Charter Vendors: Rally Your Chamber of Commerce Against AB 84

Vendors: Your Livelihood Is on the Line!
Take Action to Protect Community-Supported Education and Keep Your Charter Relationships Thriving

Join our campaign to protect community-supported education- take action to keep your charter relationships thriving. Ask your local Chamber of Commerce to oppose AB 84.

Key Message:

AB 84 (Muratsuchi) threatens the livelihood of small, local businesses, including independent contractors and family-run educational vendors, who have supported California’s public charter school students for decades. This bill will deprive small specialized businesses of their ability to serve students seeking their subject matter expert services. We need to protect community-based economic opportunity, educational equity, and local entrepreneurship.

Call to Action:

1. We must take action to inform our Chambers of Commerce of the negative impacts the bill will have on our local businesses and ask them to take action and oppose AB 84. Their action will have the biggest impact on legislators to kill this bill. California and the Local Chamber of Commerce contact information are provided at the end of this document.
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2. Submit your opposition to AB84 as an individual. Encourage others to submit their opposition as well. You can do so here: https://calegislation.lc.ca.gov/Advocates/

Background:

Why This Matters:

Since the 1990s, California public charter schools, particularly nonclassroom-based independent study programs, have been allowed to partner with local small businesses to provide enrichment classes, expanded learning opportunities, academic tutoring, and special education services for students.

This model is based on community-supported public education by giving families access to diverse, personalized services while fueling local economies. Thousands of small businesses across the state have grown around this partnership, many of them women-owned, minority-owned, and deeply embedded in their communities.

Assembly Bill 84 (AB 84) would dismantle this successful, decades-old model and put both educational opportunity and local jobs at risk. In an unnecessary attempt to increase regulations, the state will inadvertently take business away from small businesses, impacting the state’s economy, in addition to taking away community provided educational services from students. We urge the Chambers of Commerce across California to stand up for local businesses and oppose this bill.

Key Talking Points for Chambers of Commerce:

1. AB 84 would upend a 30-year partnership model that works.
   
   Since the 1990s, charter schools have legally partnered with local businesses to meet student needs. AB 84 would prohibit public funds from being used unless services are provided by credentialed school employees, excluding the vast majority of vendors who are community-based professionals.
   
   
2. It threatens thousands of local small businesses and jobs.
   
   Music teachers, art instructors, special education providers, martial arts coaches, STEM mentors, math tutors, etc. are not large, heavily funded corporations. They are locally owned and operated small businesses rooted in the communities they serve. Without charter school partnerships, many of these businesses will not survive.
   
   
3. The economic ripple effects will hurt our communities.
   
   Small business closures due to AB 84 imposing unnecessary regulations would lead to job loss, empty commercial spaces, and reduced tax revenue. The harm would be felt in every community, from urban neighborhoods to rural towns.
   
   
4. AB 84 limits access to community-supported public education.
   
   Charter schools rely on these vendors to personalize their students’ education and keep them engaged. These partnerships are a lifeline for students who need flexible, alternative options within the public school system.
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5. Existing laws are sufficient, and fraud is already addressed under existing law.
   
   AB 84 is supposed to be a bill that will address fraud. Public funds must be protected, and when fraud occurs in the charter system, the perpetrators can already be prosecuted under existing laws. The A3 situation that is the catalyst for this bill was handled and addressed because of current laws. This bill is unnecessary and goes too far.
   
   Like in any public sector, bad actors exist, and current laws already exist to address that. The A3 incident does not justify dismantling an entire ecosystem of ethical, hardworking small businesses. Let’s evaluate enforcement, not erase opportunity.

6. Overreach.
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   AB 84 seeks to ensure instructors are qualified by forcing subject matter experts serving charter school students to be credentialed by the state. But, let us consider community college instructors and dual enrollment programs. Middle and high school students may dual enroll and learn from instructors at community colleges. These instructors are not required to be credentialed by the state, and the government is encouraging students to take their classes.

Sample Letter to Your Chamber of Commerce:

Subject: Please Oppose AB 84 – It Will Harm Local Small Businesses That Provide Community Education

Dear [Chamber President/Director’s Name],

I’m writing as a [parent/vendor/community member] to respectfully ask that the [Chamber Name] take an official stance in opposition to Assembly Bill 84 (School Accountability, Muratsuchi), which threatens expanded learning partnerships for students and the vital relationship between local small businesses and public charter schools.

Since the 1990s, public charter schools have been allowed to partner with local small businesses to provide enrichment, expanded learning, academic support, and special education services. These businesses are not large corporations; they are local instructors, therapists, and educators, many of them women- and minority-owned, who support students while growing the local economy.

AB 84 would end this 30-year model by prohibiting these partnerships, limiting charter schools to services only delivered by credentialed school employees. This means the loss of subject matter expert small business contracts, closure of long-standing businesses, and the removal of vital educational options for families that are provided by community businesses.

If passed, this bill will:

• Shut down hundreds of local vendors
  
• Result in job loss and economic decline
  
• Reduce access to personalized education options in the community
  
• Strip flexibility from California’s public education system by cutting access to experts in the community
  
• Undermine the work of ethical, community-based providers
  
  

The bill is being promoted as a response to fraud, but existing laws already provide oversight and enforcement, and they’ve worked. We need your help to stop legislation that will wrongfully punish thousands of legitimate businesses and families.

I urge you to stand with small businesses and families in our community. Please formally oppose AB 84 and submit a letter of opposition to the legislative portal. Be a voice for small businesses. Protect community-supported education and the small business ecosystem that helps it thrive.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

[Business Name or Role]

[City or Zip Code]

Chamber of Commerce Contact Info:

California Chamber of Commerce (CalChamber) – Statewide Headquarters

• Address: 1215 K Street, Suite 1400, Sacramento, CA 95814
  
• Phone: (916) 444-6670
  
• Email: customer.service@calchamber.com
• Website: https://www.calchamber.com/
• ‍Email the CalChamber policy team listed at the bottom of their team page to share your concerns about AB 84‍

California Chamber of Commerce  – Local

• Find and Contact Your Local Chamber of Commerce
• Ask your local Chamber to stand with small businesses by opposing AB 84.

Encourage them to contact state legislators and publicly oppose AB 84. Their voice carries weight, especially when it comes to protecting small business partnerships and education-based entrepreneurs in your community.

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