Winners, losers as Brown takes action on education bills

Legislation

Winners, losers as Dark-brown takes action on education bills

(Updated Oct. xiv) Gov. Jerry Brown acted on dozens of education bills by the Oct. 13 deadline for deciding legislation.

Almost of them paled in importance compared to the Legislature'south awe-inspiring accomplishment of 2013, the Local Control Funding Formula, Chocolate-brown's sweeping school finance and accountability program that legislators enacted as part of the state upkeep in June. Yet the Legislature and governor did face decisions on primal bills this session.

Main among them was a decision on what state standardized tests to discontinue this twelvemonth, which to suspend and resume later, and which to proceed. The proposed changes are in Assembly Bill 484, which Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, D-Hold, sponsored on behalf of Country Superintendent of Public Teaching Tom Torlakson. An amended version passed both houses of the Legislature on Sept. 10 despite a concluding-infinitesimal threat from U.Southward. Secretary of Didactics Arne Duncan to withhold some federal coin if information technology becomes law as worded. Gov. Jerry Brownish signed the pecker Oct. 1, also unfazed by the threat.

AB 484 suspends well-nigh all state standardized tests, starting next bound, including English language arts and math tests required by the federal government under the No Child Left Backside police for grades three through 8 and 11. Those districts with the adequacy of administering tests past computer instead would offer a field or practise exam on the Common Cadre standards that the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium is developing for California and two dozen other states. The formal Smarter Balanced tests would outset a twelvemonth afterwards, in spring 2015. Districts currently without technical capability would give no English language or math examination next bound – ane of Duncan's objections.

AB 484 lays out the plan for replacing the other state tests with new ones, reflecting new standards in science, math and English and the need for more rigorous assessments that bear witness a student'southward ability to solve problems and remember critically. The state Department of Education would present the plan to the Legislature by March 2016.

What follows is a status written report on of import bills that EdSource Today has been following. Apply our interactive tracker to check the status of the bills and read on for a cursory description of each. The list includes several bills that, for lack of agreement, will be pushed into next year.

Assembly bills

AB 174 – Student health

• AB 174, past Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Oakland, would plant a airplane pilot grant program to fund school-based mental health services and trauma treatment for Alameda Canton students affected by violence.
• Why it's important: Lack of admission to mental health care is an issue for students affected past trauma and violence; AB 174 would bring services to traumatized youth in schools, a model that has proven to exist effective.
  
• Bill assay.
• Status: Passed Assembly and Senate. Vetoed past Governor.

AB 182 – School finance

• AB 182, by Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo, would set strict limits and a maximum debt ratio on the use of capital appreciation bonds for school construction and renovation.
• Why information technology'due south important: Capital appreciation bonds defer repayment of interest and principal for 20 to 30 years, at which betoken property taxpayers incur interest charges amounting to nine or more times that of the principal; AB 182, pushed by state Treasurer Bill Lockyer, would limit that ratio to 4:1.
• Previous EdSource Today coverage; pecker analysis.
• Condition: Signed by the governor.

AB 256 – Student discipline

• AB 256, past Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens, would permit schools to suspend or miscarry students for bullying by electronic ways that originated on or off school grounds.
• Why it's important: For the starting time time, schools would be authorized to take disciplinary action against students who bully by electronic means at non-school events and while off campus.
  
• Bill analysis.
• Status: Signed past the governor.

AB 375 – Teacher evaluation

• AB 375, past Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo, would expedite the process of dismissing a teacher by paring dorsum testify hearings and imposing a vii-month deadline for a decision by a three-member Commission on Professional Competence.
• Why it'south important: Unions and districts agree that teacher dismissals, including for egregious carry, can exist lengthy and expensive. Last twelvemonth, unions killed a proposed reform; this yr, districts opposed Buchanan'due south version. She'll have another chance at a compromise in 2014.
• Previous coverage; bill analysis.
• Condition: Amendments that Buchanan negotiated with Senate Instruction Commission Chairwoman Carol Liu, permitting an extension beyond the seven-calendar month deadline if a judge finds "skilful crusade," gave the bill a 2nd life. However, Brown vetoed it Oct. 10.

AB 420 – Pupil field of study

• AB 420, by Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, would prohibit suspensions and expulsions for confusing beliefs – called willful defiance – in elementary school and allow suspensions and expulsions for confusing behavior beyond grade six only afterwards alternative forms of discipline take been tried.
• Why information technology'due south important: The employ of the subjectively defined willful defiance as a means for discipline has become a flashpoint in debates nigh how to manage school environments. Data have shown that minority students are disproportionately punished for "willful disobedience." Proponents of willful disobedience say they need flexibility to remove students from school if the behavior is unacceptable. This is a scaled-back version of a nib Brown vetoed final year.
• Previous coverage; bill assay.
• Status: Ii-year bill after passing the Assembly and the Senate Education Committee; author may re-introduce in January.

