CASCWA Legislation Update

For more information on the mentioned bills, log onto www.leginfo.ca.gov. Type in author, keywords, and/or the bill number.
To locate and send an email to a State Legislator, go to Know Your Legislature.

Sandra Morales, Legislative Advocate SCHOOL INNOVATIONS & ADVOCACY

Summary of the bills we are currently tracking for CASCWA (2010)

Remaining Active Bills

 

Legislative Update - August 9, 2010

State budget news – Legislative leaders are talking openly about sending a budget to the Governor by the end of August, but privately, staff is speculating that there will be no final budget until the Governor signs or vetoes all of the legislation currently pending, which would put the budget off until September 30th.

The federal education jobs funding is hung-up in the budget process because without legislation authorizing the release of funds, districts won’t see the money. How the state distributes the funding is the major issue under consideration. Obvious methodologies remain ADA, revenue limit, and Title 1. If you have a strong preference, please let us know so we can advocate on your behalf.

LEGISLATION - It was an active week for legislation as the Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees took action on their “suspense files”. The suspense file is basically a holding cell for bills costing the state more than $100,000. Bills are heard by the committee and then sent to the suspense file to await their fate on a single day when the committee chair and respective house leadership decide which bills will be released. If not released, bills are held in committee, never actually receiving a “NO” vote. “How” and “why” certain bills are chosen to move forward is more art than science, and more politics than finance.

Legislation passing out of the respective Appropriations Committees now goes to the house floors for consideration. Both the Senate and the Assembly have scheduled floor sessions everyday for the next two weeks to debate and vote on legislation. It is the time of year when the two houses (both dominated by large democratic majorities) often play a chess game of hostage-taking and negotiation regarding the fate of bills. August 31 is the final day the Legislature may vote to pass bills to the Governor. He then has until September 30th to sign or veto legislation.

* Of particular note – SB 1357 (Steinberg) passed committee unanimously.

BILLS THAT ARE MOST RELEVENT UNDER THE UMBRELLA OF CWA

AB 2266 (Bradford) SCHOOL DISTRICT RECORDS.
Summary: Existing law requires the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Department of General Services, to approve and adopt appropriate standards for the purpose of storing and recording documents in electronic media and requires the standards to include a requirement that a trusted system, as defined, be used. This bill , commencing January 1, 2012, would authorize the destruction of an original of a school district record of which a photographic or microfilm copy has been made when provisions are made for permanently maintaining that copy in the files of the district and would authorize the destruction of an original record of which an electronic copy has been made if the governing board of a school district annually certifies that provisions are made to maintain the copies in a trusted system, as defined, and the copy is a non-alterable optical image reproduction produced by technology that does not permit alterations, changes, additions, or deletions to be made of the original record . The bill would state that these provisions do not relieve the governing board of a school district from a requirement in law to produce an original record that is basic to a required audit, unless that record can be reproduced from the copy that was made from the original record.
The measure passed committee 7-4.

SB 1381 (Simitian D): KINDERGARTEN AGE OF ADMISSION.
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, and would require a child whose admission to a traditional kindergarten is delayed to be admitted to a transitional kindergarten program, as defined. The bill would require pupils who are participating in transitional kindergarten to be included in computing the average daily attendance of a school district in accordance with specified requirements. 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.
The measure passed committee with Democrats supporting and Republicans opposing.

AB 2027 (Blumenfield): ONLINE EDUCATION/SCHOOL ATTENDANCE.
Summary: This bill, commencing with the 2012-13 fiscal year, would provide that school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools that offer online education courses may claim attendance toward average daily attendance on the basis of a pupil's attendance in an online course or courses that satisfy prescribed criteria.
The measure was held in committee.

AB 2446 (Furutani): GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS.
Summary: This bill, commencing with the 2011-12 school year and until July 1, 2016, would add completion of a course in career technical education, as defined, as an alternative to the requirement that a pupil complete a course in visual or performing arts or foreign language.
The measure was held in committee.

SB 381 (Wright): INSTRUCTION – COURSE OF STUDY.
Summary: This bill would prohibit a school district from adopting a graduation requirement that commences with the 2010-11 school year and requires the completion of additional coursework to meet or exceed the requirements and prerequisites for admission to a 4-year California public university unless the district also requires the completion of a sequence of at least 3 career and technical education courses. However, this provision would not apply to a school district that, by June 30, 2009, has adopted graduation requirements that require the completion of all minimum coursework necessary to meet the requirements and prerequisites for admission to a 4-year California public university.
This measure was held in committee.

 

Legislative Update - July 23, 2010

While the Legislative Summer recess continues, there are a few issues in motion.

There will be a special meeting of the State Board of Education on Monday, August 2. Among other things, they will tackle issues related to the common core standards and Open Enrollment and Parental Trigger from Gloria Romero’s RTTT bill.

Common Core: Last week, the Academic Standards Commission and staff came to agreement on a complex set of recommendations for integrating the national common core with California’s existing academic standards for math and English language arts.

The English language arts section was adopted by the commission without dissent, while math – far more complicated and controversial – was approved on a vote of 14-2. The proposal now goes to the California State Board of Education on August 2, where it is likely to be well received.

Open Enrollment/Parental Trigger: Last week, the State Board of Education took adopted emergency regulations implementing the Open Enrollment Act, SB X5 4 (Romero).  The Board approved the portion of the regulations that define how the list of 1,000 "low achieving" schools will be identified.  The Department of Education will be recalculating the list in September, following release of the new API data.  The proposed regulations were amended to remove provisions that would have required school districts to start accepting transfer applications for enrollment in the 2010-2011 school year.  The proposed regulations were also amended to eliminate language that limited the definition of “adverse financial impact” as a basis for denying transfers. 

If the emergency regulations are approved by the Office of Administrative Law, school districts that have schools on the list of 1,000 low performing schools will be required to notify parents or guardians of each pupil enrolled in a low achieving school of their option to transfer to another district.  This notification will be required on the first day of instruction.  If the first day of instruction takes place before CDE releases the final list of 1,000 schools, then notification must be provided no later than September 15, 2010. 

Students attending low achieving schools may then start applying for transfers to a school in another school district not on the list of low-achieving schools and with a higher API ranking. The list of 1,000 lowest performing schools excludes alternative schools such as community day and charter schools, and schools that would result in a given school district having more than 10% of its schools on the low performance list.

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Legislative Update - June 28, 2010

There is growing opposition to Steinberg’s SB 1285 (The ACLU/LAUSD lawsuit bill), which is up this week. The bill would attempt to impose new sweeping statewide requirements for hiring with strict penalties and no funding. Additionally, the bill is responding to a trial court lawsuit – not an appellate court decision – so this thing could change and legislative action now would be premature. Labor organizations are obviously opposed and now ACSA and many LEAs are taking an oppose position. 

The Budget Conference Committee negotiations continue.  Only a couple of small, non-education items were closed last week. We’ll be doing this for a while…

The Governor signed  AB 191, which will allow the send out to schools $800 million of deferred education funds by the end of June. 

The Assembly Education Committee put off all bills to their last regular hearing of the year, which is next Wednesday. 

The Senate Education Committee met and move passed several measures:

·         AB 548 (Chesbro) would allow districts to choose between two options for class size reduction apportionments, addressing the concern that some districts underestimated their 2008-09 CSR numbers hoping to settle up later in 2009.  The potential $100 million additional state cost could hold this up in Appropriations committee.

·         AB 1741 (Coto) would require petitions for charter schools in which at least 15% of the pupils will be English Learners to provide specific information regarding the education program to be provided to those pupils.

·         AB 1854 (Ammiano) would expand the list of documents that districts are required to accept as proof of residency.

·         AB 1876 (Torlakson) would allow the use of After School Education & Safety Program funds for weekend programs.

·         AB 1933 (Brownley) would extend the right of foster children to remain in their school of origin after changing residential placement.

·         AB 2266 (Bradford) would allow school districts to make “trusted copies” (electronic) of documents rather than retaining original records.

·         AB 2444 (Furutani) would provide that a pupil who has been granted an interdistrict transfer does not have to re-apply for that transfer in order to remain enrolled at the school the following year.

The Assembly Public Safety Committee passed SB 1317 (Leno) and re-referred the bill to the Assembly Education Committee.  This bill will be heard on Wednesday, June 30th.  As reported before, this bill would define “Chronic Truancy” and provide the same amount of imprisonment as Penal Code 272. 

High School Curriculum Reform – AB 2648 of 2008

The Assembly Select Committee on Career Technical Education and Workforce Development met Thursday to hear SPI Jack O’Connell present the findings of the AB 2648 report on High School Curriculum Reform.  This brief overview focused on recommendations surrounding addition hands-on learning opportunities and the potential of restructuring of CTE programs through a remodeled ROP structure.  The report stresses the multiple pathways or “linked learning” approach.  At least 2 additional hearings on the report are forthcoming.  One, by Assemblyman Tom Torlakson, next week in the Select Committee on Schools and Communities.  Another by the Assembly Education Committee has a date yet uncertain. 

California’s decision to adopt of modify the new federal Common Core Standards is still pending.  SI&A has made available a free new blog written by Scott Hill on California academic standards – please read it and encourage others.  Visit http://sia-standards-watch.blogspot.com.  The blog provides a running commentary on the Common Core adoption debate in California as well as background material on academic standards and the systems to support them.

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Legislative Update - June 21, 2010

Good news from the Capitol.  There is agreement that $800 million that had been school deferred payments from June 2010 to July 2010 will now be paid in June!  Better news is that they are actually on track to make that happen, although the timeline is tight.

AB 191 was amended and passed by the Senate on Thursday.  The bill is now scheduled for concurrence in those amendments by the Assembly today, Monday, June 21st.  If the Assembly gets the bill to the Governor AND the Governor signs the bill on June 21st, the apportionment is scheduled to be available to schools by June 30, the close of the fiscal year.  So, while I wouldn’t bet the house on it, I think the odds are really good.

