BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Jack Scott, Chair
2005-2006 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 687
AUTHOR: Simitian
AMENDED: April 11, 2005
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 20, 2005
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:James Wilson
SUBJECT : School Accountability Report Card
SUMMARY
This bill requires that estimated expenditures per pupil,
as reported on School Accountability Report Card (SARC),
reflect the actual salaries of personnel assigned to the
school and be subtotaled by restricted and by unrestricted
revenue sources. This bill also requires that the average
teacher salary of teachers assigned to the school be
reported on the SARC.
BACKGROUND
Proposition 98 of 1988, also known as the Classroom
Instructional Improvement and Accountability Act, required
every K-12 school district to adopt a School Accountability
Report Card (SARC) for each school. The statutory portions
of Proposition 98 specified some of the contents of the
SARC and called upon the State Board of Education to
develop a model SARC that districts could use to satisfy
the Act's requirement. Finally, Proposition 98 provided
that its statutory provisions might be amended by a 2/3
vote of each house of the legislature as long as the
amendment "furthers the purpose" of the Proposition.
The current statutory prescription for the SARC calls for
schools to report the "estimated expenditures per pupil and
types of services funded" as well as a substantial amount
of non-salary data about teachers at the school. School
districts frequently use district average teacher salaries
to estimate per pupil expenditures at each school site,
rather than calculating the actual mean average salaries of
teachers assigned to the site.
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Other teacher related data reported on the SARC includes
information on the number of fully-credentialed teachers
and the number of teachers employed by emergency permit,
as well as the number of teachers who are misassigned to
teach subjects that are not appropriate for their
credential.
The addition of reporting requirements to the SARC has been
found to be a reimbursable as a state mandate although a
recent amendment provides that a school district shall be
reimbursed only if the information provided in the school
accountability report card is accurate, as determined by
the annual audit.
ANALYSIS
This bill:
1) Requires that estimated per pupil expenditures, as
reported on the School Accountability Report Card
(SARC) reflect the actual salaries of personnel
assigned to the school site.
2) Requires that estimated per pupil expenditures, as
reported on the School Accountability Report Card
(SARC) be reported as a total with subtotals of the
funds that derive from restricted (i.e. categorical)
and unrestricted (i.e. general aid including incentive
funding) sources.
3) Requires that estimated per pupil expenditures, as
reported on the School Accountability Report Card
(SARC) include an average of salaries paid to
certificated instructional (I.e. teachers) personnel
at that school site.
4) Modifies the model SARC" adopted by the State Board of
Education by repealing the definition of "unrestricted
base level of funding", comparing the unrestricted
funding per pupil with statewide averages, and
requiring that the school site average teacher salary
be compared to the district and state average teacher
salary.
5) Provides that this act "furthers the purpose" of the
Classroom Instructional Improvement and Accountability
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Act (Proposition 98).
STAFF COMMENTS
What are restricted and unrestricted funds? Most
categorical funding programs that require that funds be
used for specific populations or purposes require that
funds be deposited to "restricted" accounts in a school
district general fund. This allows auditors to determine
whether the expenditures from those restricted accounts
conform to legal requirements of the categorical program.
Federal funds are generally restricted and most block
grants, although more "flexible" still require restriction.
Non- categorical funds, such as revenue limit funds are
deposited to the unrestricted portion of local general
funds. Similarly, funds awarded to districts as incentive
to accomplish purposes such as class size reduction are
also unrestricted since there is no requirement that the
funds be used for any specific purpose. Those who are
unaware that class size reduction and other, such as
"longer year and day", incentive funding is otherwise
unrestricted should recognize that these fund sources would
be reported on the "non-categorical" side of the accounting
required by this bill.
SUPPORT
American Civil Liberties Union
Business Roundtable for Education
California Association for Bilingual Education
California Tomorrow
Californians for Justice
Californians Together
Congregations Building Community
Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organizations
Ed Voice
Education Trust West
Justice Matters Institute
Oakland Community Organizations
Pacific Institute for Community Organization
Parents for Unity
Public Advocates
San Diego Organizing Project
South and West Business Association
Student Empowerment Project
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Tech Net
Letters from Individuals
OPPOSITION
None received.