BILL NUMBER: SB 19	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Simitian

                        DECEMBER 1, 2008

   An act relating to education data.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 19, as introduced, Simitian. Education data.
   Existing law states the intent of the Legislature to make
complete, current, and reliable information relating to education
available to the Legislature and to all public educational agencies
in California at maximum efficiency and economy through statewide
compatibility in the development and application of information
systems and electronic data-processing techniques insofar as they
relate to data required in reports to the State Department of
Education.
   This bill would further state the intent of the Legislature to
amend the Education Code to enact legislation that would create in
state government the Statewide Education Data Governing Board, the
purpose of which would be to facilitate the linking of education data
from disparate education and noneducation sources.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) Several recent attempts to analyze and improve the state of
education in California, such as the "Getting Down to Facts,"
"Closing the Achievement Gap," and "Students First" reports, have
concluded that the dearth of high-quality, comprehensive, and
longitudinal education data is significantly impeding the state's
capacity to assess, and therefore improve, education policy and
investment decisions.
   (b) This information scarcity is particularly acute in areas where
more and better data could help the state address its greatest
education challenges, such as the achievement gap, preschool quality,
and workforce and college preparation.
   (c) In addition to addressing these specific policy problems,
better education data systems are a necessary precondition for
continued learning at the institutional level and in the classroom.
   (d) Under California's decentralized education system, there is no
entity charged with ensuring that high-quality, comprehensive, and
longitudinal data exists, and no entity accountable for its absence.
   (e) It is therefore the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation amending the Education Code that would create in state
government the Statewide Education Data Governing Board, the purpose
of which is to facilitate the linking of education data from
disparate education and noneducation sources, to ensure the quality
of state education data, and to provide appropriate access to that
data for educational purposes.