Besides the current year advance payment, the Budget Conference Committee heard all of the education items, but closed almost nothing, leaving open discussion of Class Size Reduction, mandates, categorical flexibility, Prop 98 calculations, etc.  I don’t expect them to return to education topics for at least a week.  There was an excellent discussion on Thursday afternoon about the interaction of state and local funds.  I’ve included this link to the LAO briefing paper on the topic which goes through how programs came to be funded either locally or by state government.  Discussion of requirements the state puts on local governments will also translate into the schools discussion in the weeks ahead, so the members’ familiarity with these issues will be helpful.    http://www.lao.ca.gov/handouts/Conf_Comm/2010/Overview_CA_Local_Gov_6_15_10.pdf

The LAO is proposing to merge CTE funds into a CTE block grant which is receiving considerable attention.  The proposal still has not been fully fleshed out and the devil is in the details but the short version of the plan so far is that it would merge ROP, partnership academy, apprenticeship, specialized secondary and ag voc ed into one CTE Block grant that could only be used for CTE programs (as yet, undefined).  Funding would flow through county offices of education.  Each would get the same dollar amount as all of the agencies in that county received last year.  The block grant would be tied to additional accountability for outcomes including participation in sequenced courses, grad rates and a reduction for the need in remediation in post-secondary or industry programs.  The block grant would result in less flexibility for tier III flex program funds like ROP and more Ag Voc Ed and Partnership Academies, causing different results from district to district.  More details will be forthcoming, but members were interested enough in the idea to send LAO back to keep working on it.

Meanwhile, Education Policy Committees met in both houses.  AB 346 (Conway) was recently amended to delay implementation for 1-year of requirements for volunteer coaches to obtain Activity Supervisor Certification from CTC.  This will allow the myriad of technical problems with the bill to be negotiated and a workable clearance system to be in place for the 12-13 school year.  The bill passed Senate Education Committee unanimously and is being fast tracked to be signed before this new school year started.

The Senate also passed AB 1841 (Buchanan) which conforms state special education law to federal law by specifically prohibiting schools from initiating due process procedures against a parent of a student with special needs if the parent revokes consent for special education.  This bill will next be heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The Assembly Education Committee passed SB 1255 (Padilla) which restricts the sale of sweetened electrolyte replacement beverages (ERBs).  Effective July 1, 2011, with the beginning of the next school year, middle and high schools can’t sell ERBs that contain 42 grams or less of added sweeteners from one-half hour before the start of the school day until one-half hour after the end of the school day.  There was discussion in committee about also limiting the sale of unsweetened vitamin waters, but instead the committee asked the Dept. of Public Health to investigate the toxicity of those waters, particularly situations where children are receiving high levels of some vitamins by drinking multiple drinks.  That issue goes out for further investigation.  The bill will now be heard in Senate Health Committee. Bills of interest this coming week in Senate Education Committee include: AB 2366 (Brownley) which defers inclusion of the Meals for Needy Pupils program into the revenue limit for one year, allowing that number to adjust upward and not penalize districts in this economy.  AB 2027 (Blumenfield) expands the use of on-line education.

AB 2446 (Furutani) allows a CTE course to meet graduation requirements in lieu of a foreign language or art course.

SB 1317 (Leno) will be heard tomorrow (June 22) in the Assembly Public Safety Committee.  This bill has been amended to include the definition of “Chronic Truant” (as previously defined by bill SB 1148 Alquist).   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 a valid excuse for 10% or more schooldays in one school year, from the date of enrollment to the current date.  This bill would provide that a parent or guardian whose child is a chronic truant, and who has failed to reasonably supervise and encourage the pupil’s school attendance, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not exceeding $2,000, or by imprisonment in a county jail for a period not exceeding one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment. The bill would prohibit a prosecutor from charging a parent or guardian with a violation of both these provisions and specified provisions of existing law involving criminal liability for parents or guardians of truant children.

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Legislative Update - June 11, 2010

The week has passed and the Joint Budget Conference Committee still has not take up education issues.  We had been told that they were going to take up education issues on Thursday (yesterday) but that did not happen.  The current plan is that they will address education on Monday at 10am.  They have little expectation of closing many items, but anticipate a substantial discussion of the flexibility issues, including a proposal to merge all of the CTE programs into a “CTE block grant”.  It would include ROC/P monies that are now flexible and partnership academy and other programs that are not now flexible. 

While there is a June 15 constitutional deadline for budget adoption that will not be met, there is still desire to have a bill to the Governor before June 30th.  About half of the items have been closed so far but major issues remain in corrections, High Speed Rail, veterans services, In-home Support Services and transportation.  The Budget Conferees will also hear on Monday or Tuesday an overview on the interaction of local government finance with state government funds in an effort to make clear who pays, who delivers, and who determines services.  That will help drive the taxation discussion.  It is unlikely a first pass of the entire conference report will be complete until next weekend.   Stay tuned for a long summer.

Policy committee hearings also begin in earnest next week so most education bills will be heard.  I’ve highlighted the most interesting.

Assembly Education Committee will hear the following bills:

SB 331 (Romero D) Migrant education.  (Revises program requirements)

SB 798 (DeSaulnier D) Before and after school programs: 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program.

SB 1191 (Wiggins D) Education: minimum funding.  (Requires QEIA reporting to include counseling review)

SB 1255 (Padilla D) Schools: nutrition: beverages. (Prohibits sale of electrolyte beverages)

SB 1290 (Kehoe D) Physical education: self-defense and safety instruction.

SB 1357 (Steinberg D) California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System.

SB 1451 (Yee D) Education: instructional materials.

SB 1473 (Wyland R) School facilities bond proceeds: performance audits.  (Sets audit standard)

SCR 44 (Corbett D) Child care.

SCR 47 (DeSaulnier D) Education funding: child development centers and preschools.

Senate Education Committee will hear:

AB 35 (Furutani D) Education: workforce development.

AB 548 (Chesbro D) Education finance: Class Size Reduction Program.  (This allows different formulas to be used).

AB 1223 (Block D) Linked learning.

AB 1713 (Furutani D) Public education: reporting requirements.

AB 1724 (Chesbro D) Necessary small schools: Del Norte County Unified School District.

AB 1841 (Buchanan D) Special education: parental consent.  (Addresses providing services after parent withdraws consent.  Please look)

AB 1874 (Evans D) Education finance: Vallejo City Unified School District.

AB 1933 (Brownley D) Foster children: education.

AB 2034 (Knight R) Public charter school volunteers: persons convicted of sex or controlled substance offenses.

AB 2048 (Torlakson D) School facilities.

AB 2081 (Committee on Education) Education Omnibus Bill.

AB 2160 (Bass D) Teacher credentialing: instruction to pupils with autism.

AB 2363 (Mendoza D) Charter schools: authorization.

ACR 88 (Torlakson D) Education.

AJR 39 (Torlakson D) Common state education standards.

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Legislative Update - June 7, 2010

Legislation

Las week was the deadline week for bills to get out of the house of origin, members were on the floor all day Monday through Thursday working their files and passing bills.  I say passing bills because the Assembly only killed 4 bills that made it to the floor and the Senate did a similarly small number.  Thus, if it got off the Appropriations Suspense File, it almost certainly moved to the other house. 

A list of those bills concerning education is attached.  Many have been assigned to policy committees in the second house, but those that just moved this week show up as at the desk for assignment.  If you have concerns about any in particular, please let me know.

SB 1381 (Simitian) which advances the date for kindergarten admission is proceeding and was particularly called out in budget hearings as a fairly painless way to save money in the budget.   AB 346 (Conway) was amended to give a one year extension of the activity supervisor clearance certificate law that has been causing districts heartache for volunteer coaches and the like.  The extension is intended to give all parties more time to work out a solution to the increased cost and burdens of the new requirement.  There is no opposition to the extension so we are hoping it moves quickly.

Budget Conference Committee

Both houses finished their budget work, and Conference Committee has begun with their overview on Friday.  Troublingly, the only member of the 10 member committee to sit on the Education Policy or Budget Subcommittee is Senator Huff, which means he’ll need to carry the weight of explaining a number of the education issues to his colleagues.

The Assembly conferees are:

Bob Blumenfield (D – Van Nuys) – Chair, Assembly Budget Committee

·         Felipe Fuentes (D – Los Angeles) – Chair, Assembly Appropriations Committee

·         Nancy Skinner (D – Berkeley) – Chair, Assembly Rules Committee

·         Jim Nielsen (R – Biggs) – Vice Chair, Assembly Budget Committee

·         Connie Conway (R – Visalia) – Vice Chair, Assembly Appropriations Committee

The Senate conferees are:

      Denise Ducheny (D – San Diego) – Chair, Senate Budget Committee

·         Mark Leno (D – San Francisco) –  Chair, Public Safety Committee

·         Alan Lowenthal (D – Long Beach) – Chair, Transportation and Housing Committee

·         Bob Dutton (R – Inland Empire) – Vice Chair, Senate Budget Committee

·         Bob Huff (R – Diamond Bar) – Vice Chair, Education Committee and Budget Sub-committee #1 on Education Finance

The Education Coalition released a letter last week praising the Assembly version of the budget, which includes full funding for education.  Their support however is not evidenced by either the Senate or the Governor’s office.  The Legislative Analyst, Mac Taylor, presented to the committee this morning the various proposals and made his own recommendations and predictions.

Of greatest concern was his firm belief that “I don’t know how you get around suspension (of Prop 98) this year”.  He noted that if additional revenues are in the mix it will increase the base and make suspension even more likely.

A link his comparison presentation is found here http://www.lao.ca.gov/handouts/conf_comm/2010/Overview_Budget_Plans.pdf

In discussing cash flow, Taylor noted that the Controller believes he will have plenty of cash through the end of August but that October will be very tight and that the Controller will likely start holding payments in August to ensure funds are available in October.  He noted that “we’re at the end of the road on what we can take from schools.”  So the good news is he isn’t looking to us for more than the deferrals already approved.

Taylor cautioned that difficult choices will have to be made and that the committee will “need to revisit actions already taken and areas not touched before”, meaning that some changes to child care and CalWORKS are still likely forthcoming.  He also expects that revenues will have to be included.

