This study examined the effects of one particular piece of legislation on California's nonclassroom-based charter schools. In 2001, the California State Legislature passed SB 740, a bill designed in part to limit funding of nonclassroom-based charter schools to instances when the State Board of Education has made a determination of funding. The determination of funding is based on prescribed spending levels as outlined in regulations governing the implementation of SB 740. The literature on charter schools contains very few studies on charter school expenditure levels. This study provided an important addition to the literature on charter school spending. This study's literature review included such topics as charter school autonomy and charter school accountability, home schooling, school choice, charter school legislation, policy implementation, and charter school spending patterns. 10 administrators, who were in nonclassroom-based leadership positions before, during, and after the implementation of SB 740, were interviewed. The researcher compiled and analyzed the results to find themes that emerged from the administrators' insights. Results and conclusions included: (a) the respondents perceived that SB 740 successfully purged the non-classroom based charter school movement of many schools that were engaged in abusive fiduciary practices, (b) the respondents thought the regulations were overly constricting, especially in the areas of facilities costs and reserve funds, (c) the respondents voiced concern that small schools attempting innovative practices and programs may have been forced to close due to their inability to meet the SB 740 funding determination guidelines, and (d) unexpected consequences of SB 740 included division between the ranks of classroom-based and nonclassroom-based charter schools, the formation of a nonclassroom-based advocacy group, and increased teacher salaries.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:pacific.edu/oai:scholarlycommons.pacific.edu:uop_etds-3494 |
| Date | 01 January 2007 |
| Creators | Christensen, Trygve Rolff |
| Publisher | Scholarly Commons |
| Source Sets | University of the Pacific |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations |
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