New CSBA positions on legislation; immigration issues a key topic as 2017 session advances
Published: March 1, 2017
CSBA’s Legislative Committee has approved legislative positions on more than 30 new bills introduced in 2017, including two high-profile measures related to immigration.
Senate Bill 54 by Senate President pro Tem Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles), also known as the California Values Act, would prohibit state and local law enforcement agency involvement in immigration enforcement and would help ensure that eligible individuals are able to seek services from and engage with state agencies without regard to their immigration status. It applies directly to local education agnecies with their own police departments, but also to LEAs that contract with local law enforcement. The bill contains an urgency clause, to take effect immediately if passed. The bill currently resides in the Senate Appropriations Committee, having passed a hearing in the Senate Public Safety Committee on Jan. 31.
CSBA supports SB 54, and also supports SB 31 by Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens), also known as the California Religious Freedom Act. SB 31 prohibits the collection and exchange of personally identifiable information on religion, ethnicity and national origin specifically for purposes of law enforcement or immigration. The bill clarifies that the collection of said data is still permissible, and can be used in instances of a targeted investigation or for purposes of a religious accommodation.
Other bills weighed by CSBA’s Legislative Committee include two bills on the teacher shortage. Assembly Bill 463 (Salas, D-Bakersfield), supported by CSBA, would expand program criteria for the Assumption Program of Loans for Education, known as APLE, which was narrowed during lean budget years. AB 410 (Cervantes, D-Corona) would prohibit LEAs from charging teachers hired during and after the 2017-18 school year for the cost of teacher induction programs; CSBA opposes this measure on the grounds that it limits local control over an LEA’s decision whether or not to impose a fee for such programs.
CSBA has also taken a “support if amended” position on AB 235, a bill by Assembly Education Committee chair Patrick O’Donnell (D-Long Beach), which would exempt California's smallest districts (as defined by California Education Code 44046) and basic aid districts from the school district reserve cap. CSBA is appreciative of Assemblymember O’Donnell introducing this bill and his willingness to address the reserve cap issue, and will seek amendments to the bill to ensure a sufficient fix of the reserve cap. CSBA is the sponsor of reserve cap bill SB 751 (Hill & Glazer).
The Legislative Committee also reviewed SB 328 (Portantino, D-La Cañada Flintridge), establishing a position of “oppose unless amended” on a bill that would require the schoolday for all California middle schools and high schools to begin no earlier than 8:30 a.m. – an issue that CSBA will advocate should remain a matter of local decision making.
For a full list of the more than 400 bills CSBA is monitoring in 2017, click here.
AB 10 (Garcia, Cristina – Feminine hygiene products: adequate supply: school and college bathrooms and shelters – Would require the State Department of Education to provide public and private schools, including charter schools, with an adequate supply of feminine hygiene products sufficient to meet the needs of all female pupils and to ensure that female pupils have direct access to feminine hygiene products in school bathrooms. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws. CSBA Position: Support
AB 17 (Holden D) – Transit Pass Program: free or reduced-fare transit passes – Would create the Transit Pass Program to be administered by the Department of Transportation. The bill would require the Controller of the State of California to allocate moneys made available for the program, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to support transit pass programs that provide free or reduced-fare transit passes to specified pupils and students. CSBA Position: Support
AB 23 (Ridley-Thomas D) – Educational programs: single gender academies and instructional programs – Current law prohibits discrimination against a person on the basis of, among other things, gender in any program or activity conducted by an educational institution that receives, or benefits from, state financial assistance or enrolls pupils who receive state student financial aid. This bill would authorize a local educational agency to implement single gender academies and instructional programs if certain requirements are met. The bill would require a local educational agency that implements a single gender academy or instructional program to conduct an evaluation at least once every two years, as specified. CSBA Position: Support
AB 37 (O'Donnell D) – Pupil instruction: visual and performing arts: content standards in media arts – Would require the Superintendent to additionally recommend visual and performing arts standards in the subject of media arts, and require those recommendations to go through the same development, public review, and approval process for recommended revisions to the visual and performing arts content standards, as described. CSBA Position: Support
AB 60 (Santiago D) – Subsidized child care and development services: eligibility periods – Would require that a family, upon establishing initial eligibility or ongoing eligibility for services under the Child Care and Development Services Act, be considered to meet all eligibility requirements for those services for not less than 12 months, receive those services for not less than 12 months before having its eligibility redetermined, and not be required to report changes to income or other changes for at least 12 months, except as provided. The bill would revise the definition of “income eligible” and provide that the definition applies for purposes of establishing initial income eligibility for services under the act, and would add a definition of “ongoing income eligible” for purposes of establishing ongoing income eligibility for services under the act. CSBA Position: Approve
AB 68 (Mathis R) – School facilities: schoolsite acquisition – Current law requires the governing board of a school district, before commencing the acquisition of real property for a new schoolsite in an area designated in a city, county, or city and county general plan for agricultural use and zoned for agricultural production, to make certain findings, including that the school district will attempt to minimize any public health and safety issues resulting from the neighboring agricultural uses that may affect the pupils and employees at the schoolsite. This bill would require a rural school district to make an additional finding that the school district has provided notice to the planning commission having jurisdiction and that the planning commission has approved the acquisition of the property for the schoolsite or for an addition to the present schoolsite in accordance with specified provisions. CSBA Position: Oppose
AB 81 (Gonzalez Fletcher D) – English learners: identification: notice – Would require the notice of assessment of a child’s English proficiency to include specified additional information, including whether a child is a long-term English learner or is an English learner at risk of becoming a long-term English learner. The bill would require a school district to provide a notification letter to a pupil’s parent or guardian at the time a home language survey is provided that explains the purpose of the home language survey and the procedures for identification and reclassification of English learners. CSBA Position: Support
AB 165 (Cooper D) – Privacy: electronic communications: exclusions: local educational agencies – The Electronic Communications Privacy Act specifies the conditions under which a government entity may access electronic device information by means of physical interaction or electronic communication with the device, such as pursuant to a search warrant, wiretap order, or consent of the owner of the device. This bill would end the application of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act to a local educational agency, as defined, or an individual acting for or on behalf of a local educational agency. CSBA Position: Cosponsor
AB 173 (Jones-Sawyer D) – School safety: peace officer interactions with pupils – Would require the governing board of a school district to adopt policies mandating proper protection of pupils’ rights in interactions with peace officers, including, but not limited to, that school staff not call a peace officer to arrest, discipline, or otherwise interact with a pupil for a violation of school rules and that school staff exhaust all alternatives before involving a peace officer for low-level misconduct. The bill would require a school district to collect and publicly report comprehensive data regarding peace officer interactions with pupils and to have a procedure through which pupils and community members can complain about misconduct relating to peace officer interactions with pupils. CSBA Position: Oppose
AB 189 (Low D) – School curriculum: coursework for high school graduation: service learning – Current 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 from high school. This bill would express legislative findings and declarations relating to service learning. The bill would additionally require, commencing with the high school class graduating during the 2022–23 school year, and for the high school classes graduating in each subsequent school year, at least one of the courses completed by a pupil to satisfy specified graduation requirements referenced to have a service learning component. CSBA Position: Support if Amended
AB 192 (Medina D) – Migrant education: statewide parent advisory council: reports – Current law requires the statewide parent advisory council to prepare and submit a report to the Legislature, the state board, the Superintendent, and the Governor regarding the status of the migrant education program. This bill would require the statewide parent advisory council to prepare and submit this report every 3 years. CSBA Position: Support
AB 233 (Gloria D) – Pupils: school dress code policies: graduation ceremonies – Current law authorizes individual schools to include the reasonable dress code policy as part of their school safety plans. Current law prohibits a dress code policy adopted pursuant to this provision from precluding pupils who participate in a nationally recognized youth organization from wearing organization uniforms on days that the organization has a scheduled meeting. This bill would also prohibit a dress code policy adopted pursuant to this provision from prohibiting a pupil from wearing religious, ceremonial, or cultural adornments at school graduation ceremonies. CSBA Position: Oppose
AB 235 (O'Donnell D) – School finance: school district annual budgets: reserve balances – Current law, unless the school district is granted an exemption, limits the amount of the combined assigned or unassigned ending fund balance contained in a school district’s annual budget in any fiscal year immediately after a fiscal year in which a transfer is made into the Public School System Stabilization Account, and establishes a formula for calculating the maximum amount allowable for school districts with less than 400,000 units of average daily attendance, and a formula for school districts with more than 400,000 units of average daily attendance, as specified. This bill would instead make the formula for school districts with less than 400,000 units of average daily attendance applicable to school districts with 400,000 units of average daily attendance or less. CSBA Position: Support if Amended
AB 236 (Maienschein R) – CalWORKs: housing assistance – As part of the CalWORKs program, a homeless family that has used all available liquid resources in excess of $100 is eligible for homeless assistance benefits to pay the costs of temporary shelter if the family is eligible for aid under the CalWORKs program. This bill would provide that homeless assistance is available to homeless families that would be eligible for aid under the CalWORKs program but for the fact that the only child or children in the family are in out-of-home placement pursuant to an order of the dependency court, if the family is receiving reunification services and the county determines that homeless assistance is necessary for reunification to occur. CSBA Position: Support