The LAO predicts an out year problem for at least 2 years and recommends that the target for balancing this budget should be that at least half of the solution be on-going funding.  When pushed to reflect on the Assembly proposal for borrowing, he noted that it could be held up in the courts and deepen the problem.  He also noted that the language is not yet available and that the devil could be in the details (a sentiment echoed by Republicans).  Concurrently Assm. Budget Chair Blumenfield noted that everything in their package has been done before.  He also requested a comparison of the employment revenue generated by each of the proposals noting the impacts on government services and revenues with more Californians employed.  That data, along with balance sheets showing impacts of cost shifts to local governments by the Governor’s plan, is scheduled to be reviewed on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.

Senator Ducheny noted that there is a real disconnect for the public on who provides services and who pays for them and suggested this should be seen as an opportunity to re-align funding with services more clearly over the next 2 years.

Education is not scheduled to be discussed until Thursday.  They hope to have completed the first pass through the budget by Friday night.  No one is suggesting that a budget will be accomplished by the June 15 Constitutional deadline, nor even the June 30 date to have it signed by the Governor. 

Flexibility remains a mantra for Republicans as does ‘no new taxes’.  Stay tuned.  This will be a bumpy ride.  How the elections play out next week will also impact the tone of discussions. 

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Legislative Update - May 14, 2010

Following is our initial read of the Governor’s May Revision to his January Budget proposal. The Department of Finance is providing a briefing at 4:00 PM today. We will update you if we discover new details.

The Governor’s proposal for K-12 education funding is similar to his January proposal, except for the elimination of most child care programs.  As a result of the elimination of the child care program, the Proposition 98 guarantee is re-benched downward by $1.4 billion.

Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg almost immediately described the Governor’s proposal as a “non-starter.”

2010-11 FY Adjustments:

• Reduces the Proposition 98 funding level for 2010-11 from $50 billion to $48.4 billion, resulting in an additional $1.5 billion in reductions compared to the Governor's January budget.  This funding level reflects the Governor's estimate of the minimum guarantee for 2010-11 and results in a total programmatic reduction of roughly $3 billion in the budget year.

• In terms of K-12 per pupil funding, when adjusted for the removal of child care, the Governor's May Revision provides approximately $7,088 per pupil. When comparing prior year per pupil funding levels, this level of funding is roughly the level provided in 2004-05.  Additionally this level of funding reflects a reduction of approximately $1,000 per pupil since 2007-08.

2010-11 Major Highlights:

 

• Eliminates $1.2 billion in state funding for child care and shifts $386 million in ongoing program costs to be paid for with one-time re-appropriations. 

• Continues to reduce school district revenue limits by approximately $1.5 billion but withdraws the proposal to specifically require those reductions come from district administration or contracting out.

• Restores a portion of the reduction to county offices of education (COE), reducing COE revenue limits by $28.2 million rather than $45 million.  This reduction is proportional to the reduction proposed for school districts.  The Administration also withdraws the proposal to consolidate COE services and functions.

• Reduces school district and COE revenue limit and categorical programs by $206.3 million due to lower Cost-of-Living adjustments (roughly the same as the Governor's January Budget).

Child Care

The biggest component impacting education funding is the elimination of CalWORKS and CalWORKS Childcare, for a savings of $1.45 billion.  Caseloads would be shifted to the Alternative Payment Program.

The proposal also eliminates the remainder of state funding for need-based, subsidized child care totaling $1.4 billion.  State Preschool is exempted because it is a part-day education program that supports school readiness and is consistent with the Governor’s goal of preserving educational programs. 

In total, the proposals would eliminate approximately 142,000 subsidized child care slots. Federal funds would remain for approximately 78,000 slots.

Senator Steinberg took particular issue with the idea that as a result of the Governor’s proposal, California would become the only state without a safety net for children.

Two-thirds of the $7.7 million now provided to CDE for Adult Education and ROCPs to train CalWORKS recipients is proposed for elimination effective the second quarter of the 2010-11 FY.  $2.5 million would remain to fund first quarter obligations.

Cash Flow

The Governor proposes a shift of $15.7 million for one-time appropriations to allow the CDE to make advance apportionments to schools that will be in a cash flow deficit in June as a result of the payment deferrals and are unable to make payments.

Other reductions

Special education, Economic Impact Aid, Child Nutrition and Charter School Categorical Block Grant Programs are proposed to decrease to reflect anticipated savings in these programs.  These reductions are not intended to impact schools.

4th Grade CST

The May Revision proposes to restore the writing component of the fourth grade English/language arts California Standards Test (CST) beginning in 2010-11. 

Elimination of ASAM

The Governor proposes to eliminate the Alternative Schools Accountability Model (ASAM) program.

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Legislative Update - May 4, 2010

Last week’s action revolved around Appropriations Committees and Budget hearings.

Budget
The Senate Budget Subcommittee on Education heard the issue of authorizing the release of $72 million in federal Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) funds that have been stuck at the state level for months while schools have anxiously awaited reimbursement.

In August 2009, the CDE notified eligible California schools of the availability of the additional federal stimulus funds that flow to schools as 50% formula grants and 50% competitive grants. Schools applied for the competitive grants and schools receiving formula funds expected to receive funds based upon their school technology plans. However the CDE did not have the required legislative approval to appropriate the funds as proposed to LEAs.

At the budget hearing, the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) proposed using the EETT funds in a fundamentally new way, by instead directing the funds to Pre-K and high school priorities. Currently, the competitive grants may only be used for grades 4-8. LEAs from around the state strongly protested the last minute change in rules, pointing out the that many of them already spent funds anticipating the ability to use the federal funds to reimburse themselves. If the rules are changed, LEAs are left holding the bag.

Action on this item was deferred to after the Governor’s May Revision. Stay tuned…

Both the Senate and Assembly Subcommittees hear the issues around appropriation of anticipated federal funds and both heard comments about the proposed release of SIG funds. Both committees expressed concerns that the proposal is significantly different than they indicated in the special session bills in December.

The Assembly Budget Subcommittee also heard the Governor’s proposal to fund $51 million in the Emergency Repairs facilities program. That amount includes $17 million that should have gone out in this fiscal year. There was substantial finger pointing around the fact that the $17 million never went out, with the Controller’s office taking the bulk of the blame, potentially because they were the only player not in the room. There was some sizeable sentiment agreeing with the Williams Act attorney that the program should actually be funded at the full $100 million since there are EMERGENCY repairs. Don’t get too excited though. Even if the Assembly decides to go to this higher amount, the Governor would likely veto the excess to balance his budget. But the list could at least shorten somewhat.

Legislation
Attached for your review is a list of the bills that we are closely monitoring. We will keep you posted if major changes are made to any of those bills.

Most of the bills in the Appropriations Committees are going straight to the Suspense File for action without public testimony or comment at the end of May. We are still anticipating the May Revision of the Budget on May 14th. It will give guidance on how much each house should even consider spending in new legislation this year.

Other

Superintendent Jack O’Connell announced on April 30 that California would continue its efforts to improve student achievement and will seek federal funding through Phase 2 of the Race to the Top competition. There had been anticipation that a ‘3 large district’ consortium would submit the only application from our state, but apparently Federal Education Secretary Arne Duncan pressured the Governor and O’Connell directly to submit a state application. Los Angeles, Long Beach and Fresno are expected to be part of the state application.

April revenues are down from projections, by about $3 million. But the Controller cautions we should wait until early next week to say what we know. This is such an unusual year and there could be some surprises, but right now the picture doesn’t look good. We’re still waiting for the Feds to decide on the Governor’s request to waive Maintenance of Effort requirements so see if that stops the proposed new education cuts.

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Legislative Update - April 26, 2010

Last week not surprisingly, after a long full deadline day of hearings in the Senate and Assembly Education policy committees, almost no bills were killed.  Some were pulled from calendar though, so at least those are now generally off the docket.

Senate Education Committee took almost 2 hours to hear SB 955 (Huff) which was amended just last week to include the Governor’s proposals regarding staffing notification deadlines, layoff and dismissal procedures and reemployment preferences pertaining to certificated staff.  The bill had an unusually thorough hearing of the issues, policies and politics around these proposals.  Labor unions strongly opposed the bill.  EdVoice and Education Trust-West joined in support.  The bill narrowly passed the committee on a 5-4 vote, with Democrats Alquist and Romero joining Republican members of the committee in support.  It now moves to the Appropriations Committee, as do most of the bills passed that day.

Other legislation considered in the Senate Education Committee included :

• ·         SB 974 (Steinberg) calling for tax credits for businesses partnering with LEA’s to provide career pathway education passed unanimously.  This one goes next to Senate Revenue & Taxation Committee next week.
• ·         SB 1186 (Liu) calling for a restructuring of state education governance, by strengthening the roles of the SPI and Secretary of Education and reducing the role of the State Board of Education.  This passed on a purely partisan vote.  Republicans and Senator Romero stayed off the bill.
• ·         SB 1255 (Padilla) calling for a prohibition on the sale of sugary sports beverages on school campuses.  Opposed by the manufacturers of these beverages, no arguments were made for the health benefits of such benefits to children.  This, too, was a partisan 6-2 vote.
• ·         SB 1396 (Lowenthal) gives complete categorical flexibility, including class size reduction and EIA funding, to a pilot group of 3 high performing districts.  Sponsored by Long Beach Unified, the bill was opposed by CTA who again made the case that full funding, not flexibility, is the answer to improving schools.  There were no “NO” votes in committee.
• ·         SB 1451 (Yee) addresses concerns about the new Texas textbook standards inappropriately impacting the California adoptions.  The bill requires the State Board of Ed to ensure that the next revision of the History/Social Science Framework is consistent with existing requirements.  This bill was unanimously approved.

