BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SB 300
                                                                  Page 1

          Date of Hearing:   July 13, 2011

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                    SB 300 (Hancock) - As Amended:  June 28, 2011 

          Policy Committee:                             Education Vote:7-3

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires the State Board of Education (SBE) to 
          consider, by June 30, 2012, the adoption of a revised curriculum 
          framework and evaluation criteria for instructional materials 
          (IM) in history/social science and establishes an Academic 
          Content Standards Commission for science (science commission) to 
          make recommendations to the SBE to modify, revise, and update 
          the science content standards, as specified.  Specifically, this 
          bill:  

          1)Authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to 
            complete the public review process for the draft 
            history/social science curriculum framework and evaluation 
            criteria that was previously approved for public review on 
            July 17, 2009, and submit the revised framework and criteria 
            to the SBE for approval.  

          2)Requires the science commission to have nine members appointed 
            by the governor (3); the Senate Rules Committee (2); the 
            Speaker of the Assembly (2); and the SPI (2) and to serve at 
            the pleasure of the appointing authority, as specified.  

          3)Requires the science commission to make recommendations, on or 
            before January 1, 2013, to the SBE to modify, revise, and 
            update the science content standards, as specified.  

          4)Requires the SBE, on or before June 30, 2013, to either: 

             a)   Adopt the science content standards as provided by the 
               science commission, or  
             b)   Reject the science content standards proposed by the 
               science commission.  Further requires the SBE to provide a 








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               specific written explanation to the SPI, the governor, and 
               the Legislature of the reasons it rejected the content 
               standards, as specified. 

          5)Requires the SPI and the SBE to present to the governor and 
            the appropriate legislative policy/fiscal committees a 
            schedule and implementation plan for integrating the science 
            content standards into the educational system. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)One-time GF administrative costs to the State Department of 
            Education (SDE), likely between $145,000 and $150,000, to 
            complete the history/social science curriculum framework and 
            evaluation criteria, as specified.  

            Due to the enactment of AB 2 X4 (Evans), Chapter 2, Statutes 
            of 2009, the governor vetoed $705,000 (GF) from the 2009-10 
            Budget Act for the Curriculum Development and Supplemental 
            Materials Commission (CDSMC), which conducts the majority of 
            the work associated with IM adoptions. Specifically, the 
            governor stated, "it is unnecessary for the CDSMC to continue 
            to advise the SBE on content frameworks and IM adoptions for 
            the next five years or until an agreed-upon process is 
            reestablished. This reduction removes funding for unnecessary 
            commission per diem and travel as well as funding for SDE 
            staff." 


          2)Potential GF/98 cost pressure, likely in the low millions, to 
            provide local education agencies (LEAs) with funding under the 
            Instructional Materials Funding and Realignment Program 
            (IMFRP) to purchase history/social science IM.  



            AB 2 X4 (Evans), Chapter 2, Statutes of 2009, authorized LEAs 
            to utilize IMFRP funding for any education purpose it deems 
            fit. This authorization coupled with the suspension of the 
            requirement to purchase IM has lead LEAs to redirect IM 
            funding for other purposes. Also, many LEAs argue current 
            IMFRP funding levels do not fully cover the cost of purchasing 
            IM. With the enactment of Chapter 2, it is possible that LEAs 
            will need increased IMFRP funding in 2013-14 to mitigate the 
            redirection of IM funding during the budget flexibility 








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            period. 


          3)GF administrative costs to the SDE, likely between $120,000 
            and $200,000, to establish the science commission, as 
            specified.  

           
          COMMENTS  

           1)Background  .  In 1998, the SBE adopted academic content 
            standards in four major areas: English language arts, 
            mathematics, history/social science, and science. These 
            standards represent the foundation of California's educational 
            system. The state's assessments, accountability system, 
            textbooks, and professional development programs are aligned 
            to these content standards. Current law also requires the SBE 
            to adopt content standards and curriculum frameworks in other 
            content areas, including physical education and arts. 

