BILL NUMBER: AB 2066 CHAPTERED 09/18/04 CHAPTER 579 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 18, 2004 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 18, 2004 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 27, 2004 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 26, 2004 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 25, 2004 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 23, 2004 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 17, 2004 AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 15, 2004 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 21, 2004 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 20, 2004 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 12, 2004 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Steinberg FEBRUARY 17, 2004 An act to add Article 3.1 (commencing with Section 52055.57) to Chapter 6.1 of Part 28 of the Education Code, relating to schools, and and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2066, Steinberg. Underperforming schools program. (1) Existing law authorizes invited schools that score below the 50th percentile on specified achievement tests to receive funding under the Immediate Intervention/Underperforming Schools Program. Existing law provides that 36 months after the Superintendent of Public Instruction undertakes certain specified actions at a state-monitored school, and if the school makes significant growth on the Academic Performance Index in 2 consecutive years, the school is not eligible to receive funding under the Immediate Intervention/Underperforming Schools Program. This bill would provide for a voluntary self-assessment process for local educational agencies that, under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, are in danger of being identified as program improvement local educational agencies or have failed to achieve adequate yearly progress for the first time, with certain requirements. The bill would provide additional funding to local educational agencies for schools identified as program improvement schools under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, with certain requirements. (2) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Article 3.1 (commencing with Section 52055.57) is added to Chapter 6.1 of Part 28 of the Education Code, to read: Article 3.1. Local Educational Agency Intervention 52055.57. (a) (1) Any provisions that are applicable to local educational agencies under this section are for the purpose of implementing federal requirements under the federal No Child Left Behind Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.). The satisfaction of these criteria by local educational agencies that choose to participate under this article shall be a condition of receiving funds pursuant to this section. (2) The department shall identify local educational agencies that are in danger of being identified within three to four years as program improvement local educational agencies under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.), and shall notify those local educational agencies, in writing, of this status and provide those local educational agencies with research-based criteria to conduct a voluntary self-assessment. (3) The self-assessment shall identify deficiencies within the operations of the local educational agency, and the programs and services of the local educational agency. (4) A local educational agency identified pursuant to paragraph (1) is encouraged to revise its local educational agency plan based on the results of the self-assessment. (5) The program described in this subdivision shall be referred to as the "Early Warning Program." (b) (1) If a local educational agency is at risk of being identified for program improvement within two years, the department shall invite that local educational agency to participate in the Prevention of Local Educational Agency Intervention Program, which is hereby created. A local educational agency that elects to participate in this program shall do all of the following: (A) Conduct a self-assessment using materials and criteria based on current research and provided by the department. (B) No later than 30 days after a local educational agency elects to participate in the Prevention of Local Educational Agency Intervention Program, contract with a county office of education or another external entity after working with the county superintendent of schools, for all of the following purposes: (i) Verifying the fundamental teaching and learning needs in the schools of that local educational agency as determined by a self-assessment, and identifying the specific academic problems of low-achieving pupils, including a determination of why the prior plan of the local educational agency failed to bring about increased pupil academic achievement. (ii) Ensuring that the local educational agency receives intensive support and expertise to implement local educational agency reform initiatives in the revised local educational agency plan as required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.). (C) Revise and expeditiously implement the local educational agency plan of the local educational agency to reflect the findings of the verified self-assessment. (2) Subject to the availability of funds in the annual Budget Act for this purpose, a participating local educational agency may annually receive funds based on the following schedule, for no more than three years, for the purpose of fulfilling the requirements of subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1): (A) A local educational agency consisting of less than 20,000 pupils may annually receive fifty thousand dollars ($50,000). (B) A local education agency consisting of greater than or equal to 20,000 pupils but less than 50,000 pupils may annually receive one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000). (C) A local educational agency consisting of greater than 50,000 pupils may annually receive two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000). (3) If