BILL ANALYSIS ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AJR 39| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ CONSENT Bill No: AJR 39 Author: Torlakson (D), et al Amended: 5/10/10 in Assembly Vote: 21 SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 6-0, 6/16/10 AYES: Romero, Huff, Emmerson, Hancock, Liu, Price NO VOTE RECORDED: Alquist, Simitian, Wyland ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 70-1, 5/10/10 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Common state education standards SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This resolution calls upon the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers to develop common core state standards in the core academic disciplines of English-language arts, mathematics, history-social science, and science, and to replicate the process used to develop English-language arts and mathematics common core state standards to develop common core state standards for social studies and science. ANALYSIS : Existing Law 1.Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), the State Board of Education (SBE), and any other entity CONTINUED AJR 39 Page 2 designated by the Governor to participate in the Common Core State Standards Initiative Consortium (CCSSIC) sponsored by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), or any other associated or related interstate collaboration to develop common high-quality standards or assessments. 2.Establishes the Academic Content Standards Commission, as specified, to develop academic content standards in language arts and mathematics and present recommended academic standards to the SBE by July 15, 2010, requires that at least 85 percent of the new standards include the common core academic standards developed by the CCSSIC or any associated or related interstate collaboration to jointly develop common high-quality standards or assessments aligned with the common set of standards, and requires the SBE to adopt or reject the recommended standards by August 2, 1010. This resolution: 1.Makes findings and declarations relative to the common core state standards initiative as an opportunity for states to collectively drive education reform toward graduating pupils form high school ready for college, work and success in the global economy. 2.Makes findings and declarations relative to science and social science education and the importance of ensuring pupils have the knowledge of history, geography, economics, and government, and the understanding of the physical world, including biology, chemistry, geology, astronomy and physics and a grasp of the scientific method of discovery. Comments California has adopted content standards in the areas of reading/language arts, math, history/social science, science, visual and performing arts, career technical education, physical education, health education, and most recently world languages. The CCSSI is an effort to establish a single set of content CONTINUED AJR 39 Page 3 standards for English-language arts and math that states can share and voluntarily adopt. The CCSSO and the NGA Center for Best Practices have coordinated the effort and the process of developing common core standards in consultation with teachers, parents, experts and administrators. Forty-eight states, two territories and the District of Columbia joined the CCSSI and committed to developing a common core of state standards in English-language arts and math for kindergarten and grades 1-12, inclusive. Legislation enacted for purposes of satisfying some of the criteria for the Race to the top (RTTT) program, names, SBX5 1 (Steinberg), Chapter 2, Statutes of 2009-10, Fifth Extraordinary Session, establishes the Academic Content Standards Commission to develop academic content Standards in English-language arts and math and to present recommended academic content standards to the SBE by July 15, 2010. SBX5 1 requires that at least 85 percent of these standards be comprised of the common core academic standards developed by the CCSSIC or any associated or related interstate collaboration to jointly develop common high-quality standards or assessments aligned with the common set of standards. In March of this year, the draft common core state standards in English-language arts and math for K-12 were released for public comment. The draft English-language arts standards set requirements for English-language arts but also for reading, writing, speaking, listening and language in history, social studies and science. However, supporters of history-social science and science would argue that important literature is left out of the history-social studies and science exemplars in the draft English-language arts standards and that it is important to have common core state standards in social studies and science in preparing all students for college and careers. According to the NGA and the CCSSO, "These English language arts and mathematics standards represent a set of expectations for student knowledge and skills that will result in high school graduates who are prepared for success in college and careers." Furthermore, the NGA and the CCSSO note that the standards are research and evidence based, aligned with college and work expectations, CONTINUED AJR 39 Page 4 rigorous, and internationally benchmarked. According to the NGA and the CCSSO, the final common core state standards are expected to be finalized in late spring of this year. This resolution calls upon the NGA and the CCSSO to replicate the process used to develop English-language arts and math standards to also develop common core state standards for social studies and science. The existing work of the CCSSIC, similar to our assessment and accountability system, has focused solely on reading and math. This heavy emphasis on these two subjects has often led to a reduced focus on equally important subjects such as science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, cart, history, and geography, which the federal No Child Left Behind Act considers "core academic subjects." This resolution seeks to ensure that efforts to create common core state standards take into account subjects other than English-language arts and math and calls on the NGO and the CCSSO to develop common core state standards in social science and science and it further calls on these organizations to examine the viability of developing common core state standards in foreign language, the arts, physical education and career technical education. This resolution emphasizes the importance of each of these subjects in ensuring pupils have access to a comprehensive and well-rounded curriculum. FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No SUPPORT : (Verified 6/16/10) Association of California School Administrators California Alliance for Arts Education California Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance California Council for the Social Studies California Language Teachers Association California Science Teachers Association California State PTA ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, "Each new generation of students needs to be equipped with the knowledge of mathematics, English-language arts, CONTINUED AJR 39 Page 5 history, geography, economics and government, skills needed to make informed decisions about complex public issues, attitudes that support democratic practices, commitment to engage in civic life, a strong understanding of the physical world, including biology, chemistry, geology, astronomy and physics, and a firm grasp of the scientific method of discovery. ASSEMBLY FLOOR : AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De Leon, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, John A. Perez NOES: Nielsen NO VOTE RECORDED: De La Torre, DeVore, Fong, Harkey, Mendoza, Norby, Saldana, Solorio, Vacancy CPM:cm 6/16/10 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED