Ab 84 threatens personalized learning at CORE Butte
In the wake of the devastating Camp Fire, Park Fire and Dixie Fire and the compounding toll of the pandemic, CORE Butte has become more than an educational institution; it is a lifeline. Over the past several years, we have built a robust wellness program that provides trauma-informed care and essential mental health support to our most vulnerable students.
Our wellness team works tirelessly to connect families with critical resources, support students so they excel in and outside of school, and guide staff in meaningful conversations about resilience. In a world where trauma and instability are daily realities for many young people, these tools are not a luxury — they are survival skills. But now, the program we’ve worked so hard to build is under threat.
CORE Butte is a tuition-free, flex-based public charter school that has been a pioneer in personalized learning, offering a hybrid model that combines in-person instruction with independent study. This means that many of our students receive in-person instruction throughout the week and complete their assignments at home on the other days. But under Assembly Bill 84, which is moving through the state Legislature, our personalized, flexible education model is devalued, and our school stands to lose millions in state funding each year. This bill would remove dollars directly from our students who need it the most.
Our unique educational approach allows students to learn at their own pace, engage in community-based enrichment activities, and participate in college courses through partnerships with Butte College and California State University, Chico. Our school’s commitment to flexibility and individualized education is important and highly sought after by families seeking alternatives to traditional classroom-only education.
CORE Butte serves a unique and deeply impacted student population. With 17.5% of our students receiving special education services, the need is urgent and constant. Many of our special education students benefit from our wellness program. Not only do they receive the targeted services identified in their Individualized Education Program (IEP), but they are taught relationship skills, social awareness, self-management, and how to make responsible decisions. These are the skills that will guide them through life and set them up for success in college and in the workplace.
The reality is state and federal funds dedicated to special education do not cover our program costs, and each year we use over $900,000 from our general fund to cover our special education costs. We stretch every dollar, but the math doesn’t add up: losing millions of dollars each year when we are chronically underfunded is catastrophic.
AB 84 is being packaged as a “charter school reform bill,” but it threatens to roll back years of progress in personalized education, and its passage could have lasting negative effects on students at CORE Butte and other flex-based personalized learning schools across the state.
As the bill moves through the legislative process, it has been amended, but unfortunately, there are several harmful and costly measures that remain, including changes to the funding determination process that could lead to students at personalized-learning public charter schools throughout the state receiving less state funding than their peers who are enrolled in classroom-based public schools. This creates a dangerous double standard and will dismantle the highly effective personalized-learning programs that have become a lifeline for so many students.
We support efforts to strengthen transparency and accountability of public charter schools. That’s why we support Senate Bill 414 authored by Sen. Angelique Ashby as it is an even-handed, rational approach that enhances accountability while preserving the flexibility and innovation that are essential to meeting the diverse needs of our students.
The difference is that AB 84’s heavy-handed approach would dismantle successful educational models that serve vulnerable students, whereas SB 414 would foster a system that holds public charter schools accountable without sacrificing the flexibility that many students need to succeed. It is critical that policymakers listen to the parents and students who would be directly impacted by these bills and continue to allow families to choose the best learning environments for their children. There is too much at stake.
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Mary Cox is superintendent of CORE Butte, a tuition-free public charter school that serves TK-12th grade students.
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