AB 484 – Standardized testing

• AB 484, past Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, D-Concord, on behalf of Superintendent Torlakson, would append most state standardized tests non required by the federal No Kid Left Behind law, including high schoolhouse end of course, social studies and Spanish language tests, in preparation for the new Mutual Core assessments in English linguistic communication arts and math in bound 2015.
• Why it's important: The transition to Common Core standards and the new science standards offers an opportunity to redesign tests in other subjects and to make up one's mind which tests no longer are necessary for land accountability. However, in that location are disagreements over timing, costs and priorities.
• Previous coverage; bill analysis.
• Status: Signed by the governor.

AB 955 – Community College Fees

• AB 955, by Assemblyman Das Williams, D-Santa Barbara, establishes a pilot plan that permits vi customs colleges to charge California students the nonresident tuition rate of about $200 per credit, up from $46, for courses offered during the summer and winter breaks that are over-enrolled during the regular schoolhouse year.

• Why it'due south important: Supporters say so many students were blocked from attending community college during the recession when schools had to eliminate thousands of courses, that fifty-fifty money from Proposition 30 isn't enough to restore the system to its pre-recession days. Opponents counter that the bill creates a 2-tiered system of college teaching – giving wealthy students an unfair advantage, and turning the mission of community colleges upside down.
• Previous coverage; bill analysis.

• Status: Signed by the governor.

AB 1266 – Student health

• AB 1266, by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, gives transgender students the right to participate in schoolhouse sports and use bathroom facilities that correspond with their expressed genders.
• Why it'due south important: "Transgender" refers to those who identify with a gender unlike than their sex. Transgender students frequently face severe bullying and corruption in schools, studies have shown. The bill allows transgender students to more fully participate in school life.
  
• Previous coverage; nib assay.
• Status: Passed Legislature, signed past Gov. Jerry Brown.

Senate bills

SB 5 – Instructor evaluation

• SB v, by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, would eliminate the restriction that all multiple- and single-subject teacher credentialing programs squeeze all program requirements, including student pedagogy, into a 1-twelvemonth curriculum. The bill is consequent with recommendations of Torlakson'south Task Strength on Educator Excellence.
• Why it's of import: California is unique in jamming teacher prep courses and pupil education into ane twelvemonth. This neb, permitting an extra year of coursework for a preliminary teaching credential, volition allow for more than depth and spur artistic alternatives.
• Previous coverage; bill analysis.
• Condition: Signed by governor.

SB 173 – Adult education

• SB 173, past Sen. Carol Liu, D-Glendale, would narrow the focus of adult didactics funded through One thousand-12 districts to conform with changes Brown wrote into the state upkeep. The narrowed programs would favor English linguistic communication and job and career preparation courses while eliminating parenting classes and recreational classes for older adults.
• Why it's important: Codifies proposed changes to adult education programs, typically operated past K-12 districts, which critics say are over-broad and redundant with other bachelor programming; opponents of the bill say the classes are vital for the communities they serve and that older developed programs should exist maintained as the population of senior citizens grows.
• Previous coverage; bill assay.
• Condition: Turned into a 2-year neb.

SB 201 – Common Core

• SB 201, by Senator Ballad Liu, D-Glendale, authorizes the State Lath of Education to adopt instructional materials for grades G-8, aligned to the Common Core State Standards in English language language arts equally well as in English language development, (for English language learners), no later than November. thirty, 2015. It also calls for a new examination to determine English language language proficiency.
• Why it'south important: The State Board of Education adopted new Common Core standards for English language arts in 2010, and for English language evolution ii years afterward, but has not yet approved basic instructional materials aligned to those standards. Upwardly until now, the board has only authorized supplemental materials.
• Bill analysis.
• Status: Signed into police force by the governor.

SB 247 – Standardized testing

• SB 247, by Sen. Carol Liu, D-Glendale, would end the second course California Standards Test in English language arts and math and turn it into an optional diagnostic exam, aligned to Common Core, that districts will administer but the state will pay for.
• Why it's important: The new Common Core assessments will showtime at form 3. This neb will allow state-funded district assessments to inform parents and teachers whether 2nd graders need interventions to read past 3rd form, a critical predictor of success.
• Previous coverage; bill analysis.
• Condition: Signed past the governor.

