Under the Dome: End-of-session wrap-up
Published: October 18, 2010
This year’s deadline for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign or veto bills came and went well before a budget was approved. This was the second year of the two-year session, so any bill other than a bill making an appropriation needed to be passed by the Legislature by Aug. 31. The following summarizes the governor’s actions or other outcomes of key education-related bills on which CSBA had adopted a position.
AB 572 Charter schools conflict of interest
Brownley, D-Santa Monica
This bill would have required charter schools to comply with the conflict-of-interest restrictions applicable to traditional public schools, including the Brown Act, the California Public Records Act, Government Code Section 1090 (which prohibits board members from contracting with their own district) and the Political Reform Act, which requires school board members to disclose economic interests and prohibits them from attempting to influence a decision in which they have an interest.
Status: Vetoed by the governor
Governor’s message: “A careful reading of the bill reveals that the proposed changes apply new and contradictory requirements, which would put hundreds of schools immediately out of compliance, making it obvious that it is simply another veiled attempt to discourage competition and stifle efforts to aid the expansion of charter schools.”
CSBA position: Sponsor
AB 1841 Special education: parental consent
Buchanan, D-San Ramon
This bill provides that a public agency is not required to amend the education records of a child to remove any reference to the child’s receipt of special education and services if the child’s parent or guardian submits a written revocation of consent after the initial provision of special education and related services to the child. This brings California into compliance with federal law.
Status: Chaptered by the secretary of state (Chapter No. 243, Statutes of 2010)
CSBA position: Support
AB 2211 Instruction
Fuentes, D-Los Angeles
This bill authorizes districts to purchase liability insurance for pupils enrolled in programs of study involving work-based learning off school grounds. Further, this bill allows partnership academies, regional occupational programs and local educational agencies to deliver work-based learning opportunities for pupils that may include work experience education, community classrooms, cooperative career and technical education programs and job shadowing experience.
Status: Chaptered by the secretary of state (Chapter No. 254, Statutes of 2010)
CSBA position: Support
SB 930 Pupil assessments
Ducheny, D-San Diego
This bill would have required any primary language assessment developed by the California Department of Education and administered to English learners to be included in the state’s assessment system and in the state’s federal and state accountability systems or any successor systems.
Status: Vetoed by the governor
Governor’s message: “The State Board of Education recently adopted the Common Core standards, with additions from California’s existing standards. In anticipation of a newly realigned assessment and accountability system, this bill is premature. This bill would require the inclusion of additional components involving primary language assessments, in the current, and any future, assessment and accountability systems. This has the potential to conflict with any of the anticipated larger federal or state efforts on assessments and accountability. Ultimately, I continue to believe that schools should remain focused on providing English Learners with the necessary instruction and support to become English proficient. As an immigrant myself, I believe strongly that learning English as quickly as possible is essential to success in this state and this country. Therefore, I want to ensure that there are no disincentives in our school system to achieving that goal for our English Learner student population.”
CSBA position: Support
SB 1285 Education employment: teachers
Steinberg, D-Sacramento
This bill was introduced in response to a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union against the Los Angeles Unified School District over the use of seniority in teacher layoffs. The bill would have prohibited districts from laying off a greater proportion of teachers in schools in deciles 1-3 of the Academic Performance Index than is laid off in the district as a whole. CSBA believed the measure should have been permissive.
Status: Died in the Assembly Appropriations Committee
CSBA position: Oppose
SB 1357 CalPADS
Steinberg, D-Sacramento
This bill requires the California Department of Education, contingent on federal funding and in consultation with the Department of Finance and the Legislative Analyst’s Office, to prepare the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System to include data on a quarterly rate of pupil attendance. CALPADS must be capable of issuing to local educational agencies periodic reports on district, school, class, and individual pupil rates of absence. Further, SB 1357 declares the intent of the Legislature to support the development of early warning systems to identify and support individual pupils who are at risk of academic failure or of dropping out of school.
Status: Chaptered by the secretary of state (Chapter No. 704, Statutes of 2010)
CSBA position: Support
SB 1381 Kindergarten entrance age date
Simitian, D-Palo Alto
This bill moves the entrance date for kindergarten from December 2 to September 1 over a three year period beginning in 2012-13. It also establishes a transitional kindergarten program for students who are affected by the change in date. As with kindergarten, the program would be optional for parents, but districts would be required to provide it. Districts would be able to claim full average daily attendance funding for all students.
Status: Chaptered by the secretary of state (Chapter No. 705, Statutes of 2010)
CSBA position: Support