BILL NUMBER: SB 19 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 2, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Senator Simitian
DECEMBER 1, 2008
An act relating to education data. An act
to amend Section 10804 of the Education Code, relating to education
data, and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 19, as amended, Simitian. Education data.
Existing law requires the State Chief Information Officer to
convene a working group representing specified entities to create a
strategic plan to link education data systems and to accomplish
specified objectives relating to the accessibility of education data.
The State Chief Information Officer is required to deliver this
strategic plan to the Legislature and the Governor no later than
September 1, 2009.
This bill would require that these provisions be implemented using
federal grant funds received pursuant to the Education Technical
Assistance Act for Statewide Data Systems, as part of the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, as specified. The bill would
appropriate funds for these purposes on a one-time basis.
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 yes
. Fiscal committee: no yes .
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.
SEC. 2. Section 10804 of the Education
Code is amended to read:
10804. (a) The State Chief Information Officer appointed pursuant
to Section 11545 of the Government Code shall convene a working
group representing, at a minimum, the state board, the
Superintendent, the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges,
the University of California, the California State University, and
any other governmental entities that collect, report, or use
individual pupil education data that would become part of the
comprehensive education data system. The State Chief Information
Officer shall form an advisory committee to the working group that
includes school and district administrators, teachers and faculty,
education program providers, policymakers, researchers, parents, and
pupils.
(b) The working group convened pursuant to this section shall
create a strategic plan to link education data systems from all
segments and to accomplish all of the following:
(1) Provide an overall structural design for the linked education
data systems.
(2) Examine current state education data systems.
(3) Examine the protocols and procedures to be used by state
agencies in data processing, including, but not limited to,
collecting, storing, manipulating, sharing, retrieving, and releasing
data so as to enable each state agency to accurately and efficiently
collect and share data with the other state agencies while complying
with all applicable state and federal privacy laws.
(4) Identify specific procedures and policies that would be
necessary to ensure the privacy of pupil record information so as to
meet both federal requirements and the higher expectations of privacy
held by the state.
(c) The strategic plan shall be delivered by the State Chief
Information Officer to the Legislature and the Governor on or before
September 1, 2009.
(d) This section shall be implemented using federal grant funds
received pursuant to the Education Technical Assistance Act for
Statewide Data Systems, as part of the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5), which are appropriated
for these purposes on a one-time basis. Appropriations made pursuant
to this subdivision may be authorized not sooner than 30 days after
notification to and approval by the Chairperson of the Joint
Legislative Budget Committee.