BILL NUMBER: SB 1310 CHAPTERED 09/28/02 CHAPTER 1035 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 28, 2002 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 28, 2002 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 31, 2002 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 30, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 28, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 24, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 3, 2002 AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 28, 2002 AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 8, 2002 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 10, 2002 AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 11, 2002 INTRODUCED BY Senator Alpert (Coauthor: Assembly Member Alquist) JANUARY 23, 2002 An act to amend Sections 52052, 52055.5, and 52055.51 of, to add Sections 52055.52 and 52055.53 to, and to repeal Section 52052.3 of, the Education Code, relating to school accountability. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1310, Alpert. School accountability: sanctions. (1) Existing law establishes the Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999 which contains the Immediate Intervention/Underperforming Schools Program (IIUSP) and the High Priority Schools Grant Program for Low Performing Schools and requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop an Academic Performance Index (API) to measure the performance of schools and to develop expected annual percentage growth targets for all schools based on their API baseline score. Existing law requires the API to consist of a variety of indicators currently reported to the State Department of Education including, but not limited to, the results of achievement tests and high school exit examinations, and provides that only the test scores of pupils who were enrolled in a school district in the prior fiscal year may be included in the test results reported in the API. This bill would instead provide that only the test scores of pupils who were counted as part of a school district's enrollment in the October California Basic Educational Data System's data collection for the prior fiscal year and were continuously enrolled during that year may be included in the test results reported in the API. (2) Existing law requires the test scores of pupils who are in the first year of enrollment in a high school district, but who, in the prior year, were enrolled in an elementary school district that normally matriculates to the high school district, to be included in the API. This bill would repeal these provisions. (3) Existing law deems a school that does not meet its growth targets within prescribed periods and fails to show significant growth to be a low-performing school and subjects that school to various sanctions, including the assumption by the Superintendent of Public Instruction of all the legal rights, duties, and powers of the governing board with respect to that school, reassignment of the principal, and other specified actions. This bill would recast the various sanctions and would use the term state-monitored school for schools failing to meet growth targets within the prescribed period and failing to show significant growth. When a school is deemed to be a state-monitored school, the bill would require the governing board of the school district to inform the parents and guardians of pupils enrolled at that school that it is a state-monitored school and that it is subject to certain sanctions. The bill would specify additional requirements relating to an entity chosen to assume the management of a school, including requiring the school district to pay the costs of the entity chosen to assume management of the school. The bill would set deadlines regarding the sanctions applied to state-monitored schools, allow the Superintendent of Public Instruction to place a trustee at a state-monitored school, and specify the duties and obligations of the school district with regard to a state-monitored school. The bill would specify how a state-monitored school would be relieved from the sanctions and would specify sanctions to which a schoolsite would be subject if a management team, trustee, or a school assistance and intervention team is assigned to a schoolsite fails to assist the school in making significant growth on the Academic Performance Index 36 months after it is assigned to the schoolsite. The bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to annually withhold 20% of its contractual obligation to a management team or trustee until the superintendent is satisfied that the management team or trustee has met the contractual obligation to improve pupil learning. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 52052 of the Education Code is amended to read: 52052. (a) (1) By July 1, 1999, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, with approval of the State Board of Education, shall develop an Academic Performance Index (API), to measure the performance of schools, especially the academic performance of pupils, and to demonstrate comparable improvement in academic achievement by all numerically significant ethnic and socioeconomically disadvantaged subgroups within schools. (2) For purposes of this section, a numerically significant ethnic or socioeconomically disadvantaged subgroup is a subgroup that constitutes at least 15 percent of a school's total pupil population and consists of at least 30 pupils. An ethnic or socioeconomically disadvantaged subgroup of at least 100 pupils constitutes a numerically significant subgroup, even if the subgroup does not constitute 15 percent of the total enrollment at a school. For schools whose API scores are based on test scores of no fewer than 11 and no more than 99 pupils, numerically significant subgroups shall be defined by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, with approval by the State Board of Education. (3) The API shall consist of a variety of indicators currently reported to the State Department of Education including, but not limited to, the results of the achievement test administered pursuant to Section 60640, attendance rates for pupils and certificated school personnel for elementary schools, middle schools, and secondary schools, and the graduation rates for pupils in secondary schools. (A) The pupil data collected for the