AB 304 (Eggman D) – Public Utilities Commission: proceedings: intervenor compensation – Current law provides compensation for reasonable advocate’s fees, reasonable expert witness fees, and other reasonable costs for participation or intervention in any proceeding of the Public Utilities Commission. Current law specifies that no state, federal, or local government agency, publicly owned public utility, or entity that, in the commission’s opinion, was established or formed by a local government entity for the purpose of participating in a commission proceeding is eligible to receive that compensation, except as specified. This bill would authorize public school districts, county offices of education, and community college districts, and the authorized representatives of those entities, to receive that compensation. CSBA Position: Support
AB 328 (Lackey R) – Juvenile records – Notwithstanding specified provisions, current law specifically requires the court to provide specified written notice, within 7 days, to the superintendent of the school district of attendance of a juvenile who has been found by the court to have committed certain offenses. Current law also requires a parole office or probation officer to notify the superintendent of the last district of attendance of the minor upon circumstances in which the minor is thereafter returned to a school district other than the one from which the minor came. This bill would instead require the court to provide that written notice within 5 days, and would require the parole officer or probation officer to provide notice to a superintendent under those provisions within 5 days after the minor’s return, as specified. CSBA Position: Support
AB 341 (Frazier D) – School field trips: expenses – Current law authorizes the governing board of a school district or the county superintendent of schools of a county to conduct field trips or excursions in connection with courses of instruction or school-related social, educational, cultural, athletic, or school band activities to and from places in the state, any other state, the District of Columbia, or a foreign country for pupils enrolled in elementary or secondary schools. Current law prohibits school districts from paying expenses of pupils participating in a field trip or excursion to any other state, the District of Columbia, or a foreign country with school district funds. This bill would delete that prohibition. CSBA Position: Support
AB 385 (Chu D) – California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System: required pupil data – Would require the State Department of Education to, as part of the CALPADS, require local educational agencies to provide subject level enrollment and completion data for prekindergarten, kindergarten, and any of grades one to 12, inclusive, as applicable, to aid in the accomplishment of the goals of the CALPADS. To the extent these provisions would require the reporting of more information by local educational agencies than is required under federal law, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. CSBA Position: Approve
AB 410 (Cervantes D) – Teacher credentialing: beginning teacher induction programs: fees – Would, commencing with hiring for the 2017–18 school year, and each school year thereafter, prohibit a school district, county office of education, or charter school from charging a fee to a beginning teacher to participate in a beginning teacher induction program that is approved by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing and the Superintendent, and would define a beginning teacher for purposes of that provision to include a teacher with a preliminary multiple or single subject teaching credential, or a preliminary education specialist credential. CSBA Position: Oppose
AB 418 (Chau D) – Elementary and secondary education: Computer Science Education Grant Pilot Program – Would establish the Computer Science Education Grant Pilot Program under the administration of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Under the program, eligible local educational agencies, as defined, could apply to receive grants, not to exceed 2 years, to establish and maintain computer science courses in underserved areas and among pupils from groups historically underrepresented in the field of computer science, and to provide professional development for teachers to teach computer science, either as a stand-alone course or as integrated into other courses. CSBA Position: Neutral
AB 448 – Local governments: parcel taxes: notice – Would require a local agency to provide notice of a new parcel tax to any owner of record of a parcel affected by the tax, if that owner of record does not reside within the jurisdictional boundaries of the taxing entity. The bill would also require the notice to be made within 30 days of the certification of the election approving the new parcel tax. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws. CSBA Position: Oppose
AB 463 (Salas D) – Student financial aid: Assumption Program of Loans for Education – Current law establishes the Assumption Program of Loans for Education, administered by the Student Aid Commission, under which any person enrolled in a participating institution of postsecondary education, or any person who agrees to participate in a teacher trainee or teacher internship program, is eligible to enter into an agreement for loan assumption, to be redeemed pursuant to a prescribed procedure upon becoming employed as a teacher if he or she satisfies certain conditions. This bill would, among other things, require a program participant to demonstrate financial need, remove references to the Academic Performance Index, revise the information that the Superintendent is required to furnish to the commission annually regarding the program, and make conforming changes. CSBA Position: Support