SB 284 – Cal Grants

• SB 284, by Senator Kevin De León, D-Los Angeles, is part of a two-bill package to increase the amount of coin in the Cal Grant B plan by creating a College Access Tax Credit Fund paid for through charitable donations.
• Why information technology's important: California would become the first state in the nation to constitute what's essentially a charitable fund to help low-income students nourish higher. For every dollar contributed, donors would exist eligible for a lx cent country revenue enhancement credit and a xv cent federal taxation credit, while raising an estimated $500 million a year.
• Bill Analysis.
• Status: Vetoed by the governor.

 SB 285 – Cal Grants

• SB 285, past De León, is the second piece of his two-bill packet, which would raise Cal Grant B awards for low-income students from $1,473 a yr to about $3,333 per twelvemonth.
• Why information technology'south important: The maximum Cal Grant B award is $1,473 a twelvemonth, which is expected to help pay for all college expenses excluding tuition, too as food, rent, transportation, books and other living expenses. The average annual income of the land'south 177,000 Cal Grant B recipients is $xviii,000.
• Beak Analysis.
• Status: Vetoed past the governor.

SB 300 – Science Standards

• SB 300, past Senator Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, requires the Land Board of Didactics to consider adopting a revised curriculum framework and evaluation criteria for instructional materials aligned to the Next General Scientific discipline Standards by January. 31, 2014, with strategies for addressing the needs of English language learners and students with disabilities. It likewise extends the borderline for the state board to adopt revised curriculum frameworks and evaluation criteria for English language arts until July 30, 2014.
• Why information technology's important: To speed upwards the process for developing curriculum frameworks in science once the state board approves the Next Generation Science Standards.
• Previous EdSource Today coverage; bill assay.
• Status: Signed by the governor.

SB 330 – Student health

• SB 330, by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, would include instruction almost mental wellness in the next revision of the state wellness curriculum to promote positive mental wellness and identify signs of common mental health problems.
• Why it's important: Mental health is critical to student well-being and academic achievement. Teaching students most common mental wellness problems will reduce stigma and increase understanding.
  
• Bill analysis.
• Status: Signed by the governor.

SB 344 – School finance

• SB 344, by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, would require very detailed data, by school site, on how districts will use money under the new Local Command Funding Formula to provide programs and services for English learners, and require a parent representative from every school site to be elected to the new commune parent advisory council.
• Why it's important: This neb, requiring detailed spending plans at school sites and giving school representatives a bigger policy role, steps on State Board of Education's authority to determine rules for the LCFF past early on 2014. It counters Gov. Brown's preference to vest power at the district level.
• Bill assay.
• Status: Vetoed past the governor.

SB 440 – College transfer degrees

• SB 440, by Senator Alex Padilla, D- Pacoima, adds more teeth and more options to an earlier Padilla beak, SB 1440, which requires California Community Colleges and California State University to develop Acquaintance degrees in two dozen majors that let students to transfer to CSU as juniors.
• Why it's important: Customs College students who earn a transfer degree will be automatically accepted into a Cal State campus equally a junior and have a number of possible majors to choose within each major. Without SB 440 and its predecessor, it could transfer students three or more years to accumulate the credits they needed to graduate from Cal State.
• Previous EdSource Today coverage; beak analysis.
• Status: Signed by the governor.

SB 520 – Online college courses

• SB 520, by Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, would require online courses in the fifty most over-crowded and difficult to get into classes at the University of California, California Land Academy and customs colleges. The courses would be developed jointly past the UC, CSU and California Customs Colleges.
• Why it'due south important: Budget cuts take forced California'south public colleges and universities to lay off faculty and reduce the number of courses they offer, creating long wait lists for many required courses and making it hard for students to graduate in 2 or iv years. Steinberg said online courses would assist reduce that bottleneck.
• Previous EdSource Today coverage; bill assay.
• Status: Turned into a 2-year beak.

 SB 744 – Student field of study

• SB 744, by Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Long Embankment, would take ready conditions and restrictions for the transfer of students without parent permission to customs twenty-four hour period schools, ordinarily for discipline and truancy reasons.
• Why it's important: Advocates say students are sent to languish in customs solar day schools without clear standards for returning to traditional campuses.
• Previous coverage from EdSource Today and the Center for Public Integrity; bill analysis.
• Status:Vetoed by governor.

EdSource Today Editor John Fensterwald and staff writers Jane Meredith Adams, Kathryn Baron and Susan Frey contributed to this study. Graphic by John C. Osborn.

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Source: https://edsource.org/2013/37469/37469