API that comes from the achievement test administered pursuant to Sections 60640 and 60644 and the high school exit examination administered pursuant to Section 60851, when fully implemented, shall be disaggregated by special education status, English language learners, socioeconomic status, gender and ethnic group. Only the test scores of pupils who were counted as part of a school district's enrollment in the October California Basic Educational Data System's data collection for the current fiscal year and were continuously enrolled during that year may be included in the test results reported in the API. Results of the achievement test and other tests specified in subdivision (b) shall constitute at least 60 percent of the value of the index. (B) Before including high school graduation rates and attendance rates in the index, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall determine the extent to which the data are currently reported to the state and the accuracy of the data. (C) If the Superintendent of Public Instruction determines that accurate data for these indicators is not available, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall report to the Governor and the Legislature by September 1, 1999, and recommend necessary action to implement an accurate reporting system. (b) Pupil scores from the following tests, when available and when found to be valid and reliable for this purpose, shall be incorporated into the API: (1) The assessment of the applied academic skills matrix test developed pursuant to Section 60604. (2) The nationally normed test designated pursuant to Section 60642. (3) The standards-based achievement tests provided for in Section 60642.5. (4) The high school exit examination. (c) Based on the API, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall develop, and the State Board of Education shall adopt, expected annual percentage growth targets for all schools based on their API baseline score from the previous year. Schools are expected to meet these growth targets through effective allocation of available resources. For schools below the statewide API performance target adopted by the State Board of Education pursuant to subdivision (d), the minimum annual percentage growth target shall be 5 percent of the difference between a school's actual API score and the statewide API performance target, or one API point, whichever is greater. Schools at or above the statewide API performance target shall have, as their growth target, maintenance of their API score above the statewide API performance target. However, the State Board of Education may set differential growth targets based on grade level of instruction and may set higher growth targets for the lowest performing schools because they have the greatest room for improvement. To meet its growth target, a school shall demonstrate that the annual growth in its API is equal to or more than its schoolwide annual percentage growth target and that all numerically significant ethnic and socioeconomically disadvantaged subgroups, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 52052, are making comparable improvement. (d) Upon adoption of state performance standards by the State Board of Education, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall recommend, and the State Board of Education shall adopt, a statewide API performance target that includes consideration of performance standards and represents the proficiency level required to meet the state performance target. When the API is fully developed, schools must, at a minimum, meet their annual API growth targets to be eligible for the Governor's Performance Award Program as set forth in Section 52057. The State Board of Education may establish additional criteria that schools must meet to be eligible for the Governor's Performance Awards Program. (e) Beginning in June 2000, the API shall be used for both of the following: (1) Measuring the progress of schools selected for participation in the Immediate Intervention/Underperforming Schools Program pursuant to Section 52053. (2) Ranking all public schools in the state for the purpose of the High Achieving/Improving Schools Program pursuant to Section 52056. (f) (1) A comprehensive high school, middle school, or elementary school with 11 to 99 valid test scores of pupils who were enrolled in a school within the same school district in the prior fiscal year shall receive an API score with an asterisk that indicates less statistical certainty than API scores based on 100 or more test scores. (2) A school under the jurisdiction of a county board of education or a county superintendent of schools, a community day school, or an alternative school, including continuation high schools and opportunity schools, may receive an API score if the school has 11 or more valid test scores and the school chooses to receive an API score for at least three years. (3) A school that participates in the Immediate Intervention/Underperforming Schools Program described in Section 52053 shall receive an API score for the duration of its participation in that program, unless the Superintendent of Public Instruction determines that an API score would be an invalid measure of the school's performance for one or more of the following reasons: (A) Irregularities in testing procedures occurred. (B) The data used to calculate the school's API score are not representative of the pupil population at the school. (C) Significant demographic changes in the school's pupil population render year-to-year comparisons of pupil performance invalid. (D) The Department of Education discovers or receives information indicating that the integrity of the school's API score has been compromised. (g) Only schools with 100 or more test scores contributing to the API may be included in the API rankings. (h) By July 1, 2000, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, with the approval of the State Board of Education, shall develop an alternative accountability system for schools with fewer than 100 test scores contributing to the schools' API scores, and for schools under the jurisdiction of a county board of education or a county superintendent of schools, community day schools, and alternative schools serving high-risk pupils, including continuation high schools and opportunity schools. SEC. 2. Section 52052.3 of the Education Code is