a local educational agency does not elect to participate in the Prevention of Local Educational Agency Intervention Program, the governing board of the local educational agency shall hold a public hearing at a regularly scheduled meeting to discuss the reasons and rationale for not participating, and to explain the manner in which the local educational agency intends to address the needs of the district. (c) (1) A local educational agency identified as a program improvement local educational agency under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.) shall do all of the following: (A) Conduct a self-assessment using materials and criteria based on current research and provided by the department. (B) No later than 90 days after a local educational agency becomes identified for program improvement, contract with a county office of education or another external entity after working with the county superintendent of schools, for all of the following purposes: (i) Verifying the fundamental teaching and learning needs in the schools of that local educational agency as determined by the local educational agency self-analysis, and identifying the specific academic problems of low-achieving pupils, including a determination of why the prior plan of the local educational agency failed to bring about increased pupil academic achievement. (ii) Ensuring that the local educational agency receives intensive support and expertise to implement local educational agency reform initiatives in the revised local educational agency plan as required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.). (C) Revise and expeditiously implement the local educational agency plan of the local educational agency to reflect the findings of the verified self-assessment. (D) After working with the county superintendent of schools or an external verifier, contract with an external provider to provide support and implement recommendations to assist the local educational agency in resolving shortcomings identified in the verified self-assessment. (E) If the local educational agency elects to participate in the Prevention of Local Educational Agency Intervention Program pursuant to subdivision (b), the activities performed pursuant to subdivision (b) may serve as the foundation for the requirements of subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C). (2) Subject to the availability of funds in the annual Budget Act for this purpose, a local educational agency participating in this program may annually receive fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), and ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each school within the local educational agency, for no more than two years, for the purpose of fulfilling the requirements of this subdivision. (3) (A) Subject to the availability of funds in the annual Budget Act for this purpose, if the governing board of a local educational agency participating in this program determines that it needs a grant to implement the recommendations of the county superintendent of schools or another external entity, the governing board may apply to the department for a supplemental grant not to exceed two million dollars ($2,000,000). The application shall demonstrate the need for additional funding, beyond that currently available to the local educational agency. The department shall submit the request to the State Board of Education with a recommendation of approval or denial. (B) The State Board of Education shall notify the requesting local educational agency of the decision. If the State Board of Education approves a grant of an amount less than that applied for, the local educational agency may accept or reject the grant. (d) (1) A local educational agency that has been identified for corrective action under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.), and did not accept a supplemental grant pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (c), shall be subject to one or more of the following sanctions as recommended by the Superintendent of Public Instruction and approved by the State Board of Education: (A) Replacing local educational agency personnel who are relevant to the failure to make adequate yearly progress. (B) Removing schools from the jurisdiction of the local educational agency and establishing alternative arrangements for the governance and supervision of those schools. (C) Appointing, by the State Board of Education, a receiver or trustee, to administer the affairs of the local educational agency in place of the county superintendent of schools and the governing board. (D) Abolishing or restructuring the local educational agency. (E) Authorizing pupils to transfer from a school operated by the local educational agency to a higher-performing school operated by another local educational agency, and providing those pupils with transportation to those schools, in conjunction with carrying out not less than one additional action described under this paragraph. (F) Instituting and fully implementing a new curriculum that is based on state academic content and achievement standards, including providing appropriate professional development based on scientifically-based research for all relevant staff, that offers substantial promise of improving educational achievement for high-priority pupils. (G) Deferring programmatic funds or reducing administrative funds. (2) A local educational agency that has been identified for corrective action under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.) and accepted a supplemental grant pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (c), shall be subject to one or more of the following sanctions as recommended by the Superintendent of Public Instruction and approved by the State Board of Education: (A) Replacing local educational agency personnel who are relevant to the failure to make adequate yearly progress. (B) Removing schools from the jurisdiction of the local educational agency and establishing alternative arrangements for public governance