Senate Health Committee, heard the arguments for and against SB 1051 (Huff) regarding volunteer application of Diastat for epilepsy.  The same groups and arguments were presented as were heard in Senate Education Committee, with the same result.  The bill narrowly passed and moved forward.  Union opposition was apparently prepared for that outcome and at the 11th hour, were able to convince Senate President pro Tem Steinberg to take the unusual step to “triple refer” the bill to Senate Judiciary Committee where it will now be heard in May.  Passage there will be a similar struggle, and the effect of the triple referral alone may delay the bill so much in the process that it simply runs out of time in the legislative process this year.  Yet, it is still alive and moving.  Senator Alquist provided the courtesy 5th vote since all 3 Republican committee members were unavailable for committee that day.

School Nurses were, however,  pleased that they were able to kill AB 1802 (Hall) in the Assembly Business, Professions and Consumer Protection Committee.  That bill would have allowed non-nurse school employees to administer emergency insulin during the school day.

Assembly Education Committee had a similarly complex series of bills to consider.  However, they had many more measures on a consent calendar, including:

• ·         AB 2027 Blumenfield which dramatically expands the ability of schools to utilize on-line education, historically opposed by the Dept. of Finance.

On the regular file and heard were:

• ·         AB 1967 (Mendoza) shifts the kindergarten eligibility date to September 1, beginning with the 2013-13 school year, and was approved unanimously.  Another bill, AB 2553 (Brownley) establishing a committee to establish a new policy on kindergarten readiness passed with a partisan vote.
• ·         AB 2272 (Block), sponsored by San Diego USD, that makes changes to the funding reductions for exceeding the K-3 CSR ratios by providing a second optional calculation formula.  The bill passed on a partisan vote.
• ·         AB 2320 (Swanson) limits the ability of County Offices and the State Board to approve charter school petitions denied at the local level and adds additional requirements to the charter application process.  It passed on a partisan vote. 

AB 2034 (Knight) easily passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee.  This bill authorizes LEAs to request an automated records check of prospective nonteaching volunteer aides to determine if the aide has been convicted of any sex, controlled substance or violent/serious offense and would prohibit the use of such volunteers if a conviction is found. 

Likewise AB 1960 (Ma) requiring the purchase of local fruits, nuts and vegetables for school food programs if those foods are comparable in price and quality, easily passed that committee.

No good rumors out of the Governor’s office yet on the May Revision budget, but May 14th is coming soon. 

The week ahead should be relatively quiet with the Assembly Budget Subcommittee hearing an updates on CALPADS implementation and the Governor’s elimination of the Curriculum Commission last year.

The Senate Budget Subcommittee will hear that last issue and the Federal Funds issues including SIG grants.

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Legislative Update - April 16, 2010

Diastat Administration

As with the week before, we had a long and passionate discussion of SB 1051 (Huff) regarding the administration of Diastat for epilepsy by school district volunteers.  The bill narrowly passed the committee despite opposition from all of the organized labor groups, but will be heard again next week in the Senate Health Committee where 2 of the most skeptical votes – Senators Alquist and Romero will have a chance to vote again.  Members who will hear the bill for the first time include Senators Strickland (R), Aanestad (R), Cedillo, Cox (R), Leno, Negrette McLeod and Pavley.  The Republicans are likely “yes” votes but the Democrats are in a tough place with their labor supporters so we’ll need to push at least 2 of them to add on.  Proponents have taken a number of amendments to strengthen the liability protections and the protections against coercion of employees to “volunteer”, but not enough to solve the labor concerns and certainly nothing will alleviate the concerns of the School Nurses Association about job loss.

Speaking of nursing jobs, Assemblyman Tom Torlakson amended his AB 2454 this week, to not only require each district to employ a school nurse, but to require a school nurse for every 750 children.  The bill will be heard next week in Assembly Education Committee.  Naturally the Nurses Association loves this version, but no one thinks it is realistic in light of current budget concerns.  The same arguments about civil liberties for special needs children will surface on this one as the Diastat bill however, that children needing special services should be assigned to the most proper academic program, not just the school where there is medical assistance.

Drop-outs and Data

The Education Committee also heard SB 1357 (Steinberg), a measure continuing the pro Tem’s interest in drop-out prevention, which changes the definition of “chronic truant” and requires additional data collection about those students.  The Senate leader, not surprisingly, got an 8-0 vote on his bill.  There was very little discussion about the current status of the CalPADS system into which this data would go.  The Assembly Budget Subcommittee #2 is scheduled to receive an update on the status of CalPADS implementation and funding needs on Tuesday, April 27th.

Also out of the Senate Education Committee with flying colors was SB 1148 by Senator Alquist.  This bill creates a new classification of “chronic truant”.  SB 1148 deems a chronic truant any pupil who is absent from school without a valid excuse for at least 10 percent of the school year, and requires the permanent record of a pupil to reflect if he or she has been deemed a chronic truant. 

If both bills were to become law, SB 1148(Alquist) and SB 1357 (Steinberg), schools would be identifying chronically truant and chronically absent pupils. 

Kindergarten Start Date

Also up this week was Senator Simitian’s SB 1381 which over 4 years moves the kindergarten start date from December 1st to September 1st, beginning with a one month shift in the 2011-12 school year.  It passed 8-0.  The discussion is significant because the Legislative Analyst (LAO) is calling for an immediate shift to the September date beginning with the 2010-11 year to save the state $700 million.  Senate Budget Subcommittee #1 heard and discussed this proposal this week without any resolution of the issue.  Much of the discussion centered around using at least some of the recaptured funding to subsidize child for low income children who would be kept out of kindergarten.  Assemblyman Mendoza also has AB 1967 which changes the start date directly to September 1st but effective for the 2012-13 school year.  That measure has yet to be heard.

Week Ahead

The Senate Public Safety Committee will hear SB 1317 (Leno) which creates a new misdemeanor for parents of a pupil deemed chronically truant, and establishes a deferred entry of judgment program specifically designed to address issues of chronic truancy.

The Assembly Arts & Entertainment Committee is hearing AB 2079 (Torlakson) regarding the recruiting of student athletes.

Assembly Education Committee will also hear AB 2027 (Blumenfield) which expands access to on-line education.

Meanwhile, we continue to hope that yesterday’s tax returns bring in big numbers for a more optimistic May Revision and a real start on the budget for next year.

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Legislative Update - April 12, 2010

As you may have seen, March revenues exceeded projections by $356 million – bringing the state’s total general fund revenues $2.3 billion above year-to-date projections. Also, State Controller John Chaing says the state is also spending less than projected. As April 15th tax day approaches, lawmakers and the Governor are watching the daily revenue reports to see if this trend will hold.

There was a long discussion last week in the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance regarding the increasing number of school districts struggling to balance their local budgets. FCMAT’s Joel Montero testified on Wednesday that 27 districts in the state are near insolvency and are now identified on a unpublished FCMAT list identified for “lack of going concern.” The list of districts that are classified as ‘lack of going concern’ is separate but even more troublesome than the state’s ‘watch’ list of financially unbalanced districts because the state has not necessarily identified them as needing assistance and they are expected to grow in numbers.

The official state ‘watch list’ was released in late March and showed a 17 percent increase over last year in districts with uncertain fiscal health. The report identified 12 districts as negative certification, while 114 districts were given a qualified certification.

Montero indicated that not all the districts that ‘lack going concern’ were given a negative rating by the state. Some districts had a qualified or positive certification but still made FCMAT’s list because the agency had serious concerns about their fiscal health. Although FCMAT does not go public with the list of districts that lack going concern, they have contacted them directly.

The Senate and Assembly have begun hearing policy measures. Last week, a number of measures were passed by The Assembly Education Committee:

·         AB 1839 (Torrico): School Safety – Establishes the Safe Schools Initiative, under which the SPI shall award grants to school districts with high schools located in areas with the highest crime rates. This bill passed 5-0.

·         AB 2265 (Salas): Pupil Achievement: CALPDS – Establishes a grant program to support local data management activities required of LEAs and direct-funded charter schools as part of the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS). The measure passed 6-0, with Republicans abstaining.

·         AB 2298 (Torlakson): Physical Education – Requires periodic updates on the rules for physical education, deletes the requirement for K-8 schools to provide PE instruction for at least 200 minutes each 10 days and requires the SBE to adopt instructional materials for PE.  The measure passed 6-0.

·         AB 2446 (Furutani): Graduation Requirements – Adds career technical education (CTE) as an option for pupils to fulfill the existing high school graduation requirement to complete a course in visual or performing arts or foreign language. The measure passed 8-0.

In the Senate, the focus was much more on the various mandate reform proposals.  The Governor proposes suspending most mandates for 1 year.  The LAO proposes eliminating some, paying some, and hybrids of others, but endorsed the suspension proposal as a next best option.  A litany of speakers opposed suspension as completely impractical for districts to do for 1 year.  Likewise, they suggested that trying to do comprehensive mandate reform in the budget committee did not allow for needed policy and implementation discussions.  All of the Education community offered to participate in a working group to discuss mandate reform, but the prospect of starting the school year without clear direction on what’s in and what’s out is simply unfair to districts.  No action was taken.  A big Thank you to Sheila Lawrence for attending the hearing and testifying on this issue.

Moving to flexibility proposals, the LAO learned their lesson and took the survey piece about student-teacher ratios out of the handout.  This made discussion of LAO’s proposed consolidating more programs into CTE flex and flexing Home-to-School transportation the priority of the conversation.  Again, there were pros and cons stated that the committee took under advisement.

Next week, the Senate Education Committee will hear a number of controversial measures, including SB 1051 (Huff), the Diastat administration bill, and SB 1413 (Leno) requiring fresh drinking water in food service areas.  The Assembly Education Committee will not meet next week.

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Legislative Update - April 2, 2010

It’s been a quiet week with the Legislature gone on Spring recess.  But they come back Monday starting off fairly easily.  Things will get busier the week of April 12th. 

The Senate Budget Subcommittee #1 will hear on Thursday comments regarding the Legislative Analyst’s funding flexibility proposals and the Governor’s education mandates proposals.  Sheila Lawrence, from San Leandro USD, will testify on behalf of CASCWA voicing our concerns regarding the suspension or elimination of the Truancy mandates.