AB 616 (Aguiar-Curry D) – Pupil instruction: California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science: funding: tuition – Current law establishes the California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science to provide academic development to enable pupils with demonstrated academic excellence in mathematics and science to receive intensive educational enrichment in these subjects. Current law requests the Regents of the University of California to operate the summer school. Current law, until January 1, 2018, requests the regents to set a tuition fee for the summer school. This bill would no longer request the regents after January 1, 2018, to set a tuition fee within a range that corresponds to actual program costs, up to but not exceeding $1,000 per session in the year 2000 and to increase this fee by an amount of up to 5% each year thereafter. CSBA Position: Support
AB 699 (O'Donnell D) – Educational equity: immigration status – Current law states the policy of the State of California to afford all persons in public schools, regardless of their disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other specified characteristic, equal rights and opportunities in the educational institutions of the state. Existing law prohibits discrimination on the basis of those specific characteristics in any program or activity conducted by an educational institution that receives, or benefits from, state financial assistance or enrolls pupils who receive state student financial aid. This bill would include immigration status in the specified characteristics for purposes of those provisions. CSBA Position: Support if Amended
AB 716 (O'Donnell D) – Magnet schools – Would express legislative findings and declarations related to magnet schools. The bill would establish a magnet school grant program, to be administered by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, under which an applicant school district may apply to the Superintendent for a grant, not to exceed $575,000 per school district, for the one-time costs associated with the startup of a new magnet school, as defined, in accordance with specified conditions and requirements. The bill would specify that funding provided for purposes of the program in the annual Budget Act or other legislation shall be used to allocate grants. CSBA Position: Support
SB 12 (Beall D) – Foster youth: postsecondary education: financial aid assistance – Would require the Student Aid Commission to work cooperatively with the State Department of Social Services to develop an automated system to verify a student’s status as a foster youth to aid in the processing of applications for federal Pell Grants. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws. CSBA Position: Support
SB 31 (Lara D) – California Religious Freedom Act: state agencies: disclosure of religious affiliation information – Current law prohibits a state agency from including a question regarding an applicant‘s race, sex, marital status, or religion in any application form for employment. This bill would prohibit a state or local agency or a public employee acting under color of law from providing or disclosing to the federal government personally identifiable information regarding a person’s religious beliefs, practices, or affiliation, as specified, when the information is sought for compiling a database of individuals based on religious belief, practice or affiliation, national origin, or ethnicity for law enforcement or immigration purposes. CSBA Position: Support
SB 45 (Mendoza D) – Political Reform Act of 1974: mass mailing prohibition – Current regulations of the Fair Political Practices Commission add further definitional criteria for mass mailings and specify certain forms of mass mailing that are not subject to the Political Reform Act’s prohibition against mass mailings. This bill would prohibit a mass mailing that complies with the Commission’s regulatory criteria from being sent within the 90 days preceding an election by or on behalf of a candidate whose name will appear on the ballot. CSBA Position: Oppose
SB 54 (De León D) – Law enforcement: sharing data – Current law provides that when there is reason to believe that a person arrested for a violation of specified controlled substance provisions may not be a citizen of the United States, the arresting agency shall notify the appropriate agency of the United States having charge of deportation matters. This bill would repeal those provisions. This bill contains other related provisions and other current laws. CSBA Position: Support
SB 78 (Leyva D) – After school programs: grant amounts – Would, for the 2017–18 fiscal year, and for each fiscal year thereafter, continuously appropriate an additional $99,305,000 to the State Department of Education for purposes of the After School Education and Safety Program. The bill would, commencing with the increases to the minimum wage implemented during the 2018–19 fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, require the Department of Finance to annually adjust the total program funding amount for each minimum wage increase using a specified calculation. The bill would require the State Department of Education to adjust the maximum grant amounts and related amounts in accordance with the amount provided for the program for the 2017–18 fiscal year. CSBA Position: Disapprove
SB 210 (Leyva D) – Pupil health: drinking water – Would require a school district that has drinking water sources with drinking water that does not meet the United States Environmental Protection Agency drinking water standards for lead or any other contaminant to close access to those drinking water sources, to provide alternative drinking water sources, as specified, and to notify specified persons if the school district is required to provide those alternative drinking water sources. By imposing additional duties on pupil schools and school districts, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. CSBA Position: Support
SB 328 (Portantino D) – Pupil attendance: school start time – Current law requires the governing board of each school district to fix the length of the school day for the several grades and classes of the schools maintained by the school district in accordance with specified provisions of law. This bill would require the school day for middle schools and high schools to begin no earlier than 8:30 a.m. To the extent the bill imposes new duties on school districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill contains other related provisions and other current laws. CSBA Position: Oppose Unless Amended