and supervision of those schools. (C) Appointing, by the State Board of Education, a receiver or trustee to administer the affairs of the local educational agency in place of the county superintendent of schools and the governing board. (D) Abolishing or restructuring the local educational agency. (E) Authorizing pupils to transfer from a school operated by the local educational agency to a higher-performing school operated by another local educational agency, and providing those pupils with transportation to those schools, in conjunction with carrying out not less than one additional action described under this paragraph. (3) In addition to the sanctions prescribed by paragraphs (1) and (2), the Superintendent of Public Instruction may recommend, and the State Board of Education may approve, the requirement that a local educational agency contract with a district assistance and intervention team to aid a local educational agency. (4) Subject to the availability of funds in the annual Budget Act for this purpose, if the State Board of Education requires a local educational agency to contract with a school assistance and intervention team pursuant to paragraph (3), the local educational agency may annually receive fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), plus ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each school within the local educational agency, for no more than two years, for the purpose of contracting with and implementing the recommendations of the school assistance and intervention team. (5) Not later than July 31, 2005, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall develop and the State Board of Education shall approve, standards and criteria to be applied by a school assistance and intervention team in carrying out their duties. The standards and criteria shall include all of the following areas: (A) Governance. (B) Alignment of curriculum, instruction, and assessments to state standards. (C) Fiscal operations. (D) Parent and community involvement. (E) Human resources. (F) Data systems and achievement monitoring. (G) Professional development. (e) A local educational agency that has received a sanction under subdivision (d) and has not exited program improvement under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.) shall appear before the State Board of Education within three years to review the progress of the local educational agency. Upon hearing testimony and reviewing written data from the local educational agency and the district assistance and intervention team or county superintendent of the schools, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall recommend, and the State Board of Education may approve, an alternative sanction under subdivision (d), or may take any appropriate action. (f) Subject to the availability of funds in the annual Budget Act for this purpose, a local educational agency that is not identified as a program improvement local educational agency under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.), that is not eligible to participate in the Prevention of Local Educational Agency Intervention Program, and that has ten or more schools in program improvement, or in which 55 percent or more of the schools are in program improvement, may annually receive up to fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) per school so identified for the purposes of supporting schools identified as program improvement schools in the local educational agency and determining barriers to improved pupil academic achievement. That local educational agency shall receive no less than forty thousand dollars ($40,000) and no more than one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) for those purposes. The superintendent shall compile a list that ranks each local educational agency based on the number of, and percentage of, schools identified as program improvement schools and shall provide this funding to local educational agencies equally from each list until all funds appropriated for this purpose are depleted. These funds shall be provided for no more than three years. (g) If there are more local educational agencies that qualify to receive funds under subdivisions (b), (c), (d), and (f) than the amount appropriated for these purposes, the superintendent may redirect funding for the purposes of subdivision (c). (h) For purposes of this article, "local educational agency" means a school district, county office of education, or charter school that elects to receive its funding directly pursuant to Section 47651, that provides public educational services to pupils in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive. (i) For purposes of this section, a "stakeholder" is, but is not necessarily limited to, any of the following: (1) A parent of a child attending a school within the jurisdiction of the local educational agency. (2) A community partner of the local educational agency. (3) An employee of the local educational agency, as selected by the bargaining unit. (j) A local educational agency shall not receive funds pursuant to subdivision (b), (c), or (d) if they are initially identified for program improvement or prevention after July 1, 2009. SEC. 2. It is the intent of the Legislature that the public schools conform with the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.). SEC. 3. The amount of moneys described by Provision 7 of Item 6110-136-0890 of the Budget Act of 2004 shall be used for the purposes of Title I district accountability pursuant to the requirements of Section 52055.57 of the Education Code. Of this amount, up to five million dollars ($5,000,000) may be used for the purposes of subdivision (f) of Section 52055.57 of the Education Code. SEC. 4. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are: In order to provide funding to local educational agencies for schools identified as program improvement schools under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 at the earliest possible time, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.