Considerable discussions behind the scenes continue to find a solution to the SB 1051 administration of Diastat issue as well as a fix for AB 1025 of last year which requires multiple background checks for most non-credentialed athletic coaches and other non-credentialed personnel.  One of which would be approved by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing.  The AB 1025 analysis only begins to touch on how comprehensive this bill seems to be as implementation begins.

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Legislative Update -March 26, 2010

AB 317 (Solorio) School attendance: H1N1 (2009) influenza virus. Current Text: Amended: 1/15/2010 pdf html Status: 2/11/2010‐Referred to Com. on ED. Summary: Existing law establishes the system of public elementary and secondary schools in this state, as well as the statutory scheme for the provision of funding for this system. State apportionments to school districts, the amounts of which are computed based on the average daily attendance of pupils in the schools operated by those districts, among other factors, constitute a major source of school funding. Existing law generally requires that the total days of attendance of a pupil at the schools and classes maintained by a school district is the number of days school was actually taught for not less than the minimum schooldays during the fiscal year less the sum of his or her absences. This bill would provide that pupil absences related to the H1N1 (2009) influenza virus, as defined, in any public elementary or secondary school be deemed to be an epidemic for the purposes of the provisions described above. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

AB 1933 (Brownley) Foster children: education. Current Text: Introduced: 2/17/2010 pdf html Status: 3/25/2010 From committee: Amend, do pass as amended, and re refer to Com. on HUM. S. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (March 24). Summary: Existing law requires a local educational agency, at the initial detention or placement or any subsequent change in placement of a foster child, to allow the foster child to continue his or her education in the school of origin, as defined, for the duration of the school year. This bill would instead require a local educational agency to allow the foster child to continue at the school of origin at the foster child's initial detention, placement, or any subsequent change in placement for the duration of the jurisdiction of the court, and would require the local educational agency to allow the child to continue his or her education at that school of origin for the duration of the school year if the court's jurisdiction is terminated prior to the end of the academic year. The bill would specify other requirements for a foster child's placement in school when the foster child is transitioning between school grade levels, as specified. By requiring local educational agencies to perform additional duties, this bill would impose a state mandated local program. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

AB 2359 (Conway) Minimum schoolday: high schools. Current Text: Introduced: 2/19/2010 pdf html Status: 2/22/2010 Read first time. Summary: Existing law provides that the minimum schoolday in any high school, except as specified, is 240 minutes. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to those provisions.

AB 2444 (Furutani) School districts: interdistrict attendance. Current Text: Introduced: 2/19/2010 pdf html Status: 3/11/2010‐Referred to Com. on ED. Summary: Existing law requires each person between the ages of 6 to 18 years, inclusive, who is not otherwise exempt, to attend the public full‐time day school in the school district in which his or her parent or guardian is a resident. Existing law authorizes the governing boards of 2 or more school districts to enter into an agreement, for a term not to exceed 5 school years, for the interdistrict attendance of pupils who are residents of the districts. This bill would preclude a pupil who is enrolled in a school pursuant to these provisions from having to reapply for an interdistrict transfer, and would require the governing board of the school district of enrollment to allow the pupil to continue to attend the school in which he or she is enrolled.

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Legislative Update -March 16, 2010

State Budget
The Governor has proposed a series of budget manipulations that would impose deep new cuts in services to school children, including a proposal to renege on the July budget agreement he signed into law and the commitment to restore more than $11.2 billion to our students and schools as required by Proposition 98. His proposal would reduce K-12 education funding by $2.4 billion in 2010-11, that is $400 per student.

Meanwhile, the Legislature has closed the Special Session on the State Budget. The Governor has signed $200 million in budget-related measures and now only the deferral clean-up bill (AB x8 14) awaits its fate on the Governor’s desk. The other measure awaiting action was the “gas tax swap” bill, but today in a letter to the Legislative leadership, the Governor announced that he will veto this bill.

Now that regular session has resumed, the Legislature is beginning to work through the Governor’s budget policy proposals. Although the committees may take actions on many of the policy proposals, we expect that most of the funding decisions related on the state budget will be delayed until after the May Revision.

Mandate Funding Proposal
As part of the budget, the Governor once again proposes to suspend all but a couple education mandates. The “suspension” of education mandates is only an attempt to avoid state payments for those mandates. School districts cannot simply suspend for one year and then re-start the next year fundamental activities like collective bargaining, criminal background checks, immunizations, and notices to parents when their children are truant. The Governor’s proposal provides no relief to local schools; it just seeks to avoid state reimbursement.

The truancy notification mandate is among those proposed to be suspended. This same proposal was rejected by the Legislature last year. We believe that CASCWA has particularly strong points to make with regard to the success of this parent notification because of the nature of your job.

Our recommendation is for the Board to approve the letter we have written on behalf of CASCWA. There is a Senate hearing on March 25 and we would like to take this opportunity to increase understanding and awareness of the importance of parent notification to reducing truancy and dropouts. This issue is scheduled to be heard in the Assembly on May 4. It will also be in important component for our April Legislative day.

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Legislative Update -March 8, 2010

There were a number of significant developments in Sacramento last week.

Early in the week, the Governor signed ABx8 5 authorizing additional deferrals to schools in 2010-11. These deferrals are allowed only in July 2010 for no more than 60 days, October 2010 for no more than 90 days, and March 2011 for no more than 60 days. They cannot exceed $2.5 billion at any time. There was opposition from education groups that the legislation created extreme uncertainty around the timing, scope, and repayment schedule of the deferrals. Democrats in the Legislature quickly responded with clean-up legislation.

Last Thursday (March 4), the Legislature sent two additional bills to the Governor - one would clean up the issues related to the deferrals. The other would implement a “gas tax swap” that largely holds school harmless while also providing approximately $1.1 billion in relief to the state’s general fund.

The deferral clean-up bill: ABX8 14, would clean-up the K-12 payment deferral legislation by requiring the state treasurer, controller and Department of Finance to confirm the date and size of any payment deferrals by March 31, 2010 – giving schools more time to plan. The bill would also require that a March 2011 deferral be repaid by April 29, 2011. 

The “gas tax” bill: ABX8 6 makes various amendments to the budget to lower certain gasoline taxes and increase others to provide funding for transportation, transit and General Fund relief. The bill would hold Proposition 98 harmless so that any decline in gas sales tax revenue would not impact schools. A similar tax swap measure proposed by Governor Schwarzenegger would have cut schools by at least $800 million because it would have resulted in an overall reduction to the state’s General Fund – thereby lowering the Prop 98 guarantee.

Expectations are the governor will sign the deferral clean-up legislation, but the fate of the gas tax swap is less certain.

We also heard California is not a finalist for the first round of Race to the Top funds. However, Governor Schwarzenegger, SPI Jack O’Connell and legislative leaders say they are committed to filing an improved application for the competition’s second round of funding on June 1, 2010. Schwarzenegger’s new education secretary, Bonnie Reiss, said in an interview with SI&A’s Cabinet Report Thursday that the administration wants to first look at what the application reviewers have to say about California’s submission before making decisions about what to do next.

The finalist states are as follows: Florida, New York, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

In other RTTT news, the list of California’s lowest performing schools has once again been delayed until at least Monday (March 8). This delay is apparently in response to requests by superintendents that have schools on the list asking for additional time to notify staff and their communities about the coming changes. An initial release from the CDE last month indicated that the CDE had identified 187 schools that would be required to implement one of the four federal turn-around models.

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AB 1741-HS Graduation; AB 2446-Graduation Requirements; SB 1148-Pupil Attendance; SB 1317-Truancy

AB 1741	Coto	High school graduation requirements.
	Summary: Existing law prescribes the course of study a pupil is required to complete while in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, in order to receive a diploma of graduation that includes least 2 courses in mathematics and 2 courses in science. This bill, commencing with the 2014-15 school year, would require a pupil to complete 3 courses in mathematics, at least one of which meets or exceeds the rigor of the content standards for algebra II, trigonometry, precalculus, calculus, or statistics and probability, as adopted by the state board. The bill, commencing with the 2014-15 school year, would also require a pupil to complete 3 courses in science, at least one of which meets or exceeds the rigor of the content standards for chemistry, engineering, physics, or computer science, as adopted by the state board. The bill would set forth specified findings and declarations of the Legislature. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
	Subgroup:
	Bill Text: Leginfo Link

AB 2446	Furutani	Graduation requirements.
	Summary: Existing law prohibits a pupil from receiving a diploma of graduation from high school unless he or she completes specified requirements, including, but not limited to, completing one course in visual or performing arts or foreign language. This bill would, add completion of a course in career technical education, as defined, as an alternative to the requirement that a pupil complete a course in visual or performing arts or foreign language.
	Subgroup:
	Bill Text: Leginfo Link

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 3 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.
	Subgroup:
	Bill Text: Leginfo Link

SB 1317	Leno	Truancy.
	Summary: Under existing law, a truant is a pupil who is subject to compulsory full-time education or to compulsory continuation education and who is absent from school without valid excuse 3 full days in one school year or tardy or absent for more than any 30-minute period during the schoolday without a valid excuse on 3 occasions in one school year, or any combination thereof. Existing law requires that a truant be reported to the attendance supervisor or to the superintendent of the school district and that, on a pupil' s initial classification as a truant, the school district send a notice to the pupil's parent or guardian that includes certain information regarding the truancy and the parent's or guardian's obligations. This bill would define as a chronic truant any pupil subject to compulsory full-time education or to compulsory continuation education who is absent from school without valid excuse for 10% or more of the schooldays in one school year. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
	Subgroup:
	Bill Text: Leginfo Link

 

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Legislative Update - March 3, 2010
Sandra Morales, Legislative Advocate SCHOOL INNOVATIONS & ADVOCACY

On Friday, the Legislature sent ABx8 5 to the Governor for signature. The bill would authorize specific K-12 education deferrals in 2010-11. These deferrals are limited to $2.5 billion at any given time and allowed in July 2010 for no more than 60 days, October 2010 for no more than 90 days, and March 2011 for no more than 60 days. The bill allows for a hardship exemption process for LEAs (inc COEs) and charter schools.

