BILL ANALYSIS SB 19 Page 1 SENATE THIRD READING SB 19 (Simitian) As Amended May 4, 2009 Majority vote SENATE VOTE :35-2 EDUCATION 7-2 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Brownley, Arambula, | | | | |Buchanan, Carter, Eng, | | | | |Solorio, Torlakson | | | | | | | | |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------| |Nays:|Nestande, Garrick | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY : Authorizes the use of federal grant funds, received pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and provided for statewide data systems, to fund activities currently required of the State Chief Information Officer (CIO) related to the creation of a strategic plan to link education data systems from K-12 and higher education. EXISTING LAW : 1)Authorizes the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) and requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to contract for the development of a system that will provide for the retention and analysis of longitudinal K-12 pupil achievement data on Standardized Testing and Reporting assessments, high school exit examination, and English language development assessments. 2)Requires CDE to establish a process by which local education agencies (LEA) issue, maintain, and report information using the unique Statewide Student Identifiers (SSID), being used in CALPADS, for state and federally funded center based child care and development programs administered by the CDE, but prohibits requiring those programs to implement or maintain the SSIDs until an appropriation for this purpose is provided. SB 19 Page 2 3)Requires each of the three public higher education systems to establish a process by which colleges and universities within those systems issue, maintain and report information using SSIDs, and to provide an annual report to the Governor and the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature that includes a detailed timeline for the implementation, maintenance, and use of the SSIDs. 4)Establishes the Office of CIO as a cabinet-level position responsible for coordination and strategic planning in the area of information technology (IT), and requires the CIO to convene a working group, representing the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), the State Board of Education, the three systems of California public higher education, and any other governmental entities that collect, report, or use individual education data that would become part of the comprehensive educational data system, to develop a strategic plan that would provide an overall structural design for the linked data system, examine current state education data systems, and examine the interdepartmental data protocols and procedures to be used by state agencies in collecting, storing, manipulating, sharing, retrieving, and releasing data in order to enable the linking of data systems; the strategic plan is required to be delivered to the Legislature and the Governor on or before September 1, 2009. 5)States legislative intent to convene a staff level working group that is representative of the policy and fiscal staff of both houses of the Legislature and both parties, the Governor's office, the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO), and all three systems of California public higher education; requires the working group to make recommendations related to the governance of educational data, including, but not limited to, the organizational structure of the governing entity, its relationship to other agencies, the scope of its authorities and responsibilities, methods for holding the governing entity accountable, and methods for ensuring that the governing entity's work primarily serves the purposes of educational improvement at the same time as ensuring the privacy of any data under its charge. FISCAL EFFECT : This bill is keyed non-fiscal. SB 19 Page 3 COMMENTS : SB 1298 (Simitian), Chapter 561, Statutes of 2008, made a number of changes in education data processes. For example, SB 1298 states legislative intent to convene a staff level working group that is representative of the policy and fiscal staff of both houses of the Legislature and both parties, the Governor's office, the SPI, the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO), and all three systems of California public higher education; it also requires the working group to make recommendations related to the governance of educational data. The LAO has already convened this group. SB 1298 also requires the CIO to convene a working group, representing the SPI, the State Board of Education, the three systems of California public higher education, and any other governmental entities that collect, report, or use individual education data that would become part of the comprehensive educational data system. The CIO, along with this working group, is required to develop a strategic plan, to be delivered to the Legislature and the Governor on or before September 1, 2009, that would provide an overall structural design for the linked data system, examine current state education data systems, and examine the interdepartmental data protocols and procedures to be used by state agencies in collecting, storing, manipulating, sharing, retrieving, and releasing data in order to enable the linking of data systems. This group began meeting in early May. According to the author, "SB 19 addresses one outstanding item from last year's SB 1298 related to the state's vision for a comprehensive education data system; specifically, the requirement of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) to prepare a technical plan to link statewide information systems and education data. As amended May 5, the bill authorizes use of the federal funds to cover the CIO's costs related to the SB 1298 linkages work group." The Governor's proposed 2009-10 budget requested $2 million General Fund to enable the CIO to complete the activities specified in SB 1298, however, that $2 million appropriation was not included in the budget enacted in February. The Legislative Analyst's Office has commented that, given the state's fiscal condition, committing $2 million in General Fund resources for a strategic plan at this time may not be the Legislature's highest priority, and noted that ARRA may contain funds that could be appropriately used for such activities. SB 19 Page 4 The author also notes that, "Legislation will be needed to enact the statutory changes necessary to maximize the use of the federal stimulus funds for state-level education data systems ? [but] The timing of the federal guidance and application timeframes for the federal stimulus funds for statewide education data systems lag legislative deadlines." The U.S. Department of Education has indicated it will announce the grant competition for the ARRA funds for statewide education data systems and provide additional guidance in July of this year. Due to this timing issue, the author raises the possibility that substantive amendments, adding content that would position the state to compete for these funds, may be made to this bill once additional guidance related to the state-level data systems grant competition is released by the federal government. During the Assembly Committee on Education hearing on this bill, the author committed to keeping policy committee staff informed as to the development of future amendments to this bill, and also stated his understanding that the Committee may ask for the bill to be re-referred for the purpose of hearing any substantive amendments made in the future. Previous legislation : SB 1298 (Simitian), Chapter 561, Statutes of 2008, establishes processes by which local education agencies and public institutions of higher education issue, maintain, and report information using the unique statewide student identifiers required under current law. SB 1614 (Simitian), Chapter 840, Statutes of 2006, requires the development of a teacher data system to serve as a central state repository of information on the teacher workforce, and specifies that the existing CEIS include CALPADS, which maintains pupil data, and CBEDS, an annual collection of aggregate student and staff data. SB 1453 (Alpert), Chapter 1002, Statutes of 2002, authorizes the longitudinal data system in its current form, and specifies that the system be known as CALPADS. SB 90 (Committee on the Budget), Chapter 183, Statutes of 2007, Makes statutory changes necessary to implement the 2007-08 state Budget relating to the CIO and the OISPP. SB 834 (Figueroa), Chapter 533, Statutes of 2006, makes the statutory changes necessary to reflect the Governors Reorganization Plan 2, which became effective July 9, 2005, and creates the Office of CIO in state government. Analysis Prepared by : Gerald Shelton / ED. / (916) 319-2087 SB 19 Page 5 FN: 0001758