Under the Dome: 2013-14 bills introduced
Published: April 1, 2013
By the Feb. 22 deadline for the introduction of bills during this first year of the 2013-14 legislative session, over 2,100 bills and 23 proposed constitutional amendments had been introduced. CSBA’s Governmental Relations team identified 475 of those bills as having an impact on K-12 schools. The following are CSBA’s sponsored bills and several other highlighted bills.
CSBA-sponsored bills
AB 913 Charter schools: open meetings and conflict of interest.
Chau, D-Monterey Park
Would apply the Public Records Act, the Political Reform Act, the Ralph M. Brown Act, and Government Code Section 1090, which prohibits contracting between board members and the agency they govern, to charter schools.
Status: Awaiting consideration by the Assembly Local Government Committee
CSBA Position: Sponsor
AB 1032 Charter schools: facilities: Proposition 39 disputes.
Gordon, D-Redwood City
Would prohibit the displacement of district students, in favor of charter school students, in the provision of reasonably equivalent facilities to charter schools. Would also limit comparisons of space available to districts and charters to useable space only, among other changes.
Status: Awaiting consideration by the Assembly Education Committee
CSBA Position: Sponsor
SCA 3 Taxation: educational entities: parcel tax.
Leno, D-San Francisco
Would lower the voter threshold to 55 percent for the imposition, extension or increase of a parcel tax by a school district, community college district or county office of education.
Status: Awaiting consideration by the Senate Committees on Governance and Finance, and Elections and Constitutional Amendments
CSBA Position: Sponsor
Bills of Importance
AB 59 School districts: parcel taxes.
Bonta, D-Alameda
Would specify that requiring uniform application of taxes does not limit a school district from assessing parcel taxes with rational classifications among taxpayers or types of property within the district. The bill would also express the Legislature’s intent to clarify, and not change, existing law, and to abrogate the holding in Borikas v. Alameda Unified School District, as specified.
Status: Awaiting consideration by the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee
CSBA position: Support
AB 182 Bonds: school districts and community college districts.
Buchanan, D-Alamo
Would require the ratio of total debt service to principal for each bond series to not exceed 4:1. It would also require capital appreciation bonds to be eligible for refinancing beginning 10 years after the date of issuance, and would limit the term and interest rate for school bonds to 25 years and 8 percent, respectively.
Status: Assembly Education Committee hearing on March 20
CSBA position: Oppose Unless Amended
AB 256 Pupils: grounds for suspension and expulsion.
Garcia, D-Bell Gardens
Would authorize local educational agencies to suspend or expel a pupil in grades 4-12 if the superintendent or school principal determines that the pupil has intentionally engaged in bullying by means of an electronic act. The act would have to be severe or pervasive and directed against school personnel or pupils; however, the act would not have to relate to a school activity or school attendance.
Status: Awaiting consideration by the Assembly Education Committee
CSBA position: Support
AB 280 Local agency employment contracts: maximum cash settlement.
Alejo, D-Salinas
Would reduce the maximum cash settlement available to a school district superintendent to three months of salary, regardless of the number of months remaining on the unexpired contract.
Status: Awaiting consideration by the Assembly Education Committee
CSBA position: Oppose
AB 484 Pupil assessments: temporary suspension.
Bonilla, D-Concord
Would suspend, starting with the 2013-14 school year, the administration of assessments required as part of the Standardized Testing and Reporting program. Tests exempt from the suspension are core subject tests necessary to satisfy the adequate yearly progress requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 in grades 3-8 and 10, and assessments augmented for use as part of the Early Assessment Program in grade 11. The suspension would be in effect until new assessments addressing the common core state standards are developed and implemented.
Status: Awaiting referral from the Assembly Rules Committee
CSBA position: Support
SB 201 Instructional materials: academic content standards: language arts and English language development.
Liu, D-Pasadena
Would authorize the State Board of Education to adopt basic instructional materials for grades K-8 that are aligned to those standards for language arts and English language development by no later than Nov. 30, 2015. The bill also requires that the California Department of Education, before conducting the adoption, must provide notice to all publishers or manufacturers that they are required to pay a fee to offset the cost of conducting the adoption process.
Status: Senate Education Committee Hearing April 3
CSBA position: Support
More detailed information on these and other bills is available at www.csba.org/Advocacy/CSBAPositions.