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Bills on the Move
Last Wednesday, the Assembly took up 24 bills on a wide range of topics. Next Wednesday, April 14th, the Senate will take up a similarly large number of measures. Here are the summaries of the more substantial bills up for consideration. Finance SB 1136 (Cox) Education finance: revenue limit apportionments. Summary: Existing law requires the Controller to draw warrants on the State Treasury in favor of the county treasurer of each county in each month of each year in prescribed amounts and in a prescribed manner. Commencing with the 2008-09 fiscal year, existing law requires the warrants for the principal apportionments for the month of February in the amount of $2,000,000,000 to be drawn in July of the same calendar year , and requires those warrants to be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution for the year in which they are drawn. This bill , notwithstanding the provisions described above, would prohibit a school district's apportionment deferral from exceeding the school district's required reserve for economic uncertainties, if the school district meets specified criteria. This bill contains other related provisions.
SB 1161 (Lowenthal) Education: school finance. Summary: Existing law, the Leroy F. Greene School Facilities Act of 1998, provides the funding for the new construction and modernization of school facilities. A procedure is provided for school districts to apply for funding school construction or modernization pursuant to this act. This bill would authorize the board to make the prohibition against self-certification at its discretion, and would delete the exception from the prohibition for the district's repayment. The bill would make other technical changes. This bill contains other existing laws.
SB 1191 (Wiggins) Education: minimum funding. Summary: Existing provisions of the California Constitution require the state to apply a minimum amount of funding for each fiscal year for the support of school districts and community college districts. Existing law provides that, for purposes of those minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts, appropriations for deficiencies and prior year adjustments are deemed appropriations in the fiscal year in which the deficiencies or prior year adjustments occurred, unless otherwise provided by law. This bill would specify criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of pupil-counselor ratios in that report. This bill contains other existing laws. Curriculum & Instruction SB 1298 (Hancock) Regional occupational centers and programs. Summary: Existing law establishes various categorical education programs, including regional occupational centers and programs, and appropriates the funding for those programs in the annual Budget Act. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, for the 2008-09 to 2012-13 fiscal years, inclusive, to apportion from the amount provided in the annual Budget Act for specified categorical education programs an amount based on the same relative proportion that the local educational agency received in the 2008-09 fiscal year for those programs and authorizes school districts, for those fiscal years, to use these funds, with specified exceptions, for any educational purpose, to the extent permitted by federal law. Existing law, for those fiscal years, deems local educational agencies that use these categorical education program funds for any educational purpose to be in compliance with the program and funding requirements of those categorical education programs. This bill would restrict the authority of a school district to withdraw from a regional occupational center or program if the State Board of Education determines that doing so would negatively impact the career technical education services received by high school pupils of other school districts in the region. The bill would require a recipient of funds allocated for career technical education services to expend those funds in accordance with the regional plan for occupational course sequences, in order to meet documented labor market demand, and focus on the needs of high school pupils. The bill would make legislative findings and declarations regarding career technical education programs organized and implemented as occupational course sequences.
SB 1381 (Simitian) Kindergarten Readiness Pilot Program. Summary: Existing law requires that a child be admitted to kindergarten at the beginning of a school year, or at any time later in the same year if the child will have his or her 5th birthday on or before December 2 of that school year. An elementary school is required to admit a child to the first grade during the first month of a school year if the child will have his or her 6th birthday on or before December 2 of that school year. This bill would change the required birthday for admission to kindergarten and first grade to November 1 for the 2012-13 school year, October 1 for the 2013-14 school year, and September 1 for the 2014-15 school year and each school year thereafter. To the extent those changes establish new administrative duties on the governing boards of school districts in implementing the changes, they would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 1444 (Hancock) Pupil instruction: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. Summary: Existing law requires the adopted course of study for grades 1 to 6, inclusive, and for grades 7 to 12, inclusive, to offer courses in specified areas of study, including mathematics and science. This bill would define science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education as courses or a sequence of courses that prepare pupils for occupations and careers that require technically sophisticated skills, including the application of mathematical and scientific skills and concepts, as specified. Human Resources SB 956 (Romero) Workforce development: California School Paraprofessional Teacher Training Program. Summary: The federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998 makes funding available to states that offer training and workforce development services through the state and local workforce investment boards. The California Workforce Investment Board, which is the entity responsible for assisting the Governor in the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of California's workforce investment system, is required to recommend strategies to the Governor for strategic training investments of certain discretionary funding made available under the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998. This bill would require the California Workforce Investment Board , upon appropriation by the Legislature, to allocate $5,000,000 of the Workforce Investment Act state reserve, as provided for by federal law, to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to increase spending for the California School Paraprofessional Teacher Training Program. This bill contains other existing laws. Facilities SB 1193 (Lowenthal) School facilities funding: high performance schools. Summary: Existing law, the Leroy F. Greene School Facilities Act of 1998 (the Greene Act), requires the State Allocation Board to allocate to applicant school districts prescribed per-unhoused-pupil state funding for construction and modernization of school facilities, including hardship funding and supplemental funding for site development and acquisition and requires the board to adopt rules and regulations for the administration of the Greene Act. The Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities Bond Act of 2006 sets aside $100,000,000 of the proceeds of the bonds sold under that act for incentive grants under the Greene Act to promote the use of design and materials in new construction and modernization projects that include the attributes of high-performance schools. This bill would increase the amount of a modernization grant by $250,000 per school site if a school district incorporates the use of high performance design and materials, and if the project is able to achieve one of three specified objectives. The bill would require the State Allocation Board to adopt, and the Office of Administrative Law to process, emergency regulations to implement the increases. The provisions of the bill would be applicable, as specified, to contracts signed on or after April 1, 2010 . This bill contains other existing laws.
