BILL ANALYSIS AB 122 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 1, 2009 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION Julia Brownley, Chair AB 122 (Coto) - As Amended: March 24, 2009 SUBJECT : Small schools SUMMARY : Authorizes school districts to establish small schools. Specifically, this bill : 1)Makes declarations and findings regarding the following: a) The impact of smaller school size, including lower dropout and truancy rates; increased parent involvement; a greater sense of belonging; fewer discipline problems; fewer crime, violence and gang participation; decrease in incidences of alcohol and tobacco abuse; and increase in pupil attendance; b) There is ample evidence that well-planned and well-implemented small schools can result in astonishing growth in pupil achievement and a significant narrowing of the achievement gap; c) Parent groups and school districts throughout the state, including San Diego, Oakland, Sacramento, San Jose, Los Angeles, and San Francisco have initiated efforts to create small schools; and d) The trend in California has been to build larger and larger schools. 2)Expresses the intent of the Legislature to reenact and revise provisions in state law that have been repealed to create an incentive for school districts to establish small schools with the assistance of funding for new construction, modernization, and reconfiguration of existing schoolsites. 3)Authorizes a school district to establish a small school subject to all the following conditions: a) Pupil enrollment in a kindergarten and grades 1 through 5 school shall not be fewer than 80 pupils and more than 250 pupils; in kindergarten and grades 1 through 8 school, no fewer than 80 pupils and not more than 450 pupils; and the number of pupils enrolled in a school with grades 6 through 12 shall not be fewer than 80 pupils and not more AB 122 Page 2 than 400 pupils for those grades. b) The school shall be staffed by school district employees who volunteer to be assigned to the school. c) The facilities that house the pupils enrolled in the school shall be located in proximity to one another. d) Enrollment in the school shall be open to all pupils who have at least one parent or guardian who is a resident in the attendance area of the school district. e) Admission to the school shall not be determined by pupil achievement. The school shall have a heterogenous pupil population in terms of pupil achievement that reflects the diversity of the pupils in that school district. The small school shall develop an objective, transparent process to ensure the school has a heterogeneous pupil population. f) The school shall have a governing body consisting of school staff, parents, guardians, and pupils. Members of those groups shall be elected to the governing body by their peers. g) A school district that establishes a small school shall allocate funds to the small school in a manner that results in the small school receiving the amount of funds that each pupil would generate at the pupil's prior school or the school that the pupil would otherwise attend. Funds shall be subtracted for contracted or required school district services as set forth in the school plan or the memorandum of understanding between the governing board of the small school and the governing board of the school district. School staff and the governing body of the small school shall have flexibility on how funds allocated to the school district are spent. h) The small school shall have autonomy over budget, hiring decisions, curriculum, instructional practices, and, subject to negotiated collective bargaining agreements, working conditions. i) A school district that establishes one or more small schools pursuant to this chapter shall develop, with collaboration from representatives of community groups, AB 122 Page 3 bargaining units representing the employees of the school district, and parents of pupils of the school, a school plan for each small school that includes all of the following: i) Goals for pupil achievement. ii) Teaching and learning philosophy. iii) Curricular focus of the school. iv) Goals for school culture and practices. v) Leadership goals. vi) Tentative budget. vii) Decisionmaking process, including the role of the governing board of the small school. viii) An evaluation plan based on multiple measures. The school's own evaluation that includes the results of assessments required by the state shall be submitted to the department at the beginning of the second year of the school's operation. j) A school district that establishes a small school pursuant to this bill shall develop a process for interested stakeholders to submit proposals for the establishment of a small school. The proposal shall include all of the factors in (i) above. aa) A school district that establishes one or more small schools pursuant to this chapter shall adopt regulations that include the small school or schools as part of an academic reform strategy focused on the positive outcomes small schools are intended to produce. The positive outcomes resulting from the adopted academic reform strategy shall include, but are not limited to, any of the following: i) A clearly defined mission and goals. ii) High standards and expectations for pupils and staff. iii) Personalization. iv) Individual respect. v) Universal involvement in decisionmaking. vi) Integrated learning. vii) Multiple measures of pupil achievement. viii) Antiracist and relevant curriculum. ix) Differentiated instruction. x) Project-oriented learning. AB 122 Page 4 xi) Heterogeneous pupil grouping. xii) Pupil-centered classrooms. xiii) Connectedness with stakeholders. xiv) Diversity. xv) A safe environment. xvi) A high-quality learning environment. xvii) Alignment of resources with goals. xviii) Maximizing community resources and partnerships. xix) Lifelong professional development. xx) A plan for continuous improvement, including data analysis. bb) A small school may be located within an existing elementary, middle, or comprehensive high school and may be newly constructed, located on a single site, or located with other small schools or learning communities. The total enrollment of a small school site shall not exceed the recommendation of the department. 