School accountability: Office of the Education Inspector General: school financial and performance audits: charter school authorization, oversight, operations, and contracting: data systems.

Assembly Member Muratsuchi's comprehensive education accountability measure establishes new oversight mechanisms and strengthens existing controls across California's education system. The legislation creates the Office of the Education Inspector General within the Department of Education to conduct audits and investigations of local educational agencies while implementing standardized financial reporting requirements for charter schools.

The bill institutes uniform audit standards for school districts, charter schools, and educational joint powers authorities. Independent auditors must complete 24 hours of continuing education every two years in governmental accounting and demonstrate prior experience with educational agency audits. The Controller gains expanded authority to conduct quality control reviews of audit working papers and can suspend auditors who fail to meet professional standards.

For charter schools, the measure phases in requirements to report financial data using the same forms as school districts, based on enrollment size, between 2026 and 2029. The legislation modifies oversight fee structures, allowing chartering authorities to charge up to 3% of charter school revenue by 2028. Charter schools must obtain governing body approval for contracts and face new restrictions on nonclassroom-based instruction funding based on the percentage of in-person learning provided.

The Department of Education must analyze potential integration of its longitudinal student achievement database with attendance tracking systems by 2030 to enable monitoring of attendance by unique pupil identifier. This aims to strengthen accountability for accurate attendance reporting and funding calculations.

The measure establishes the Charter Authorizing Support Team program to develop consistent authorization and oversight practices statewide, with particular focus on smaller authorizing districts. An advisory board will create standards for charter school authorization and monitoring, while providing technical assistance to authorizing entities.

These changes reflect a broader effort to standardize fiscal oversight, enhance transparency, and ensure appropriate use of public education funds across all local educational agencies. The bill includes provisions for state reimbursement of costs imposed on local agencies and school districts.