The measure requires the Controller, Treasurer and Director of Finance to review the actual cash situation prior to implementing the deferrals to determine if they are in-fact necessary, and allows those three to not implement the deferrals if they deem it fiscally prudent to do so. If the deferrals are implemented, it requires the  Controller, Treasurer and Director of Finance, after April 1, to review the actual cash receipts and disbursements each month, or as necessary, to determine when all or a portion of the deferrals can be paid, and to make such payments as soon as is feasible. The bill also authorizes the Controller, Treasurer and Director of  Finance to move these deferrals forward or back one month from those dates specified, if all three determine it is necessary.

On Thursday the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) released their report on “The 2010-11 Budget:  Proposition 98 and K-12 Education”.  The entire 56-page report may be obtained at www.lao.ca.gov.

The significance of the Governor’s proposal to redefine the 2008-09 Proposition 98 funding guarantee, and to manipulate state General Fund revenues, is made very clear by the Analyst.  The LAO projects that the Proposition 98 guarantee would be $2.2 billion higher in 2009-10 and $3.2 billion higher in 2011-12 under current law than under the Governor’s budget proposals.   In a briefing for education advocates, LAO staff expressed serious concerns about the legal risks associated with the Governor’s Proposition 98 interpretations and argued that it would be better to reject those proposals and to instead suspend Proposition 98 as necessary to allow the appropriation levels that are finally approved by the Legislature.

Interestingly, the LAO highlights the differential impact of the Governor’s budget proposal on the different education segments.  In the very first page of the report, the LAO provides a chart showing that per-student funding for K-12 education goes down by 11.3% from 2007-08 to 2010-11 under the Governor’s proposals.  In contrast, community college per student funding goes down 4.8% during this same period, while per-student funding for CSU and UC would go up by 3.8% and 5.2% respectively.  The “alternative” budget recommended by the LAO would make more modest cuts to K-12 education, increase community college fees, and reduce the proposed augmentations to CSU and UC.

The LAO also recommends that the Legislature seek to approve targeted cuts before reducing revenue limits further.  All of these proposed cuts are very difficult politically.  The largest consists of $382 million from K-3 Class Size Reduction, representing the LAO recommendation to make a 20% cut equivalent to other Tier III programs and to then fold K-3 CSR into Tier III.  The other largest “targeted” cuts are $231 million from QEIA by replacing state funding with federal monies, $125 million from community college fee increases, and $101 million by reducing Economic Impact Aid funding. 

On Tuesday, the Governor formally appointed Bonnie Reiss as the State’s newest Education Secretary. Reiss is a long-time personal friend and advisor to the Governor. She formally served on the State Board of Education in the early years of his administration. 

It is looking more and more like the Democrats are setting the stage for a new Governor the clean house on the State Board of Education come January 2011. The Senate Rules Committee confirmation hearing for Rae Belisle and Jorge Lopez was cancelled after Lopez announced his resignation. Rae Belisle is expected to attend the March 2010 meeting, but her status on the board after that point is uncertain. Also up in the air is the Senate’s willingness to reappoint SBE president Ted Mitchell. The seat of David Lopez is still up in the air – he has not been reappointed and his term expired on January 15, 2010. The Governor’s appointees may serve up to one year before Senate confirmation. If the Senate does not confirm new appointees to the four seats currently open, the next Governor will have the ability to appoint a total of six seats (a majority of the 11-member board) in January 2011 when two additional members term-out.

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Legislative Update - Feb. 19, 2010

All Education Bills as of 2-5-2010 .pdf

Legislation:

We are waiting for the final bills to be introduced today, but I am pleased to say that it looks as though there may be slightly fewer than last year.  The budget should take up most of their time.  We will sort these late-comers next week and have a list to you shortly for review.  Hearings on new legislation will not start until the middle of next month. 

Special Session:

As for dealing with the special session on the budget, the Senate has acted on a variety of proposals to reduce the debt, none of which have a direct impact on legislation.  There is a “gas tax swap” bill still in the ether but the text has not been made available yet.  We expect to see it before Monday’s vote, but understand that it reduces or eliminates the impacts on Prop 98 that the Governor’s office version would have caused.  Of course, we wait to see.

State Leadership:

Interesting developments in terms of the Governor’s office education advisors.  Next week’s scheduled hearing on the confirmation of Rae Belisle and Jorge Lopez to the State Board of Education has been “indefinitely postponed”.  Lopez has now resigned.  No word on Belisle. 

Meanwhile, long-time advisor to the Governor Bonnie Reiss is likely to come back soon as the Governor’s new Secretary of Education, replacing Glenn Thomas who stepped down last month.  Reiss really does have the Governor’s ear and will be an important advocate for education in the inner circle.

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Legislative Update - Feb. 2010

The Senate Rules Committee heard and moved forward the nomination of Senator Abel Maldonado for Lt. Governor. Only Senator Aanestad stayed off the vote citing conflict of interest since he is also currently running for the Republican Lt. Governor nomination. The final vote by the full Senate needs to take place by the 22nd, but with the full support by leaders of both parties, it seems secured.

The Governor made the following nominations:

• Theodore Mitchell, Ph.D., of Tustin, has been reappointed to the State Board of Education, where he has served as a member since 2007 and is currently serving as Chair. Mitchell has served as president and chief executive officer of the New Schools Venture Fund since 2005. Previously, he was president of Occidental College from 1999 to 2005.
• Lyn Greene, of Crestline, has been appointed to the State Allocation Board. She has been an assistant professor at Riverside Community College, Norco Campus since 2009.
• Roger Kozberg, of Beverly Hills, has been reappointed to the State Teachers' Retirement System Board, where he has served as a member since 2005.

Secretary of Education Glen Thomas has announced his pending retirement. Speculation is that the Governor may name acting Deputy Secretary Kathy Gaither as the Interim Secretary, but all options remain open.

NEW BILLS

The deadline for introducing legislation for this year is February 19th, so the real volume of bills won’t be put across the desk until after President’s Day. As requested, attached is a list of all the Education bills. We are currently tracking, AB 317 (Solorio) for CASCWA. As always, if you have concerns about any of the bills included on the attached list, please be sure to let me know.

Dropout Calculations and Data

At its January meeting, the State Board of Education approved a new standard for high school graduation rates for the purposes of school accountability. The new high school graduation rate target is 90% by 2020. School targets will be based on the improvement required to move from their current graduation rate to 90% over the next ten years. This new methodology will be used in the fall, 2010, accountability reports. This higher standard was reportedly adopted in response to concerns from the federal government that California’s previous measure was too low. It is expected that this higher standard will mean that more schools and school districts fail to make Adequate Yearly Progress and move into Program Improvement.

 

 

Governor Proposes Major Cuts to K-12 Education for 2010-11

The Governor’s proposed budget is made complicated by some extraordinary Proposition 98 re-calculations, but the end point is easy to understand—the Governor is proposing no mid-year cuts to local school budgets, but is proposing $2.4 billion in cuts in 2010-11. Of this amount, more than $1.7 billion represents K-12 education program reductions (about $288 per student) and approximately $200 million consists of cuts to child care.

The proposed program reductions are as follows:

· $1.2 billion from school district revenue limits “targeted to school district central administration”. Department of Finance staff has indicated that the proposed budget language will specify the account codes from which expenditures may be reduced. This represents a revenue limit reduction of slightly more than $200 per ADA.

· $300 million from school district and county office of education revenue limits based on savings from eliminating “barriers to contracting out to enable school districts to achieve cost reductions.” This represents a cut of about $50 per ADA.

· $45 million from county offices of education, based on savings from the consolidation of services and functions through regional consortia (as yet undefined).

· $202 million due to a negative cost-of-living adjustment (-.38%)

In addition, the Governor proposes a decrease of $77.1 million to reduce reimbursement rates in voucher-based child care programs and a further decrease in CalWORKs Stage 3 Child Care of $122.9 million.

Also included in the proposed budget is $550 million in anticipated savings from school districts claiming less funding for K-3 Class Size Reduction, due to the option to operate at higher class sizes with a reduced penalty.

Breaking the “Deal” on 2008-09 Proposition 98 Funding

A linchpin of the Governor’s budget proposal is to obtain legislative approval to revise the Proposition 98 funding guarantee for 2008-09. The budget package enacted in July 2009 included language that specifically certified the Proposition 98 guarantee for 2008-09 as $49.1 billion. The Governor’s budget indicates that final revenues were substantially lower than estimated and the actual Proposition 98 guarantee for 2008-09 should be $46.8 billion. The Governor proposes to lower the Proposition 98 guarantee for 2008-09 and pay for $1.3 billion of school costs that year out of amounts owed to schools for other fiscal years. By lowering the base, this would have the effect of lowering the Proposition 98 guarantee for 2009-10 and 2010-11.

This adjustment allows the Governor to claim he is “protecting” education funding by maintaining roughly the same level of Proposition 98 funding in each of 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11. From a school perspective, the problem is that this “protects” schools at a base level that the Governor is proposing to reduce from what was already being provided. The Governor acknowledges that “all the proposed changes will require legislation”.

Other Key Points About the K-12 Education Budget Proposal

The Governor does not propose new or expanded flexibility over categorical education programs. As he attempted unsuccessfully last year, the Governor again proposes to suspend virtually all K-12 education mandates. In addition, he proposes three other major controversial changes to provide additional flexibility. Those three proposals are:

· Change state law to give districts the flexibility to layoff and rehire teachers without regard to seniority.

· Eliminate the provisions in current law that require laid off teachers to receive first priority for substitute service and be paid at their rate prior to lay-off.

· Change the lay-off notice for teachers to 60 days after the state budget is adopted or amended.

Over-all State Budget for 2010-11

As far as the over-all state budget for 2010-11, the Governor called on all Californian’s to focus on state priorities – protecting education, reducing tax dollars spent on prisons and making long-term reforms.

The Governor’s plan is to close a $19.9 billion revenue shortfall over the next 18 months by streamlining government, reducing costs and bringing more federal funds in to the state to better reflect the share of taxes we pay to the US Government. The Governor declared a fiscal emergency and called for another special session focused on the budget to begin immediately. As before, it will run concurrently with the regular session.

