California teachers unions were the biggest donor to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s election campaign last year, giving him $1.2 million taken from teachers’ paychecks in the form of union dues. Now they’re looking for a return on investment with a legislative package that would cripple the growth of their charter school competitors.
Assembly Bills 1505, 1506, and 1507, sponsored by the California Teachers Association, would, respectively, give local public school districts sole control over authorizing new charters, set state and local caps on their numbers, and limit their locations. Last month, this trio of bills cleared the Assembly Education Committee, which is chaired by Assemblyman Patrick O’Donnell, a former member of the CTA’s policymaking assembly.