SB 1227 (Runner) School facilities: construction. Summary: Existing law, the Field Act, requires the Department of General Services, under the police power of the state, to supervise the design and construction of any school building, as defined to include buildings used for elementary, secondary, and community college purposes, or the reconstruction or alteration of or addition to any school building, as defined to include buildings used for elementary, secondary, and community college purposes, if not exempted, to ensure that plans and specifications comply with adopted rules and regulations and specified building standards and to ensure that the work of construction has been performed in accordance with the approved plans and specifications, for the protection of life and property. Existing law requires the plans and specifications for any school building, as defined, together with cost estimates, to be submitted to the Department of General Services for approval. Existing law requires a manufacturer of factory-built buildings designed or intended for use as school buildings to submit to the Department of General Services and the State Department of Education for approval, its plans, specifications, methods of construction, and estimates of cost of those buildings. This bill would transfer the duties of the Department of General Services with regard to design and construction of school buildings, as defined to include buildings used for elementary, secondary, and community college purposes, to the building department of the appropriate local jurisdiction. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 1380 (Hancock) School facilities: construction. Summary: The Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities Bond Act of 2006 provides for the issuance and sale of $10,416,000,000 in state general obligation bonds, of which $7,329,000,000 are for elementary and secondary school facilities. Existing law sets aside $500,000,000 of the latter amount for purposes relating to facilities for career technical education programs and $1,000,000,000 for new construction funding for severely overcrowded school sites. Existing law authorizes the Legislature to adjust the funding amounts set aside for specific purposes related to elementary and secondary school facilities by a statute passed in each house of the Legislature by a 2/3 vote if the statute is consistent with, and furthers the purpose of the bond act. This bill would increase the amount set aside for facilities for career technical education programs to $700,000,000 and reduce the amount set aside for new construction funding for severely overcrowded school sites to $800,000,000. The bill would contain a Legislative finding and declaration that it is consistent with, and furthers the purpose of the bond act.
SB 1432 (Hancock) School facilities. Summary: Existing law, the Leroy F. Greene School Facilities Act of 1998, requires the State Allocation Board to allocate to applicant school districts, prescribed per-unhoused-pupil state funding for construction and modernization of school facilities, including hardship funding, and supplemental funding for site development and acquisition. The Greene Act requires all school facilities purchased or newly constructed pursuant to the act for use, in whole or in part, by pupils who are individuals with exceptional needs, as defined, to be designed and located on the school site so as to maximize interaction between those individuals with exceptional needs and other pupils as appropriate to the needs of both. This bill would require, in conjunction with an application for Greene Act funding, and as a condition of receiving funds for the project, the school district to certify that it consulted with the county office of education or special education local planning agency and that the project includes the necessary school facilities and supporting infrastructure for pupils who are individuals with exceptional needs or to certify and demonstrate that the project site has dedicated acreage of sufficient size and in an appropriate location to support the construction of classrooms, toilet rooms, and medical therapy units in the future by the district or the county office of education, unless the school district certifies that the district and the county office of education or special education local planning agency have no special education facilities needs. Miscellaneous SB 930 (Ducheny) Pupil assessments. Summary: Existing law establishes the Standardized Testing and Reporting Program, known as the STAR Program. Existing law requires each school district, charter school, and county office of education to administer a standards-based achievement test, known as the California Standards Tests, to all pupils in grades 2 to 11, inclusive. Existing law authorizes a school district to administer a second test in the pupil's primary language to pupils with limited English proficiency who receive instruction in their primary language or have been enrolled in a school in the United States for less than 12 months. Existing law makes these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2011. This bill would instead require pupils with limited English proficiency who receive instruction in their primary language or have been enrolled in a school in the United States for less than 12 months to take a second achievement test in their primary language, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. The bill would extend the operative date of these provisions to July 1, 2015. The bill would require the State Department of Education, by January 1, 2011, to identify and develop effective accommodations for English learners that will allow meaningful participation in the assessments and that address the unique linguistic and sociocultural needs of the English learner without altering the test construct. The bill would require school districts to provide specified accommodations to pupils who are English learners while taking these tests, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 1051 (Huff) Emergency medical assistance: administration of diastat. Summary: Existing law provides that in the absence of a credentialed school nurse or other licensed nurse onsite at the school, a school district is authorized to provide school personnel with voluntary medical training to provide emergency medical assistance to pupils with diabetes suffering from severe hypoglycemia. This bill would authorize a school district, in the absence of a credentialed school nurse or other licensed nurse onsite at the school, to provide school employees with voluntary emergency medical training to provide emergency medical assistance to pupils with epilepsy suffering from seizures in accordance with performance standards developed by specified entities. The bill would require the State Department of Public Health to approve the performance standards for distribution and make the standards available upon request. School employees who are trained and who administer diastat in good faith would be immune from liability for injuries resulting from acts or omission in administering the diastat.
