BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AJR 39|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AJR 39
Author: Torlakson (D), et al
Amended: 6/22/10 in Senate
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.
Senate Floor Amendments of 6/22/10 clarify that "the arts"
means "visual and performing arts."
ANALYSIS :
Existing Law
CONTINUED
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1.Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI),
the State Board of Education (SBE), and any other entity
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 from 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 about
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
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recently world languages.
The CCSSI is an effort to establish a single set of content
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
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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,
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 6/23/10)
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
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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,
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 6/23/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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