California Weathers Yet Another Attack on Parental Rights
AB 84 will restrict charter schools and homeschooling
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In California the battle never ends. The assault on children, parental rights and common sense by Sacramento continues every single day.
The latest attack on the sovereignty of Californians is embedded in yet another bill designed to thwart the end run parents are increasingly making around our decrepit public school system.
This is about counties like Orange County that refuse to bend the knee to Sacramento
Currently, charter schools are applied for and approved at the local level. For instance, here in Orange County, the Orange County Board of Education (OCBE) is the approving body for new charter schools. The OCBE is the county board; each region within Orange County has its own district school board. In our case, the OCBE has traditionally operated as another arm of the teachers unions, stonewalling and throttling new charters that rise up in competition with traditional public schools. That is, until Orange County residents decided they’d had enough and handed back control to a more conservative group of public servants. They are currently hard at work on approving more charter schools and educating parents about their rights.
As you can imagine, the Democrat majority in Sacramento does not appreciate the independence, and while other counties across the state have made similar moves, Orange County has been on the Governor’s hit list for quite some time, as evidenced by his ongoing legal aggression against Huntington Beach.
Their latest challenge to parents and (I believe) Orange County independence is AB84, a bill designed to impose further restrictions on charter schools, parental choice and charter school approvals.
Sweeping new restrictions
Here is a short summary from one of our most prominent think-tanks and advocacy groups here, California Policy Center (CPC):
Assembly Bill 84 imposes sweeping and unnecessary new restrictions on California’s charter schools under the guise of enhancing “accountability.” It creates bureaucratic hurdles, financial burdens, and operational mandates that threaten the viability of nonclassroom-based (NCB) charter schools—public institutions that serve students with diverse and often challenging educational needs. The bill does not apply these burdens evenly across all public schools, making clear its intent: reduce the autonomy and growth of charter schools and restrict parental choice. At a time when California families are demanding more flexibility and innovation in education, AB 84 doubles down on a centralized, compliance-driven model that serves special interests—not students.
AB84 would take the ability to approve charters from "small” boards and districts and place that authority in the hands of larger districts and a new state office in the Department of Education.
In California, we are permitted to “homeschool” under the charter and private school laws. The law basically requires a parent to register as a private school or personal extension of California charters. If someone registers under the charter program, they have access to a small portion of the state funds for their child’s education. There are several restrictions on how the funds should be used but nothing unexpected - school supplies, field trips, education expenses, etc.
You can imagine the myriad of ways parents are spending that money, particularly to circumvent the egregious LGBTQplusalltheletters curriculum that currently saturates California public education. You can imagine the state finds that distasteful. AB84 will create a chill on homeschooling, building even more restrictions on how parents can spend the charter school money they’re entitled to by law.
An unending cycle
This is the cycle. The state enacts laws that make life harder for parents and children to receive the education excellence they’re entitled to. Parents find ways to circumvent the bureaucracy and create opportunities for their children. The state enacts more laws to circumvent the circumventing, and around and around we go.
Naturally, the solution would be for the state to stop trying to plug holes in their awful policy and let parents make their own decisions for their children.
Naturally, the Democrat supermajority feels California children are their children, and I don’t know who needs to hear this right now, but Government is a terrible dad.
So, here we are, fighting yet another attack on parental choice and quality education from the people who are happy to let our kids continue to fail as long as the tax dollars keep pouring their way.
I spoke with VP of Education Policy & Government Affairs at California Policy Center Lance Christensen about AB 84. Christensen calls the bill a special interests “power play” designed to bog down educational alternatives in red tape and politics.
AB 84 is not about accountability—it is about control. It reflects a coordinated effort and political power play by entrenched interests to eliminate competition from charter schools by burying them in red tape. Students, not systems, should take priority in education policy.
California policymakers should reject this flawed bill and instead focus on empowering families, supporting innovation, and expanding successful models that meet the needs of every child.
AB 84 is just another political trick to bleed more control from parents and prevent Californians from escaping the present hell of California public education.
But wait, there’s more!
Christensen points out the bill’s author - Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance)- is running for the position of Superintendent of Public Instruction, a powerful state education office dominated by union interests. Christensen calls it “an audition” for the office, which should render Muratsuchi disqualified from the outset.
This a pathetic way for Al Muratsuchi to audition for the CTA's (California Teachers Association) endorsement in his campaign for Superintendent of Public Instruction. Effectively eliminating an educational option that has aided millions of students in getting a high-quality public education -- something that traditional schools are not required to provide -- should be disqualifying for anyone who wants to oversee California's educational system.
What can you do?
This bill has already passed through debate in the Assembly and now heads to the Senate Education Committee for debate. If you live in the state, contact your state Senator and demand they oppose AB84.
If you don’t live here (or even if you do) please share this article and information and encourage your California friends and family to make their voices heard.
Click here to find your state Senator.
California is not for the easily fatigued.
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