Tell Lawmakers the Real Cost of AB 84

Emails to the Appropriations Staffer Matter more Than the Portal

We’ve learned that submitting opposition letters to the Senate Appropriations Committee Portal is not enough. Those letters are not read by lawmakers or included in the official analysis report. The office does not even include a tally of how many letters they received! 

If we want our voices heard, we must email the key staff member who directly compiles the analysis of AB 84 for the Senate Appropriations Committee.  That is the report that the committee members will receive.

The Real Costs of AB 84:

To Businesses

• AB 84 bans charter schools from contracting with thousands of vendors who currently provide educational services, materials, and enrichment across California.
• Most vendors will lose 30–100% of their customer base overnight.
• These are California-based businesses that pay state taxes, create jobs, and reinvest in their local economies.
• Massive vendor shutdowns = lost income tax, sales tax, and payroll tax revenue to the state.

To the State’s Special Education System

• Thousands of special education students have moved to non-classroom-based charter schools over the last five years because they weren’t being adequately served elsewhere.
• If AB 84 passes, these students will not return to district schools. Instead, families say they’ll file Private School Affidavits, making the local district fully responsible for the child’s special education services, but without the ADA (per-student funding).
• This means the state will bear the full cost of services for students who aren't even enrolled, an unfunded mandate with major fiscal consequences.

To the State Budget

• The Assembly Appropriations Committee already estimated that AB 84 will cost millions to tens of millions annually due to new audits, oversight bodies, and compliance layers.
• But what happens when those brand-new government offices go over budget? They’re likely to.
• New bureaucracy rarely comes in under cost. Without historical data, oversight offices like the new Office of Inspector General could easily require more funding than projected.

Call to Action: Help Us Make the Real Cost of AB 84 Impossible to Ignore

The Senate Appropriations Committee and their staff need to hear from us. The Assembly Education Committee bill analysis for AB 84 fails to reflect how much it will truly cost the state, and your voice can help make that real cost impossible to ignore.

Send your email today it’s quick and impactful.

Just click a link below, and your email client will open with all the right recipients already filled in. You don’t need to know anyone’s name or copy any addresses, simply add your message to the body and hit send.

What to Say

Use the sample content below, or write your own message to paste into the email. Make it personal, direct, kind, and professional, your voice matters.

SAMPLE EMAILS:

From a Vendor:

Option 1:

Dear Mr. Del Castillo and Honorable Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee,

My name is [Name], and I own [Business Name], a California-based educational vendor that serves families enrolled in non-classroom-based charter schools.

If AB 84 passes, I will lose [estimate]% of my customer base, effectively shutting down my operations. This is not just a personal loss; it’s a loss in state revenue. My business pays California income taxes, collects sales tax, and supports local jobs.

This bill not only harms small business owners like me, but also undermines the very goal of fiscal responsibility by eliminating tax-contributing companies and forcing families to seek services outside regulated structures.

I respectfully urge you to include these vendor service-related costs and economic impacts in your fiscal analysis of AB 84. 

Honorable Senators of the Senate Appropriations Committee, please vote no or abstain on AB 84 to protect students, small businesses, and the California state budget.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Business Name]
[City, CA]

‍

Option 2:

Dear Mr. Del Castillo and Honorable Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee,

My name is [YOUR NAME], and I operate [YOUR BUSINESS NAME], a California-based educational vendor that provides instructional, special education, and enrichment services to students enrolled in non-classroom-based charter schools.

If AB 84 is passed, my business would be severely impacted. I estimate that [INSERT PERCENT]% of my clients are students in these charter schools. That loss would result in [INSERT DOLLAR AMOUNT] in annual revenue loss and would likely force me to lay off staff, reduce services, or close operations entirely.

AB 84 does not ban the purchase of materials, but it effectively eliminates the ability of charter schools to contract with vendors like me for the services that students rely on, including occupational therapy, counseling, academic instruction, arts programs, and other learning supports that are often unavailable through traditional systems.

This isn’t just a hardship for service providers, it represents a significant loss of tax revenue to the State of California through:

• Business and personal income taxes
• Payroll taxes for employees and contractors
• Decreased spending and job creation within the state economy

These fiscal impacts are not accounted for in the current analysis. Thousands of vendors up and down the state operate fully legal, ethical businesses that meet real needs for California students and families, and their sudden exclusion would carry heavy financial consequences.