4)A school district that establishes one or more small schools pursuant to this bill is encouraged to do any or all of the following: a) Apply for new construction grants for unhoused pupils as a vehicle for establishing small schools on, adjacent to, or separate from existing campuses. b) Use modernization funding to modernize and reconfigure existing campuses into small schools, either as part of a comprehensive school complex or as a cluster of small schools. c) Establish the small school in order to provide the small school with the flexibility of a charter school while allowing it to be located within the district. i) A small school shall not claim reimbursement for state mandates, except for costs related to the administration of the high school exit examination. 5)Repeals the provisions of this bill on January 1, 2017, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2017, deletes or extends that date. EXISTING LAW grants authority to school districts to establish and operate public schools within their boundaries, including AB 122 Page 5 the establishment of Alternative Schools, defined as a school or separate class group within a school designed to promote positive values of self-reliance, initiative and maintain a learning situation that maximizes student self motivation and opportunities for teachers, parents and students to cooperatively develop the learning process and its subject matters. FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown COMMENTS : Small schools . Much research has been conducted on the impact of school size on pupil achievement and retention, graduation rates, parental involvement in the schools, and school safety. The School Redesign Network at Stanford University conducted a study of five urban, public high schools that serve primarily students of color at higher rates than the state average and send most of their students to college. The report concluded that the smaller learning communities of the schools provided more personalization and instructional supports needed to create more successful learning. While research shows that smaller is better, there is no conclusion and agreement on the optimal size of a school. Research highlights small school sizes ranging from 150 to 1000. One report by the KnowledgeWorks Foundation titled "Dollars and Sense: The Cost Effectiveness of Small Schools" concludes that one size does not fit all, and that determining the upper limit for enrollment per grade level may be more beneficial than defining the size for a small school. For example, a kindergarten through grade 6 school with 500 pupils is not equivalent to a Kindergarten through grade 8 school with the same number of pupils. The report recommends specifying an enrollment cap per grade level as follows: High schools (9-12): 75 students per grade level (300 total enrollment) Middle schools (5-8): 50 students per grade level (200 total enrollment) Elementary schools (1-8): 25 students per grade level (200 total enrollment) Elementary schools (1-6): 25 students per grade level (150 total enrollment) In an evaluation of 489 schools of varying sizes, the report showed that the cost of constructing smaller schools was 20 AB 122 Page 6 percent higher. Some studies also suggest that there are other approaches to downsizing, including small learning communities within a large campus and "academies" within high schools that operate around themes. Small High School Pilot Program . In 2004, AB 1465 (Chan), Chapter 894, Statutes of 2004, established the Small High School Pilot Program and set aside $25 million ($20 million for new construction and $5 million for modernization) from state bond funds for this purpose. Proposition 1D, the Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities Bond Act of 2006, authorizes up to $200 million from new construction and modernization funds to be used for Small High Schools. The pilot provided a small high school, defined as a school with an enrollment of less than 500 pupils, with an increased grant amount equivalent to 120% of the base grant. The pilot was authorized for two years, between January 1, 2006 and January 1, 2008. According to the Office of Public School Construction, only one project by Porterville Unified School District, housing 499 pupils in 19 classrooms, received funding from New Construction. No modernization funds were apportioned. The sunset for the Small High School Pilot Program was January 1, 2008, and the statute was not extended. Some districts have argued that the current funding structure encourages the construction of larger schools. State education bond funds are awarded by per pupil grants. Because the existing grant levels are inadequate, the only way to increase the funds available to build a school is to increase the number of per pupil grants for the school, which result in the construction of larger schools. This bill is similar to AB 1841 (Coto), which was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee Suspense file in 2008. Last year's bill attempted to revive the