County Office of Education Charter Schools Director, Mefula Fairley, said, “Through our work with school districts in our county, we know how much authorizers need up-to-date information and support on financial oversight, new state laws and regulations, and academic accountability during and after the pandemic.”
Outreach is a key component of the work, and SCCOE and CCAP will be working with regional networks hosted by participating county offices of education throughout the state to provide direct technical assistance tailored to specific needs and challenges. This is particularly important for small and rural authorizers, which comprise nearly 60 percent of California authorizers and generally have fewer staff members, resources and time to dedicate to charter authorizing and monitoring. So far, the participating county offices of education include Contra Costa, El Dorado, Los Angeles, Mono, Riverside, Shasta, and Sutter. Other key collaborators include the Small School Districts’ Association (SSDA) and the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT).
California Charter Authorizing Professionals Executive Director, Tom Hutton, said, “We’re grateful to the Charter Schools Division of CDE for recognizing the importance of authorizer support. And we’re excited to work with SCCOE and our other partners to take the effort to support high-quality charter authorizing to a new level.”
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About the Santa Clara County Office of Education
Working collaboratively with school and community partners, the Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE) is a regional service agency that provides instructional, business, and technology services to the 31 school districts of Santa Clara County. The County Office of Education directly serves students through special education programs, alternative schools, Head Start and State Preschool programs, migrant education, and Opportunity Youth Academy. The SCCOE also provides academic and fiscal oversight and monitoring to districts in addition to the 22 Santa Clara County Board of Education authorized charter schools. For more information about the Santa Clara County Office of Education, please visit www.sccoe.org and follow us @SCCOE on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
About California Charter Authorizing Professionals (CCAP)
CCAP is working to ensure quality charter schools in California's public education sector by providing a network of support and resources to build the professional capacity of the individuals serving this vital role. We invite you to be a part of this important work by joining CCAP and supporting our mission. Together we can and will make a positive impact on the future of education in our state. For more information about California Charter Authorizing Professionals, please visit calauthorizers.org, and follow us @Calauthorizers on Facebook and Twitter.