Education

The major pieces of legislation enacted this year included SB 638 (Torlakson) making substantive policy and fiscal changes to the 21st Century High School After School Safety and Enrichment for Teens program, the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, and the After School Education and Safety program by changing the program funding from a reimbursement program to a direct grant program, increasing grant levels, establishing new priorities associated with academic improvement, and making numerous related changes for the purpose of implementing Proposition 49 (a voter-approved initiative in 2002); SB 1133 (Torlakson) establishing the Quality Education Investment Act of 2006 for the purposes of implementing the terms of the CTA, et al. v. Schwarzenegger, et al. settlement and discharges the outstanding balance of the maintenance factor resulting from Chapter 213 (2004) suspending the state’s obligation to meet the constitutionally-required minimum funding level for schools, for fiscal years 2004-05 and 2005-06; AB 127 (Nunez) providing $10.416 billion for education in general obligation bonds--$7.329 billion for K-12 and $3.087 billion for higher education (one of the infrastructure bond bills); and AB 1381 (Nunez) enacting the Gloria Romero Educational Reform Act of 2006, revising the governancy and operation of the Los Angeles Unified School District in three major areas (broadens the district superintendent’s authority, limits the authority and responsibility of the district governing board, and establishes a council of mayors with specified roles and responsibilities), establishing the Los Angeles Mayor’s Community Partnership for School Excellence to administer a demonstration project to improve pupil performance among the lowest performing schools. (This bill came about because since 1999, the district has been investigated due to internal cases of waste and fraud which has affected the day-to-day operation of the district which stakeholders believe has affected improving pupil performance.).

Other significant Senate education legislation that was enacted included SB 267 (Romero) extending until December 2007, the provisions of the settlement agreement in the case of Chapman v. Department of Education exempting pupils with disabilities from the requirement of passing the California High School Exit Exam as a condition of receiving a high school diploma, as specified; SB 361 (Scott) replacing the current system of program-based funding for the California Community Colleges with new methodologies for allocating general apportionments; SB 368 (Escutia) requiring school districts, as a condition of receiving funding for the Community Based English Tutoring program to develop a plan to be approved, and revised by the governing board of the district certifying that specified objectives are met; SB 472 (Alpert) reauthorizing, until July 1, 2012, the Mathematics and Reading Professional Development Program; SB 517 (Romero) exempting pupils with disabilities until December 31, 2006 from the requirement of passing the High School Exit Exam as a condition of receiving a high school diploma; SB 562 (Torlakson) extending the sunset date relating to the California Interscholastic Federation from January 1, 2007 to January 1, 2012; SB 604 (Aanestad) enabling a charter school, which intends to phase in grade levels, to receive revenue limit funding based on an estimate of the average daily attendance of the new grade levels; SB 667 (Migden) authorizing the UC to conduct a pilot program at their San Francisco campus that allows for construction contracts to be awarded on a “best value” basis, rather than just to the lowest bidder and sunsets January 1, 2012; SB 933 (Machado) authorizing the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to issue district intern credentials to participants of a specified teacher preparation pilot program to provide instruction to pupils with disabilities in special education classes; SB 1040 (Dunn) amending the definition of a stepchild eligible for a fee waiver who is attending the University of California or the California State University who is a surviving child of a police officer or firefighter killed during active duty; SB 1209 (Scott) and SB 1292 (Scott) strengthening the law concerning teacher credentials; SB 1309 (Scott) enacting an array of initiatives to address the nursing shortage in California; SB 1327 (Soto) broadening attendance reporting requirements to include all special education students who are required to, but no longer, attend school; SB 1383 (Ortiz) revising eligibility requirements relating to the Cal-Grants awards and revising related reporting requirements; SB 1442 (Escutia) extending the sunset date of the Advanced Placement program; SB 1543 (Alarcon) requesting the University of California and requiring the California State University to either adopt model standards for high school career technical education courses or recognize courses that meet standards approved, as specified; SB 1552 (Scott) reauthorizing the California Community Colleges Economic and Workforce Development Program and extending the program’s sunset date to January 1, 2013; SB 1568 (Dunn) transferring regulation and oversight of unaccredited law schools and correspondence law schools from the Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education to the State Bar’s Committee of Bar Examiners; SB 1592 (Romero) requiring the Superintendent of Public Instruction to report the number and percentage of pupils who failed to receive a high school diploma in 2006 because they failed part or all of the California High School Exit Exam; SB 1614 (Simitian) requiring the Department of Education to contract for the development of a teacher data system to be called the California Longitudinal Teacher Integrated Data System; SB 1655 (Scott) prohibiting the voluntary transfer of a teacher to a school ranked in deciles 1 through 3 on the Academic Performance Index, if the principal of the receiving school refuses to accept the transfer; SB 1710 (Ackerman) making several changes to the California American Indian Education Center Program implementing recommendations from a recent audit of the program; and SB 1814 (Torlakson) allowing, under the California Environmental Quality Act, a master environmental impact report to be done for a plan for school projects undertaken by a school district that complies with the Greene Facilities Act.