            Prior to the enactment of AB 2 X4  in July 2009, statute 
            required the SBE to adopt basic IM in the core academic 
            content areas (ELA, mathematics, history/social science, and 
            science) every six years for use in grades K-8. It also 
            established a schedule for the adoption of IM in other 
            subjects. Statute also required the SBE to adopt statewide 
            academically rigorous content standards in the core curriculum 
            areas. These content standards are implemented through the 
            curriculum frameworks, as adopted by SBE. The adopted IM must 
            be consistent with the criteria and standards of quality 
            prescribed in the adopted curriculum frameworks. The 
            development of curriculum frameworks is a multi-year process. 
            Also, the governing board of each school district maintaining 
            one or more high schools is authorized to adopt IM for use in 
            the high schools (grades 9-12) under its control. 

            AB 2 X4 specified that LEAs are not required to purchase IM 
            through 2012-13. Consistent with the non-purchasing 
            requirement, the bill also suspended the requirement for SBE 
            to adopt IM or conduct other procedures associated with 
            adoption (i.e., adopting curriculum frameworks) until the 
            2013-14 school years. 
             
          2)Purpose  .  The Legislature and the governor agreed to a 
            moratorium on the purchase and adoption of IM due to the 








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            state's severe fiscal crisis. Many argue however, that not 
            updating IM is a disservice to education. For example, various 
            Sikh organizations do not feel the current state 
            history/social science textbooks portray their culture fairly 
            and worked with the SBE to revise the curriculum framework. AB 
            2 X4 prevented the revised history/social science framework 
            from being adopted. 

            Prior to the enactment of AB 2 X4, the next history/social 
            science curriculum framework was scheduled for adoption in May 
            2010, with IM for this subject to be adopted in 2011. However, 
            this timeline is no longer relevant and the next adoption of 
            this framework has not been determined.  

            According to the author, "Ever-changing historical trends, 
            economic shifts, cultural exchange, and demographics have 
            created a greater need than ever before for understanding the 
            foundational ideas and philosophy of our country and the 
            world, yet our outdated history-social science standards would 
            suggest that no historically important events have occurred 
            since 1998."

            Also, the Legislative Counsel opined that the SBE does not 
            have the authority, under current law, to revise or amend the 
            content standards after their adoption. In January 2007, 
            former state education secretary Gary Hart wrote in a 
            Sacramento Bee editorial that "any suggestion of changing the 
            standards has been viewed as heretical by many education 
            leaders. But as one of the architects of this system, I 
            believe the time is now right to take a fresh look at what we 
            expect of our children." This bill requires the SPI to 
            establish a science commission to make recommendations to the 
            SBE to modify, revise, and update the science content 
            standards, as specified. 

            The author argues "The state's current science standards do 
            not include mention of biotechnologies, nanotechnologies, or 
            even that Pluto is no longer considered a planet.  Although it 
            is widely acknowledged that California has the 8th largest 
            economy in the world and must develop scientifically and 
            technologically literate citizens to maintain an edge in the 
            world economy, our students do not have access to the most 
            current, cutting-edge scientific information."

            This bill requires the SBE to adopt a history/social science 








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            curriculum framework and establishes the science commission 
            for the purpose of updating the science content standards.  

           3)Related legislation  .  

             a)   AB 124 (Fuentes), pending in the Senate Appropriations 
               Committee, establishes the English Language Development 
               (ELD) Standards Advisory Committee for the purpose of 
               aligning the ELD standards to the Common Core English 
               Language Arts standards adopted by the SBE in August 2010.  


             b)   AB 250 (Brownley), pending in the Senate Appropriations 
               Committee, establishes a process for the full 
               implementation of the common core academic content 
               standards through the development of curricular frameworks, 
               instructional materials, and professional development 
               aligned with the common core standards.
           Analysis Prepared by  :    Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916) 
          319-2081