SB 1148 (Alquist) Pupil attendance. Summary: Existing law defines a truant as any pupil subject to compulsory full-time education or to compulsory continuation education who is absent from school without valid excuse three full days in one school year, or any combination thereof. This bill would define a chronic truant as any pupil subject to compulsory full-time education or to compulsory continuing education who is absent from school without valid excuse for 10% or more of the schooldays in one school year.
SB 1186 (Liu) Education governance. Summary: Existing law establishes the State Board of Education to adopt policies, and to establish rules and regulations, not inconsistent with the laws of the state, to govern the public elementary and secondary schools of the state. Existing law provides that the state board consists of 10 members, who are appointed by the Governor to 4-year terms with the advice and consent of 2/3 of the Senate. Existing law also provides for the appointment by the Governor, with the advice and consent of 2/3 of the Senate, of a student member to a single one-year term commencing on August 1. Existing law authorizes the state board to issue subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses before the board, or before any member of the board, in the same manner as any court in the state. This bill would require that the 10 nonstudent appointees to the state board represent, and reside in, distinct geographical areas of the state, reflect the ethnic and gender diversity of the state's population, and represent the various disciplines active in the public education system. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 1301 (Simitian) Pupil records. Summary: Existing law requires school districts to establish, maintain, and destroy pupil records according to regulations adopted by the State Board of Education. The regulations are required to establish state policy as to what items of information shall be placed into pupil records and what information is appropriate to be compiled by individual school officers or employees, as specified. This bill would require the state board to ensure that permanent pupil records include a unique pupil identifier to improve the quality of statewide longitudinal data, enable local educational agencies to readily determine the unique history of pupils when they enroll, and to better enable the linking of cross-segmental data in a preschool through higher education (P-20) data warehouse.
SB 1354 (Hancock) Partnership academies. Summary: Existing law provides for the establishment of partnership academies for pupils at risk of dropping out of school by participating school districts that meet specified eligibility requirements, and requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to issue grants to school districts for planning, establishing, and maintaining the partnership academies. Existing law sets forth criteria for a pupil to be considered at-risk of dropping out of school. This bill would expand the criteria for determining whether a pupil is at-risk of dropping out of school, and would revise the requirements for the enrollment of pupils who are not at-risk. The bill, commencing with the 2011-12 fiscal year, would provide an annual percentage cost-of-living increase to each partnership academy in operation for three or more years. The bill would require a school district to provide an assurance that each academy pupil will be provided with career technical courses in each grade level that are part of an occupational course sequence that targets comprehensive skills, and meets certain other requirements. The bill would make other conforming changes. This bill contains other related provisions.
SB 1357 (Steinberg) California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System. Summary: Existing law establishes the California Education Information System, which consists of the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) and the California Longitudinal Teacher Integrated Data Education System. Existing law requires the State Department of Education under CALPADS to contract for the development of proposals that will provide for the retention and analysis of longitudinal pupil achievement data. Existing law requires local educational agencies to retain individual pupil records for each test taker, including other data elements deemed necessary by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, with approval of the State Board of Education, to comply with federal reporting requirements delineated in the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. This bill would require the department, contingent on federal funding for this purpose, to prepare CALPADS to include data on pupil absences. The bill would require that CALPADS be capable of issuing periodic reports to local educational agencies on the rates of absence for each pupil and reports on chronic absences, as defined. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature to support the development of early warning systems to identify and support individual pupils who are at risk of academic failure or of dropping out of school. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws. Editor's Note: Andrew Keller is the Legislative Assistant for Governmental Solutions Group, LLC, a policy consulting and legislative advocacy firm. |
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