I respectfully urge you to include these vendor service-related costs and economic impacts in your fiscal analysis of AB 84.

Honorable Senators of the Senate Appropriations Committee, please vote no or abstain on AB 84 to protect students, small businesses, and the California state budget.

Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
[BUSINESS NAME]
[CITY, CA]
[CONTACT INFO – OPTIONAL]

From a Parent of a Special Ed Student:

Dear Mr. Del Castillo and Honorable Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee,

My name is [YOUR NAME], and I am the parent of a child with special needs currently enrolled in a non-classroom-based public charter school.

We chose this school because our district was not able to meet my child’s educational and therapeutic needs. If AB 84 passes, and our school is forced to close or loses access to the vendor services that support my child’s progress, we will not return to our local district. Like many other families, we will instead file a Private School Affidavit.

However, under California law, that means our local district will still be responsible for providing special education services, despite not receiving any ADA funding for our child’s enrollment.

Tens of thousands of families have already stated they would make the same choice. This would create a massive, unfunded mandate for local school districts and for the state. These costs, which include related services, assessments, and legal compliance, are not reflected in the current fiscal analysis provided by the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

I respectfully ask that you revise the Senate Appropriations analysis of AB 84 to account for these real-world, high-cost impacts to districts and the state budget. Families are not bluffing about what they’ll do, we’ve already lived the alternative.

Honorable Senators of the Senate Appropriations Committee, please vote no or abstain on AB 84 to protect students, small businesses, and the California state budget.‍

Thank you for your time and careful consideration.

Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
[CITY/COUNTY]
[OPTIONAL: Child’s age/grade, diagnosis, or type of services used]
[EMAIL or PHONE – OPTIONAL]

‍

From a Parent (General Education Student):

Dear Mr. Del Castillo and Honorable Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee,

My name is [YOUR NAME], and I am the parent of a student currently enrolled in a non-classroom-based public charter school. We chose this model because it meets our child’s academic and personal needs in ways that traditional schools could not.

If AB 84 passes, our options will be eliminated. Like many families, we have no intention of returning to a district school that doesn’t work for our child. Instead, we will file a Private School Affidavit, removing our child from the public school system entirely.

This has serious fiscal consequences:

• The state loses ADA funding for our student
• Our local district loses oversight, but may still be responsible for some services
• Education funds allocated for our child will not be used to educate them

Tens of thousands of families across California have stated they will make the same choice. AB 84 would drive a mass exit from the public system, not into district schools, but into legally unaccountable alternatives, while the state continues to bear financial obligations.

These very real outcomes are not reflected in the current fiscal analysis. I respectfully urge you to revise the Senate Appropriations report to account for the long-term financial consequences of forcing families out of the public system altogether.

Honorable Senators of the Senate Appropriations Committee, please vote no or abstain on AB 84 to protect students, small businesses, and the California state budget.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
[City/County]
[Optional: Grade level or general description of your child’s learning needs]
[Email or Phone – Optional]

From School Staff or Leadership:

Dear Mr. Del Castillo and Honorable Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee,
‍
I serve as [Your Role] at [Charter School Name], a non-classroom-based public charter school that supports [Number] families across California.

AB 84 would have profound fiscal consequences that appear to be missing or underestimated in the current analysis, including:

• The elimination of vendor services, resulting in lost income, payroll, and sales tax revenue
• A sharp increase in unfunded special education obligations to districts, as families exit public schools and file Private School Affidavits
• The establishment of new oversight agencies that are likely to exceed budget projections, especially without historical cost benchmarks

These impacts extend far beyond school operations, they affect the state’s tax base, legal obligations, and long-term education funding structure.

Families are not threatening to leave the system, they already are. And when they do, public dollars no longer serve their education, but the state may still be financially responsible.

I respectfully urge you to incorporate these fiscal realities into the Senate Appropriations Committee analysis of AB 84.

Honorable Senators of the Senate Appropriations Committee, please vote no or abstain on AB 84 to protect students, small businesses, and the California state budget.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Title],
[School Name]
[City, CA]