The budget proposes $8.5 in spending reductions and $4.5 billion in alternative funding and fund shifts. To close the remainder of the $19.9 billion budget gap, the budget proposes to obtain $6.9 billion in federal funds, the majority of which he believes is money owed to California based on correcting formula inequities. The budget also includes a $1 billion reserve for economic uncertainties.

Among the reductions is $550 million in savings through a redirection of Proposition 10 funds to “high priority state programs serving children”. The Governor proposes that this shift would be placed on the June 2010 statewide ballot for voter approval.

Also among the reductions are $1.4 billion attributed to at 5% wage cut for state employees and further reductions to the state workforce. State employees will also pay an additional 5% toward their retirement costs. The existing Furlough Friday program will end on June 30th of this year. Both the wage cuts and retirement cost increase are subject to collective bargaining.

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December 18, 2009

There were a number of important developments this week – making this usually quiet time in Sacramento unseasonably busy.
 
As the legislature and governor continue to debate policy changes to enhance California’s application for federal Race to the Top (RTTT) grants, the Assembly killed the Governor’s proposal – SBx5 1 (Romero) – in the Assembly Education Committee with only six of the 17 committee members voting to support the bill, the rest either voted NO or abstained. This led Senator Romero to lament the bill was “killed with silence.”
 
The committee instead elected to pass their own version of legislation aimed at RTTT – ABx5 8 (Brownley). The bill later passed off the Assembly Floor (vote: 48-25) – with most Republicans voting against the measure due, in large part, to strong charter school accountability language included in the bill.  Most of the very heated debate over both bills pitted EdVoice (sponsors of the Romero bill) against the rest of the education community (supporters of the Brownley bill).  The Brownley legislation is supported by CTA, ACSA, CSBA, PTA, and CFT. The Governor has vowed to veto the Brownley bill because it does not contain the reforms he wants – he preferred and co-sponsored the bill by Romero – who is running for State Superintendent and is backed by EdVoice.
 
If you like fireworks, be sure to tune into next Tuesday’s Senate Education hearing where the Brownley bill is scheduled for a hearing. Senator Romero is the chair of the committee and has made no effort to conceal her scorn over the defeat of her bill in the Assembly committee this week (a committee chaired by Brownley). Brownley is expected to take amendments to the bill in Senate Education, but is not expected to take the amendments Romero would prefer. This sets the stage for a potential committee showdown between the two Education Committee chairs. To get the bill out of Senate Ed, Brownley will need five votes. She can do it without Romero’s support, but she will need every other Democrat on the committee to support her (Simitian, Alquist, Liu, Hancock, and Padilla). The Senate Republicans on the committee are expected to vote against the measure in large part due to the strong charter school accountability. The wildcard could be Senator Maldonado, a moderate Republican from the central coast. Stay tuned…
 
* The rumor mill in Sacramento is whispering the Governor, Jack O’Connell and SBE President Ted Mitchell will release the state’s application for RTTT next week. However, no sources will confirm this – but it has been heard in reputable circles. That means districts could have a better idea of what signing onto the RTTT MOU will actually mean.  If true, this could signal the Governor will be comfortable vetoing the Brownley bill, should it reach his desk.
 
The Assembly Democratic Caucus voted unanimously this week to support Assembly Member John Perez (D – Los Angeles) as the next Assembly Speaker. This resolution comes after weeks of intense public battle between Perez and Assembly Member Kevin De Leon, another LA Democrat who had been widely viewed by Sacramento insiders as the front-runner for the leadership spot. Perez will become the first openly gay man to hold the leadership post. He has a strong background in organized labor, but has not always supported the labor agenda. In 2008, Perez publically supported Prop 1A – a ballot measure that extended temporary taxes to help repay schools $9 billion despite mixed labor opposition to the measure. Perez is expected to spend several month under the wing of Speaker Bass as he begins his tenure early in 2010. Because Perez is not termed-out until 2014, he could one of the longest serving Speakers since voters instituted term limits in the 1990s.

March, 2009

  Inclusion of CELDT in API

ACSA is sponsoring legislation that would include the California English Language Development Test student test scores in the state API. AB 1435 (Perez) calls for the PSAA committee to make recommendations by 2010 for the inclusion of CELDT scores.

It is well documented that the current API has served the state well for almost 10 years, however it has limitations. The current CELDT assessment serves the important purposes of not only identifying students who are limited English proficient but also gauging their progress towards full English proficiency over time. The inclusion of this data in the API will help schools demonstrate how well they are doing with instructing EL students, and can also assist schools and teachers to refine their instructional practices and strategies working with English learners.

The language would be limited to only the task of including CELDT into the current API. Although this task is narrow in scope it goes a long way to recognizing the language achievements of our students. Assembly member Manuel Perez represents areas of the Imperial Valley which has large numbers of ELL students. As this article was being written, Perez was to hold a press conference at Imperial Valley College to unveil his 2010 legislative package including AB 1435. ACSA was fortunate to have Imperial County Superintendent of Schools John Anderson in attendance to answer any questions regarding the implementation of the measure.

AB 1435 will have its first policy hearing in April so look for additional information on this measure. If you have any questions please contact Legislative Advocate Sal Villasenor at (916) 444-3216 or email svillasenor@acsa.org.

AB 972 (Strickland) prohibits a district over 300,000 from spending more than 10% of its budget on administrative costs. Instead of 95:5 we have 90:10. While this bill is currently aimed at LAUSD, it can be amended at any time to include additional school districts. ACSA is working hard to defeat these bills.

Major milestone met in BIP settlement, March 6,2009

Increased special ed funding to flow to schools

CSBA is very pleased to announce that a major milestone has been met in the Behavioral Intervention Plan [Hughes bill] settlement.  Our Education Legal Alliance has received endorsement of the settlement from every one of the state's county offices of education and special education local plan areas, and close to 95 percent of the state's school districts.  We thank all of the districts, COEs and SELPAs for their overwhelming support.

In these tough fiscal times, the BIP settlement represents a great victory for California public education - one that would not have been possible without the leadership and funding provided by CSBA's Alliance.  The settlement provides for $65 million in increased funding for SELPAs, subject to cost-of-living adjustments. In addition, districts will receive $510 million, payable in $85 million annual installments over six years, starting in 2011-12 and ending in 2016-17 (based on 2007-08 P2 ADA). Also, in 2009-10, an additional $7.5 million will be paid to COEs and SELPAs.

The settlement is contingent on three events: first, obtaining the endorsement of LEAs, which has been accomplished; second, obtaining trial court endorsement, hoped to be received by the end of March; and third, enactment of legislation making the settlement terms law and appropriating the necessary funds.  To meet this third step, Assembly Member Tom Torlakson has introduced AB 661, which includes the proposed settlement language.  Once the legislation is enacted, assuming court endorsement, the state will pay the agreed upon funding amounts.

DOC bills

SB 680, an act to repeal Sections 48314.5 and 48315 of the Education Code,

relating to school attendance, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

SB 129, removes limitation on which districts may become a DOC and extends the operation of the law indefinitely.

AB 1407, an act to amend Section 48315 of the Education Code, relating to pupil attendance, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

AB 1430, licensed nurses and admin medication

SB 651, pupil retention   dropout reports

SB 188  adds schools to list of employers that may file restraining orders on behalf of their employees. Employees include students, staff and volunteers. Currently, Penal Code classifies schools as public places and allows for persons to be removed from campuses for short periods of time when a disturbance is caused. Often schools lament the limited ability to keep problem persons off campus. This law appears to limit such restraints to unlawful violence or credible threats of violence.

SB 272   student counseling         

This bill would state legislative intent relating to the role of school counselors. The bill would require the academic counseling component of educational counseling to also include an individualized review of pupil’s academic and deportment records and of his or her career goals, and the opportunity for a counselor to meet with each pupil and his or her parents or legal guardian to explain the academic progress needed to complete middle or high school, pass the high school exit examination, and be eligible for admission to a 4-year institution of postsecondary education and the availability of career technical education, among other things.

AB 374

AB 132

I would agree that this could apply anytime law enforcement comes to campus to interrogate and/or take a child into custody. The first part acknowledges the police power under which law enforcement operates. The procedures would appear to codify existing California Attorney General opinion on the interface between schools and law enforcement, as well as Education Code governing disruptions to school classrooms. School staff should currently require law enforcement officers to come to the front office to check in and to be screened to ensure a proper purpose. Interruption of the classroom should be avoided under Education Code 32210 et seq. As to whether an adult must be present when law enforcement meets with a student, current law leaves that to the discretion of the law enforcement officer. As you know, there could be a variety of reasons why law enforcement would meet with a student. I am not sure in all cases schools should be privy to what is being discussed. As an alternative, students could be informed of their rights prior to meeting with law enforcement, although that may trigger a mandated reimbursement.

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Bullying

AB 86                Lieu                                                      

Ch. 646             Effective: January 1, 2009                 

 

An act to amend Sections 32261, 32265, 32270, and 48900 of the Education Code, relating to pupil safety.

Adds Education Code 48900 (r) to the list of reasons a student can be suspended. This bill would specify that bullying, as used in these provisions, means one or more acts by a pupil or a group of pupils directed against another pupil that constitutes sexual harassment, hate violence, or severe or pervasive intentional harassment, threats, or intimidation that is disruptive, causes disorder, and invades the rights of others by creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment, and includes acts that are committed personally or by means of an electronic act, as defined.

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Teacher Credentialing: Specialist Credential: Pupils with Autism

AB 131              Beall, D-San Jose

Chapter 487      Effective: September 28, 2008

This bill authorizes teachers with a valid Level 1 or clear education specialist teaching credential to provide instruction to pupils who are three and four years of age and who have been diagnosed as autistic.  These provisions would sunset August 31, 2011.

CAHSEE: Students with Disabilities

AB 2040            Nunez                                                   

Ch. 666             Effective: January 1, 2009                             

 

An act to add Sections 60852.1 and 60852.2 to the Education Code, relating to the high school exit examination.