Assembly education legislation enacted included AB 162 (Leslie) establishing a voluntary alternative collaborative design plan review and approval process for the construction of community college and kindergarten and grades 1-12 (K-12) school facilities; AB 172 (Chan) appropriating $50 million identified in the current year Budget Act and $5 million of unexpended funds from the 2005-06 Budget Act to be appropriated for preschool programs; AB 307 (Chavez) specifying that schools’ required technology plans shall include a component to educate pupils and teachers on ethical behavior in the use of information technology; AB 569 (Garcia) requiring the Department of Education to conduct a study on or before March 31, 2007, regarding the feasibility of providing breakfasts at schools that meet the requirements for the federal severe need reimbursement; AB 607 (Goldberg) making a number of changes related to the implementation of the Williams v. State of California settlement agreement and authorizing the State Allocation Board to approve a five-year repayment plan for any district that must refund the state for school facilities funds they had previously received; AB 840 (Arambula) protecting eligibility for students who received Cal Grant awards in error and takes steps to ensure such errors are not repeated; AB 937 (Wyland) allowing the governing board of a school district to designate a credentialed science teacher to act as a science resource teacher or to provide science staff development for each elementary school; AB 1286 (Evans) requiring the authorization to withhold community college district (CCD) apportionments have precedence over other expenditure obligations of a CCD with the exception of any obligations a CCD has incurred through the State Public Works Board; AB 1433 (Emmerson) requiring a student enrolled in kindergarten or in the first grade, as specified, to present proof of having received an oral health assessment by a dentist or dental health professional no earlier than 12 months prior to the student’s date of initial enrollment; AB 1482 (Canciamilla) requiring that a school district or a community college district adopt a resolution at a public meeting prior to the sale of bonds that includes specified information; AB 1758 (Umberg) establishing exit criteria for the High Priority School Grant Program and sets funding rates for school assistance and intervention teams; AB 2030 (Haynes) requiring a chartering authority to provide a written notice of intent to revoke and notice of facts in support revocation to a charter school prior to revoking its charter; AB 2117 (Coto) establishing the English Language Learner Acquisition and Development Pilot Program; AB 2165 (La Suer) prohibiting a student at a California public institution of higher education from participating in intercollegiate athletics if he/she is convicted of a specified felony; AB 2179 (Leslie) indemnifying the University of California from liability that might result from divestment from the Sudan; AB 2560 (Ridley-Thomas) requiring the Department of Health Services, in cooperation with the Department of Education, to establish a Public School Health Center Support Program; AB 2581 (Yee) prohibiting University of California, California State University, or California Community College administrators from conduct already forbidden for governing boards and clarifies that the student press is specifically protected against prior restraint; AB 2684 (Montanez) requiring a school district that operates an interscholastic athletic team to include a specific statement, as specified, in offers of insurance coverage that are sent to members of the school athletic team; AB 2717 (Walters) allowing the California School Finance Authority to provide tax-exempt, low cost financing to charter schools for use in the construction, repair, or lease of school facilities; AB 2740 (La Malfa) permitting veterans’ organizations to have preference over other groups to conduct assemblies for educational purposes on school facilities or grounds on Veterans Day; AB 2813 (De La Torre) raising the age of eligibility in the California Community College Transfer Entitlement Program to allow students under the age of 28 (instead of 24) to be considered for a Cal Grant; and AB 2947 (Goldberg) requiring the recalculation of school building capacity and enrollment projection, which determine eligibility for state school facilities funds, upon the transfer of a special education program between a school district, county office of education, or special education local plan area.