funding stream for the Small High School Pilot Program. The focus of AB 122 is on the structure and programmatic aspects of small schools and simply encourages school districts to apply for state bond funds to construct or rehabilitate existing buildings to facilitate small schools. The bill requires the district to establish a process whereby AB 122 Page 7 interested stakeholders can submit proposals to establish a small school pursuant to this bill. If the district chooses to establish the small school, the district shall provide the funds each pupil would normally generate to the school. The school shall have a governing body consisting of school staff, parents, guardians, and pupils, who shall be elected by their peers. The bill requires the district to give the small school autonomy and flexibility over budget, hiring, curriculum, instructional practices, and working conditions. The bill specifies that enrollment shall be open to all pupils with at least one parent or guardian residing in the district's attendance area, but specifies that the school must have a heterogeneous pupil population in terms of pupil achievement that reflects the diversity of the pupils in that school district. The author may wish to consider the following: Clarify and provide guidelines for governance issues: Establish the structure of the governing body, including specifying the size of the body, establish the process for election, and specify the duties and responsibilities of the governing body. Clarify what "elected by their peers" mean. Would school staff only vote for school staff, parents only vote for parents, etc.? Clarify the relationship between the governing body and the local school board. The local school board is ultimately responsible for accountability measures. Should the local school board be required to conduct regular evaluations of the school? Should the school's governing body be required to provide reports to the local governing board on how funds are spent? Clarify the role of staff and the governing board: Section 58530 (g) says "school staff and the governing board of the small school shall have flexibility on how funds allocated to the school district are spent." Do both staff and the governing body make decisions jointly? Clarify enrollment procedures: The bill requires the school to have a heterogeneous pupil population in terms of pupil achievement that reflects the diversity of the pupils in that district. It is unclear how a school can ensure that the pupil population be heterogeneous without subjectively selecting students. Is admission to the school based on prior test scores? What if a pupil is new to the state or country and doesn't have test scores? AB 122 Page 8 Challenge to establishing small schools . Districts can and have already established small schools. The bill cites successful efforts in Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, and San Jose. Some are theme-based schools while others are "schools within a school". In its letter of Support, San Francisco Unified School District writes, "At San Francisco Community, our small school serving 285 students in grades K-8, the Small Schools by Design Policy has allowed our project-based approach to flourish using the curriculum autonomies. We teach a project-based approach for half of our school year where students are deeply engaged in nine-week, science-based, challenge-driven projects which provide the context for learning essential standards." The challenge in establishing small schools is funding for facilities and programs, including staffing. This bill does not address funding barriers beyond encouraging districts to apply for state bond funds. Arguments in Support . The author states, "The purpose of AB 122 is to close the achievement gap and to assist many more California students experiencing achievement and success in our schools. AB 122 points out and defines the potential of small schools to meet this aim. Many such schools, including in Los Angeles, Oakland and San Francisco, have proven themselves as places for student success and for closing the achievement gap. The bill also defines key elements of small schools and identifies incentives to school districts to develop small schools. "The State Superintendent of Public Instruction identified his primary goal for 2008 (the Year of Education) was to close the achievement gap. At the same time, data and studies continue to show that the achievement gap is not closing - but in many cases it is broadening. Change within large schools, especially in high poverty communities to meet the needs of all students and ensure their success, remains agonizingly beyond our reach. At the same time, there exists ample evidence that small schools supported within existing school districts can make a dramatic difference in student success. In San Jose's generally low scoring Alum Rock School District one small elementary school has earned an API score of 881 and a small middle school has earned an API of 795. Both schools serve students typically characterized as coming from low performing student population." AB 122 Page 9 Suggested amendments : 1)On page 5, line 1, strike "board" and insert "body". 2)The bill requires the school to send its evaluation to the Department of Education. It should include the report to the Assembly and Senate Education Committees. 3)Strike Section 58531(c)(2). This provision was specific to dependent charters, which has been deleted from the bill. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support San Francisco Unified School District Opposition None on file Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087