repealed. SEC. 3. Section 52055.5 of the Education Code is amended to read: 52055.5. (a) Twenty-four months after receipt of funding pursuant to Section 52054.5, a school that has not met its growth targets each year, but demonstrates significant growth, as determined by the State Board of Education, shall continue to participate in the program for an additional year and to receive funding in the amount specified in Section 52054.5. Thirty-six months after receipt of funds pursuant to Section 52054.5, a school is no longer eligible to receive funding pursuant to that section. (b) Twenty-four months after receipt of funding pursuant to Section 52054.5, a school that has not met its growth targets each year and has failed to show significant growth, as determined by the State Board of Education, shall be deemed a state-monitored school. (1) The State Board of Education shall make its final determination regarding whether or not a school shows significant growth no later than 30 days after the public release of a school's growth in API results or the next regularly scheduled meeting of the State Board of Education following the expiration of the 30 days if meeting the 30-day time limit would not provide the State Board of Education with sufficient time to comply with the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code). (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, within 90 days after the public release of a state-monitored school's growth in API results, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in consultation with the State Board of Education, shall do the following: (A) Assume all the legal rights, duties, and powers of the governing board with respect to that school, subject to the provisions of paragraphs (1) and (7) of subdivision (e) and except as provided by Section 52055.51. (B) Reassign the principal of that school, subject to the findings in subdivision (g). (3) In addition to the actions specified in paragraph (2), the Superintendent of Public Instruction, after consultation with the State Board of Education, shall do one or more of the following with respect to a state-monitored school: (A) Revise attendance options for pupils to allow them to attend any public school in which space is available. If additional attendance options are made available, nothing in this option shall be construed to require either the sending or receiving school district to incur additional transportation costs. (B) Allow parents to apply directly to the State Board of Education for the establishment of a charter school and allow parents to establish the charter school at the existing schoolsite. (C) Under the supervision of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, assign the management of the school to a college, university, county office of education, or other appropriate educational institution, excluding for-profit organizations. The entity chosen to assume management of the school shall possess the qualifications specified in subdivision (b) of Section 52055.51. Consistent with paragraph (6) of subdivision (e), the involvement of the school district during the sanctions process shall be established by contract. The costs of the entity to manage the school shall be established by contract and shall be paid by the school district. However, the Superintendent of Public Instruction may not assume the management of the school. (D) Reassign other certificated employees of the school. (E) Renegotiate a new collective bargaining agreement at the expiration of the existing collective bargaining agreement, pursuant to Section 3543.2 of the Government Code. (F) Reorganize the school. (G) Close the school. (H) Place a trustee at the school, for a period not to exceed three years, who shall monitor and review the operation of the school. The trustee shall possess the qualifications specified in subdivision (b) of Section 52055.51, shall compile an initial report in accordance with the requirements of subdivision (d) of Section 52055.51, and shall receive reports from the school district and schoolsite no less than three times during the year on the progress towards meeting the goals established in the initial report. During the period of his or her service, the trustee may stay or rescind those actions of the governing board of the school district or schoolsite principal that, in the judgment of the trustee, may detrimentally affect the conditions of the state-monitored school to which the trustee is assigned. The salary and benefits of the trustee shall be established by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in consultation with the State Board of Education, and shall be paid by the school district. (c) When a school is deemed to be a state-monitored school, the governing board of the school district shall, at a regularly scheduled public meeting, inform the parents and guardians of pupils enrolled at the schoolsite that the school is a state-monitored school and that as a result of this determination the corrective actions set forth in subdivision (b) may occur. (d) In addition to the actions taken pursuant to subdivision (b), the governing board of the school district and the district superintendent shall be included in discussions regarding the governance of the state-monitored schoolsite and the actions that shall be taken in order for the schoolsite to succeed. During the discussions, the participants shall clearly delineate the role that the governing board of the school district and the district superintendent will play during the sanctions period and shall report this delineation to the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The role to be played by the governing board of the school district and the district superintendent as delineated during the discussions regarding the governance of the state-monitored schoolsite shall be in addition to those actions set forth in subdivision (e). (e) After a school is deemed to be a state-monitored school pursuant to subdivision (b), the governing board of the school district shall do all of the following: (A) Make the same fiscal, human, and educational resources, at a minimum, available to the schoolsite as were available before the action taken pursuant to subdivision (b) excluding state or federal funding provided pursuant to Sections 52054.5 and 52055.600. If the total amount of resources available