History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
NEW REPORT: Los Angeles' road to A-G for all
Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
New penalties proposed for banned school fees
- 01-26-2011
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By Corey G. Johnson/California Watch
School districts that violate the state's guarantee to a free education by illegally charging fees for classroom and extracurricular activities would have a portion of their annual budget withheld under newly proposed legislation. The bill, authored by Assemblyman Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, requires annual audits of school districts to make sure they are not making parents and children pay for uniforms, classroom materials and extra activities, like cheerleading. For those districts that won't comply, the state controller will withhold 1 percent of their total funding for administrative costs. The money will not be released until a full reimbursement, with interest, is made to all parents, guardians and pupils for the violation, the bill states. Lara's bill, AB 165, is the first attempt to add teeth to California's long standing decree that public school education is free. It comes in the wake of a recent settlement between the American Civil Liberties Union and the state of California over the matter. (more...)
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