The bill would require the Superintendent to recommend, and the state board to select, members of a panel composed as specified, to make recommendations regarding alternative means for eligible pupils with disabilities to demonstrate that they have achieved the same level of academic achievement in the content standards in English language arts or mathematics, or both, required for passage of the high school exit examination, and would require the state board by October 1, 2010, to adopt regulations, taking into consideration the recommendations of the panel, for alternative means for pupils with disabilities to demonstrate that they have achieved the same level of academic achievement required for passage of the high school exit examination, as

 

Foster Youth: Extracurricular Activities

AB 2096            Bass                                         

Ch. 483             Effective: January 1, 2009     

 

An act to amend Sections 362.05 and 727 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to dependent children.

This bill would, with respect to dependent children, require a group home administrator and a facility manager, or his or her responsible designee, to apply the reasonable and prudent parent standard, as defined, in determining whether to give permission for a child residing in foster care to participate in extracurricular, enrichment, and social activities, and would also require that reasonable steps be taken in determining the appropriateness of the activity. The bill would encourage a group home administrator or a facility manager, or his or her responsible designee, to consult with social work or treatment staff members who are most familiar with the child at the group home in applying and using the reasonable and prudent parent standard.

 

With respect to wards of the juvenile court, the bill would provide that every ward is entitled to participate in age-appropriate extracurricular, enrichment, and social activities. The bill would require group home administrators, facility managers, and caregivers to use a reasonable and prudent parent standard, as defined, in determining whether to permit a ward who is in foster care to participate in those activities. The bill would also require them to take reasonable steps to determine the appropriateness of the activity, as specified. The bill would encourage a group home administrator or a facility manager, or his or her responsible designee, to consult with social work or treatment staff members who are most familiar with the child at the group home in applying and using the reasonable and prudent parent standard.

 

Mandated Reporters of Child Abuse and Neglect

AB 2337            Beall                                                                                                    

Ch. 456           Effective: January 1, 2009                                                                  

 

An act to amend Section 11165.7 of the Penal Code, relating to child abuse reporting.

This bill would add alcohol and drug counselors, as specified, to the list of individuals who are mandated reporters. By imposing the reporting requirement on a new class of persons, the violation of which would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

 

Career Technical Education: Career Multiple Pathways Program

AB 2648            Bass                                                     

Ch. 681             Effective: January 1, 2009

                         

An act to add Section 52372.5 to the Education Code, relating to career technical education.

This bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop, in conjunction with the Office of the Secretary for Education, the community colleges, the University of California, the California State University, the Legislature, the Employment Development Department, teachers, chamber organizations, industry representatives, research centers, parents, school administrators, representatives of regional occupational centers and programs, community-based organizations, labor organizations, and others as deemed appropriate by the Superintendent, a report that explores the feasibility of expanding and establishing career multiple pathway programs, as defined, in California.

 

The bill would require that the report include specified components, including, but not limited to, methods for developing and sharing models of integrated curriculum and instruction, strategies for increasing the course options and instructional time for pupils in high school, and recommendations for supporting regional coalitions in planning and developing the programs. The bill would authorize the Superintendent to use existing state resources and federal funds to complete the report. If state or federal funds are not available or sufficient, the bill would authorize the Superintendent to apply for and accept grants and receive donations, and other financial support from public or private sources.

 

The bill would require the Superintendent to report to the Legislature as to the status of completing the report, and any preliminary recommendations, by July 1, 2009. The Superintendent would be required to submit a final report with recommendations to the Legislature by December 1, 2009.

 

Career Technical Education: Green Technology and Good Movement

AB 2855            Hancock          

Ch. 685             Effective: January 1, 2009                 

 

An act to add Article 7.5 (commencing with Section 54750) and Article 7.7 (commencing with Section 54760) to Chapter 9 of Part 29 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, relating to career technical education.

 

Existing law provides for the establishment of partnership academies by participating school districts and establishes criteria qualifying pupils in grades 10, 11, and 12 for enrollment in the academies. Existing law establishes the parameters for the Superintendent of Public Instruction to issue a maximum of 155 grants per year to school districts maintaining high schools that meet the partnership academy eligibility requirements.

 

This bill would establish 2 new categories of partnership academies, the Green Technology Partnership Academies and the Goods Movement Partnership Academies. Commencing with the 2009-10 school year, when funds become available for

additional partnership academies, as specified, the Superintendent would be required to issue grants for the establishment of partnership academies in each of the 9 economic regions established by the state, and would be required to give priority to partnership academies dedicated to educating young people in the emerging environmentally sound technologies. The Superintendent would also be required to issue grants for the establishment of partnership academies and give priority to the establishment of partnership academies dedicated to educating young people in goods movement occupational areas until at least one academy is established in each of the 4 transportation corridors established by the state. The selection of school districts to establish the new partnership academies and the planning and development of the new partnership academies would be required to be conducted pursuant to the procedures and requirements established for all partnership academies under existing law. The bill would provide that the funding priorities it creates may be satisfied when the specified number of green technology and goods movement partnership academies are funded, as specified.

 

The bill, in the event a school district applies to convert an existing school program to one of the new types of partnership academies and meets all the specified criteria for that new partnership academy, would authorize the department, in coordination with the Superintendent, to provide that academy with first-year implementation funds.  In order to be eligible for funding for a new type of partnership academy, this bill would require the coursework and internship or preapprenticeship programs of the proposed academy to focus on the appropriate academy purposes.  This bill would require staff development opportunities to be included in the academy plans.

 

School Health Centers – Grant Program

Public School Health Center

SB 564              Ridley-Thomas                                                                                    

Ch. 381             Effective: January 1, 2009     

 

An act to amend Sections 124174 and 124174.2 of, and to add Section 124174.6 to, the Health and Safety Code, relating to child health.

 

This bill would also specify that a "school health center" may conduct routine physical health, mental health, and oral health assessments, and provide for any services not offered onsite or through a referral process.

 

The bill would require the State Department of Public Health, to the extent funds are appropriated to the department for implementation of the Public School Health Center Support Program, to establish a grant program to provide technical assistance, and funding for the expansion, renovation, and retrofitting of existing school health centers, and the development of new school health centers, in accordance with specified procedures.

 

Physical Education - Exemptions

SB 602            Torlakson                                                        

Ch. 32                 Effective: January 1, 2009                             

An act to amend Section 51241 of the Education Code, relating to physical education.

 

Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district or the office of the county

Superintendent of schools of a county to grant a pupil an exemption from courses in

physical education for 2 years any time during grades 10 to 12, inclusive, with the consent

of a pupil, if the pupil has met satisfactorily any 5 of the 6 standards of the physical

performance test administered in grade 9.

 

This bill would clarify that a pupil may be granted an exemption from courses in physical

education if the pupil has met at least 5 of the 6 standards of the physical performance test.

 

Staff Development – Suicide Prevention

SB 1378            Dutton
Chapter 143      Effective: January 1, 2009

 

This bill allows a school district to use professional development block grant funds to offer to each of its teachers two hours of staff development in the prevention of youth suicide.

Patriotic Exercises and Instruction

SB 1274            Wyland                                                

Ch. 523             Effective: January 1, 2009                 

 

An act to amend the heading of Article 2 (commencing with Section 52720) of Chapter 11 of Part 28 of

Division 4 of Title 2 of, and to add Section 52730 to, the Education Code, relating to patriotic exercises.

 

This bill would specify that instruction that promotes understanding the concepts of "pledge," "allegiance," "republic," and "indivisible," and understanding the importance of the pledge as an expression of patriotism, love of country, and pride in the United States of America satisfies the requirement that patriotic exercises be conducted. This bill would also require that, when pupils in a public school are instructed with regard to the words of the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America as part of these patriotic exercises, the school is to provide a combination of the giving of the pledge and the instruction described above, which shall be provided by school districts during the time allotted for the patriotic exercise.

 

Freedom of Speech and of the Press

SB 1370    Yee                                                                                                                           

Ch. 525     Effective: January 1, 2009                                                                                      

An act to amend Sections 48907, 48950, 66301, and 94367 of the Education Code, relating to education.

 

This bill would specify that the authority to commence a civil action applies to a pupil who is enrolled at the time the secondary educational institution made or enforced a rule in violation of the prohibition. The bill also would prohibit an employee from    being dismissed, suspended, disciplined, reassigned, transferred, or otherwise   

retaliated against solely for acting to protect a pupil engaged in conduct authorized  

by a specified provision of state law or refusing to infringe upon conduct that is

protected pursuant to state law or those constitutional provisions.

 

Crime School Zones

SB 1666            Calderon                                                                                                            

Ch. 726             Effective: January 1, 2009                                                                               

 

An act to amend Sections 626, 626.2, 626.8, and 626.85 of the Penal Code, relating to entry onto school campuses.

 

Existing law defines the term "safe school zone" as an area that encompasses any of specified places during regular school hours or within 60 minutes before or after the schoolday or 60 minutes before or after a school-sponsored activity at the schoolsite.

 

This bill would specify, for that purpose, that "school" includes any public or private school. Existing law defines "safe school zone" as the area within 1,000 feet of a school. This bill would expand the definition of "safe school zone" as the area within 1,500 feet of a school.

 

Existing law prohibits certain suspended or dismissed students or employees and certain persons who have been directed to leave a school campus or facility from entering the campus or facility. This bill would specify that these provisions apply to public and private schools.Existing law provides that a person who comes into any school building or upon any school ground, or adjacent street, sidewalk, or public way, whose presence or act interfere with or disrupt a school activity, without lawful business, who remains after having been asked to leave as specified, is guilty of a public offense.  Existing law also provides that certain drug offenders who come into those areas within 30 minutes of a school activity, as defined, are guilty of a public offense, except as specified.

 

This bill would specify that these provisions apply to both public and private schools and, regarding the restriction on drug offenders; this bill would expand it to apply to any time within 30 minutes of a school activity. The bill would make related changes. Because this bill would expand the definition of several crimes, it would create a state-mandated local program.

 

2008 Legislative Highlights in Special Education and Student Services .pdf