Vetoed education legislation of note included SB 160 (Cedillo) requesting the University of California and requiring the California state University, and the California Community Colleges to establish procedures and forms to enable students who are exempt from paying nonresident tuition, based on their three-year attendance at, and graduation from, a California high school, to participate in all student aid programs administered by these segments; SB 696 (Escutia) authorizing school districts to expend, for K-8, not more than 30 percent of the districts’ instructional materials allowance to purchase materials selected by the school district, as specified; SB 812 (Soto) requiring the Department of Education to determine the extent of access to an integration of education technology into public school instruction, and to annually post the data on the Internet; SB 842 (Torlakson) authorizing an array of initiatives to improve the recruitment, training and retention of teachers in California’s schools; SB 1142 (Alquist) establishing the Science Teacher Development Act; SB 1193 (Bowen) providing that the service of a pupil as a member of a precinct election board during an election is deemed to be participating in independent studies for the computation of state aid; SB 1290 (Ducheny) requiring community college buildings constructed or modified after January 1, 2007, to be built in accordance with the Field Act or according to the California Building Standards Code; SB 1437 (Kuehl) prohibiting instruction, or the adoption of any instructional material, that reflects adversely on persons due to sexual orientation; SB 1471 (Kuehl) enacting the California Community Sexual Health Education Act; SB 1546 (Alarcon) authorizing a community college district to offer to students, a course of study leading to the concurrent award of an associate degree and a high school diploma; SB 1563 (Escutia) establishing the Community College Early Assessment Pilot Program to provide grade 11 pupils with information and guidance related to readiness for college-level coursework; SB 1575 (Dunn) requiring social science instruction for grades 7-12 to include information about the unconstitutional deportation of citizens and lawful permanent residents of the United States to Mexico during the Great Depression; SB 1580 (Ducheny) requiring an English language learner who either is literate in his/her primary language to take standards aligned assessments in the student’s primary language, as soon as such tests are available; SB 1674 (Murray) increasing the reimbursement rate for free and reduced-price school meals from 14 cents to 21 cents, subject to specified criteria; SB 1680 (Perata) replacing average daily attendance as it is used to compute school district revenue limits with average monthly enrollment; SB 1740 (Murray) requiring the Department of Education to develop and maintain Internet safety curriculum guidelines for use by local education agencies; SB 1769 (Escutia) requiring the inclusion of an additional option, the accelerated English program, in the 2008 Reading/Language Arts/English Language Development Curriculum Frameworks and Criteria; AB 358 (Liu) establishing a formula for determining the maximum Cal Grant A and B award levels for students attending independent and other non-public institutions; AB 469 (Yee) requiring the Department of Education to development and maintain nutrition guidelines for all food and beverages served and sold on public school campuses; AB 473 (Liu) extending to the 2006-07 fiscal year, an exemption from the requirement to pay California Community Colleges nonresident tuition to certain students affected by Hurricane Katrina; AB 606 (Levine) establishing the Safe Place to Learn Act requiring the Department of Education to develop, and school districts to adopt, a model policy, and take other actions to prevent or remedy discrimination and harassment based on specified characteristics; AB 751 (Chu) authorizing the California Student Aid Commission to regulate the California operations of purveyors of private college financial aid services for the purposes of preventing financial aid and scholarship fraud; AB 756 (Goldberg) establishing the Flexible Funding for Pupil Achievement Program as a 10-year pilot program to provide additional flexibility and accountability for the use of existing resources at the school site in participating elementary, junior high and high schools; AB 1056 (Chu) establishing the Tolerance Education Pilot Program; AB 1778 (Lieber) specifying that schools that require parents or guardians to provide current emergency information to include a specific notice in the emergency request form; AB 1950 (Lieu) permitting school districts to provide instruction in economics courses related to the understanding of personal finances; AB 2023 (Leslie) allowing a pupil to be excused form school in order to attend an education conference on legislative or judicial process that is conducted by a nonprofit charitable organization; AB 2065 (Liu) requiring the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop, and the State Board of Education to adopt, school library content standards; AB 2109 (Goldberg) establishing the professional development block grant; AB 2248 (Coto) making major changes in the Reading First Program; AB 2445 (Salinas) establishing the Seal of Biliteracy; AB 2510 (Lieu) requiring the biennial survey conducted by the Attorney General to assess drug and alcohol use among pupils in grades 7, 9, and 11, to also include pupils experiences with harassment, bullying, and related topics; AB 2531 (Mullin) revising the method for calculating school district revenue limits to reflect differences among grade span costs and providing a means for equalization of those revenue limits; applying the weighted formula to charter schools as well; AB 2645 (Parra) authorizing pupils to wear hats and sunscreen for sun protection without a note from a parent or a physician and authorizing each school site to also set a policy related to what is considered outdoors for purposes of the bill; AB 2810 (Liu) extending the sunset date of the Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education Reform Act of 1989 for one year; AB 2825 (Ruskin) requiring a school district, in preparing an environmental impact report on a proposed school site, to identify any proposed facilities that emit hazardous air emission or handle specified hazardous substances within one-fourth of a mile of the proposed site; AB 2913 (Frommer) requiring the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to submit a development and expenditure plan for a subject matter examination in the Armenian language to the Department of Finance; AB 2937 (Pavley) requiring the Department of Education to conduct a study to determine which of the California Standards Tests are equivalent to the English language arts portion or the mathematics portion of the high school exit exam; AB 2954 (Liu) adding negative fiscal impact to the reasons that a school district may cite as the basis for refusing to initially approve a charter school, but prohibits this as a basis to deny renewal of a charter; AB 2975 (Hancock) requiring the definition of “proficient” for the purposes of calculating Adequate Yearly Progress under the federal No Child Left Behind Act to be set at the level needed to pass the state high school exit exam; and AB 2992 (Evans) requiring the Trustees of the California State University to establish and maintain a registry of mechanical subcontractors deemed to be responsible on the basis of specified prequalification activity.

NOTE: Proposition 88, on the November 7, 2006 ballot, imposes a $50 parcel tax to provide additional public school funding for K-12 exempting certain elderly and disabled homeowners from the tax.