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Senate, Assembly Committees Discuss New Bills Education Advocates Converge on Sacramento Advocates from all over California converged on the Capitol last week to voice opinions on education issues. Grassroots activists walked from Bakersfield to Sacramento in protest of education budget cuts while the typical jet-setters flew in from L.A. and D.C. to debate teacher seniority and layoff legislation. Education committees in both the Senate and Assembly convened on Wednesday to give all comers an opportunity to put their issues on the table. Raising the stakes even further, these hearings were also the last opportunity for new bills flagged as having a fiscal impact on the state to make it out of their respective committees — any stragglers are considered dead in the water. Most of the excitement occurred in the Senate Education Committee, where SB 955 (Huff, R – Diamond Bar) and SB 1440 (Padilla, D – Pacoima) passed their initial votes despite making substantial changes to K-12 and higher education policy, respectively. Fiery debate on SB 955 — the main event for the day — raged for more than two hours while advocates on both sides argued over teacher layoff and dismissal policy. Proponents of SB 955 showcased a cadre of young, highly educated teachers who had been laid off multiple times from hard-to-staff schools, while the bill’s opponents brought in such heavy hitters as United Teachers Los Angeles President A.J. Duffy and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten. Debate between the two sides turned contentious more than once, with opponents warning lawmakers that SB 955 essentially erases employees’ rights to due process. “This bill will destroy the teaching profession,” said Duffy, citing a lack of data supporting the solutions offered by the bill. The Republican-authored bill passed 5-4 with bipartisan support from Senators Gloria Romero (D – Los Angeles) and Elaine Alquist (D – Santa Clara), with Alquist adding that she is “not yet a co-sponsor” of the bill. SB 1440, on the other hand, succeeded in proposing substantial changes at the community college level by passing with unanimous support. This bill requires community colleges to issue transfer students an Associate degree in their respective fields that makes the student eligible for transfer to a CSU program. Currently, community colleges are under no obligation to ensure their degree requirements line up with CSU admission requirements. The bill similarly adds restrictions to CSU programs that ensure these transfer students are not forced to repeat similar courses once matriculated into the CSU system. Other bills on the committee agenda passed with comparatively little difficulty, as most authors agreed to take amendments recommended by the committee. Over in the Assembly, a similar majority of bills passed through the education committee with amendments in tow, sans the fireworks of SB 955. These bills sailed through the committee with bipartisan support, for the most part. Despite imposing substantial changes to a wide range of policies, none of these propositions invoke the ire of unions. Here are some of the more important measures passed on Wednesday:
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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