Brown chooses charter school autonomy over guaranteed lunch for low-income students

Governor Jerry Brown vetoed last weekend legislation proposed by Assemblyman Mike Eng (D-Alhambra) that would have required charter schools to provide low-income students free or reduced-price meals, California Watch reports.

Brown said he is reluctant to "erode the independence and flexibility" of charter schools in rejecting the bill (AB1594).

"I respect the governor's concern that charter schools thrive, but I believe that it's not necessary to choose between meals for children and good policies for charter schools. We can do both," Eng told California Watch. 

Charter schools — which enrolled more than 412,000 students last year — are exempt from a state law requiring public schools to provide low-income students with a meal meeting federal nutrition standards each school day.