to the school district differs from one year to another, it shall make the same proportion of resources available to the schoolsite as was available before the action taken pursuant to subdivision (b). (B) The entity selected to manage a school pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) shall review the resources allocated to the schoolsite and determine if additional resources should be made available from district funds to reasonably support the schoolsite without detriment to the other schools and pupils of the district. (C) If the school does not have a management team pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (b), the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in consultation with the State Board of Education, shall designate an entity to review the resources allocated to the schoolsite and determine if additional resources should be made available from district funds to reasonably support the schoolsite without detriment to the other schools and pupils of the district. (D) If the entity selected to manage a school pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) or the entity chosen by the Superintendent of Public Instruction pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) is unable to obtain the information necessary to make this determination, the entity may request that the Superintendent of Public Instruction and State Board of Education intervene to obtain the necessary documents. (E) Any dispute between the entity selected to manage a school pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) or the entity chosen by the Superintendent of Public Instruction pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) and the school district over resource allocations shall be resolved by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in consultation with the State Board of Education. (2) Continue its current ownership status with respect to the schoolsite. (3) Continue to provide the same insurance coverage as before the action taken pursuant to subdivision (b) with respect to property, liability, error and omissions, and other regularly provided policies. (4) Name the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Department of Education as additional insureds upon transfer of legal rights, duties, and responsibilities to the Superintendent of Public Instruction. (5) Continue to provide facilities support, including maintenance if appropriate to the management arrangement, and full schoolsite participation in bond financing. (6) Remain involved with the school throughout the sanction period. (7) If the State Board of Education approves, the governing board of the school district may retain its legal rights, duties, and responsibilities with respect to that school. (f) In addition to the actions listed in subdivision (b), the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in consultation with the State Board of Education, may take any other action considered necessary or desirable against the school district or the school district governing board, including appointment of a new superintendent or suspension of the authority of the governing board with respect to the school or schools identified pursuant to subdivision (b). (g) (1) Before the Superintendent of Public Instruction may take any action against a principal pursuant to subdivision (b), the Superintendent of Public Instruction or a designee of the superintendent, which may be a panel consisting of the county superintendent of schools of the county in which the school is located or an adjoining county, one principal with experience in a similar type of school, and the superintendent of the school district in which the state-monitored school is located, shall do the following: (A) Hold an informal hearing to determine whether there are sufficient issues to proceed to a formal hearing. The informal hearing shall be held in a closed session. The principal, and his or her representative, and a school district representative may be present at the informal hearing. The decision on whether to proceed to a formal hearing shall be posted and presented at a regularly scheduled public meeting of the governing board of the school district. If the decision is not to proceed to a formal hearing, the posting and presentation shall explain the rationale for this decision. This item may not be a consent item on the agenda. (B) Hold a formal hearing on the matter in the school district and make both of the following findings: (i) A finding that the principal had the authority to take specific enumerated actions that would have helped the school meet its performance goals. (ii) A finding that the principal failed to take specific enumerated actions pursuant to paragraph (1). (2) Evidence to support the findings made at a formal hearing held pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) shall be presented and discussed in a closed session. The principal, or his or her representative, and a school district representative may be present in the closed session. The findings shall be posted and presented at a regularly scheduled public meeting of the governing board of the school district. This item may not be a consent item on the agenda. The governing board shall give adequate time for public input and response to findings. (3) The Superintendent of Public Instruction may not take any action against a principal pursuant to subdivision (b) if the principal is assigned to the school for one academic year or less. (h) A school that has not met its growth targets within 36 months of receiving funding pursuant to Section 52054.5, but has shown significant growth, as determined by the State Board of Education, shall continue to be monitored by the Superintendent of Public Instruction until it meets its annual growth target or the statewide performance target. If, in any year between the third year of implementation funding and the first year the school meets its growth target, the school fails to make significant growth, as determined by the State Board of Education, that school shall be deemed a state-monitored school and subject to the provisions of paragraphs (1) to (10), inclusive, of subdivision (b). (i) An action taken pursuant to subdivision (b), (c), (d), (e), or (f) shall be conducted from funds provided for that purpose in the annual Budget Act and shall not require reimbursement by the Commission on State Mandates. (j) An action taken pursuant to subdivision (b), (e), or (f) shall be accompanied by specific findings by the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education that the action is directly related to the identified causes for continued failure by a school to meet its performance goals. These findings shall be made public and discussed at a regularly scheduled meeting of the governing board of the school district before the enactment of any action taken pursuant to subdivision (b), (c), or (d). SEC. 4. Section 52055.51 of the Education Code is amended to read: 52055.51. (a) Instead of the actions specified in subdivision (b) of Section 52055.5, and notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, with the approval of the State Board of Education, may require the district to enter into a contract with a school assistance and intervention team. If the State Board of Education approves, the governing board of the school district may retain its legal rights, duties, and responsibilities with respect to that school. (b) School assistance and intervention team members should possess a high degree of knowledge and skills in the areas of school leadership, curriculum, and instruction aligned to state academic content and performance standards, classroom management and discipline, academic assessment, parent-school relations, and evaluation and research based reform strategies and have proven successful expertise specific to the challenges inherent in state-monitored schools. (c) The team shall provide intensive support and expertise to implement the school reform initiatives in the plan. Decisions about interventions shall be data driven. A school assistance and intervention team shall work with school staff, site planning teams, administrators, and district staff to improve pupil literacy and achievement by assessing the degree of implementation of the current action plan, refining and revising the action plan, and making recommendations to maximize the use of fiscal resources and personnel in achieving the goals of the plan. The district shall provide support and assistance to enhance the work of the team at the targeted schoolsites. (d) Not later than 60 days after the assignment of a school assistance and intervention team, the team must have completed an initial report. The report shall include recommendations for corrective actions chosen from a range of interventions, including the reallocation of district fiscal resources to ensure that appropriate resources are targeted to those specific interventions identified in the recommendations of the team for the targeted schools and other changes deemed appropriate to make progress toward meeting the schools growth target. Not later than 90 days after the API is made public, the governing board of the school district shall adopt the team's recommendations at a regularly scheduled meeting of the governing board. The governing board may not place the adoption on the consent calendar. The report shall be submitted to the Superintendent of Public Instruction and State Board of Education. (e) No less than three times during the year, the school district and schoolsite shall present the team with data regarding progress toward the goals established by the team's initial assessment. The data shall be presented to the governing board of the school district at a regularly scheduled meeting. The team shall, to the extent possible, utilize existing site data. The data shall also be provided to the Superintendent of Public Instruction and State Board of Education. Every effort shall be made to report this data in a manner that minimizes the length and complexity of the reporting requirement in order to maximize the focus on improving pupil literacy and achievement. (f) An action taken pursuant to this section shall not increase local costs or require reimbursement by the Commission on State Mandates. SEC. 5. Section 52055.52 is added to the Education Code, to read: 52055.52. (a) Thirty-six months after the Superintendent of Public Instruction assigns a management team, trustee, or a school assistance and intervention team to a schoolsite, if the school makes significant growth on the Academic Performance Index, as determined by the State Board of Education, in two consecutive years, the school shall exit the Immediate Intervention/Underperforming Schools Program and is no longer subject to the requirements of the program. (b) Thirty-six months after the Superintendent of Public Instruction assigns a management team, trustee, or a school assistance and intervention team to a schoolsite, if the management team, trustee, or school assistance and intervention team fails to assist the school in making significant growth on the Academic Performance Index, as determined by the State Board of Education, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall remove the management team, trustee, or school assistance and intervention team from providing services at the schoolsite and any other schoolsite. Additionally, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall do at least one of the following: (1) Require the school district to ensure, using available federal funds, that 100 percent of the teachers at the schoolsite are highly qualified, as defined by the state for the purposes of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. (2) Require the school to contract, using available federal funds, with an outside entity to provide supplemental instruction to low-performing pupils and assign a management team, trustee, or school assistance and intervention team that has demonstrated success with other state-monitored schools. (3) Allow parents of pupils enrolled at the school to apply directly to the State Board of Education to establish the charter school at the existing schoolsite. (4) Close the school. SEC. 6. Section 52055.53 is added to the Education Code to read: 52055.53. In order to ensure that management teams and trustees are implementing a sound educational program in state-monitored schools, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall annually withhold 20 percent of its contractual obligation to a management team or trustee until the Superintendent of Public Instruction is satisfied that the management team or trustee has met the contractual obligation to improve pupil learning.