BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                   SB 509|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  SB 509
          Author:   Price (D)
          Amended:  5/3/11
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE  :  9-0, 5/11/11
          AYES:  Lowenthal, Runner, Alquist, Blakeslee, Hancock, 
            Huff, Liu, Price, Vargas
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Simitian, Vacancy


           SUBJECT  :    Instructional materials

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill modifies a provision of the Williams 
          settlement to authorize school districts to purchase new 
          instructional materials for their neediest schools, rather 
          than for every school in the district.

           ANALYSIS  :    

           Existing Law

           1.Requires, beginning with 2010-11 fiscal year and every 
            third year thereafter, the Superintendent of Public 
            Instruction (SPI) to identify a list of schools ranked in 
            deciles 1-3 of the Academic Performance Index (API) for 
            which the county superintendent must annually submit a 
            report to each district, the county board of education 
            and the board of supervisors, that describes the state of 
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            the schools.

          2.States that the priority objective of the visits made by 
            the county superintendent is to determine the status of 
            all of the following circumstances:

             A.    Sufficient textbooks.

             B.    The condition of a facility that poses an 
                emergency or urgent threat to the health or safety of 
                pupils or staff.

             C.    The accuracy of data reported on the school 
                accountability report card with respect to the 
                availability of sufficient textbooks and 
                instructional materials, and the safety, cleanliness, 
                and adequacy of school facilities.

             D.    The extent to which pupils who have not passed the 
                high school exit exam by the end of 12th grade are 
                informed that they are entitled to receive intensive 
                instruction and services for up to two consecutive 
                academic years after completion of the 12th grade or 
                until the pupil has passed both parts of the high 
                school exit exam, whichever comes first.

             E.    The extent to which pupils who have elected to 
                receive intensive instruction and services are being 
                served.

          3.For the 2008-09 to 2014-15 fiscal years, provides that 
            sufficient textbooks or instructional materials include 
            standards-aligned textbooks or instructional materials, 
            or both, that were adopted prior to July 1, 2008.  
            Current law states legislative intent that each local 
            educational agency (LEA) provide each pupil with 
            standards-aligned textbooks or instructional materials 
            from the same adoption.  Current law specifies that LEAs 
            are not required to purchase all of the instructional 
            materials included in an adoption if the materials that 
            are purchased are made available to all the pupils for 
            whom they are intended in all of the schools within the 
            LEA.  These provisions sunset on July 1, 2013.  


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          4.For the 2008-09 to 2014-15 fiscal years, provides that 
            school districts are not required to provide pupils with 
            instructional materials by a specified period of time 
            following adoption of those materials by the State Board 
            of Education (SBE).  However, school districts are not 
            relieved of their obligations to provide every pupil with 
            textbooks or instructional materials.  

          5.Defines "sufficient textbooks or instructional materials" 
            to mean that each pupil, including English learners, has 
            a standards-aligned textbook or instructional materials, 
            or both, to use in class and to take home.  Two sets of 
            textbooks or instructional materials for each pupil is 
            not required.  

          This bill modifies a provision of the  Williams  settlement 
          to authorize school districts to purchase new instructional 
          materials for their neediest schools, rather than for every 
          school in the district.  Specifically, this bill:

          1.Authorizes a school district to purchase the newest 
            adopted instructional materials for the neediest schools 
            in the district prior to purchasing these materials for 
            the remaining schools in the district.

          2.Defines "neediest schools" as those ranked in deciles 1-3 
            of the base API in any one of the past three school 
            years.

          3.Authorizes a school district to establish criteria to 
            define the neediest schools for schools that do not have 
            at least one year of valid rankings in the base API.

           Comments

          Williams and Instructional Materials  .  Pursuant to the 
          settlement of the  Williams  lawsuit, schools ranked in 
          deciles 1-3 on the API are monitored for, among other 
          things, the provision to pupils of sufficient textbooks or 
          instruction materials that are aligned to the content 
          standards.  Sufficiency is met when each pupil, including 
          English learners, has a standards-aligned textbook or 
          instructional materials, or both, to use in class and to 
          take home.  Two sets of textbooks or instructional 

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          materials for each pupil are not required.

          Prior to the enactment of educational budget trailer bills 
          in 2009, districts were required to purchase instructional 
          materials within 24 months of adoption by the SBE.  This 
          requirement has been suspended until the 2014-15 fiscal 
          year.  Districts are specifically authorized to purchase 
          standards-aligned instructional materials that were adopted 
          prior to July 1, 2008.

          Current law states legislative intent that each school 
          district provide each pupil with standards-aligned 
          textbooks or instructional materials from the same 
          adoption.  School districts are not required to purchase 
          all of the instructional materials included in an adoption 
          if the materials that are purchased are made available to 
          all the pupils for whom they are intended in all of the 
          schools within the district.

          Nothing in current law prohibits districts from purchasing 
          instructional materials from the most recent adoption; 
          however, current law requires instructional materials to be 
          provided to each pupil at every school within the district. 
           This bill specifically authorizes the purchase of 
          instructional materials from the most recent adoption for 
          only some of the schools within the district.

          Some have raised the concern that this bill could confuse 
          school districts about how to meet the sufficiency 
          requirements of  Williams  , possibly leading districts to 
          believe that they must purchase instructional materials 
          from the most recent adoption for their decile 1-3 schools. 
           

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  No   
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  5/12/11)

          California Association of African American School 
          Superintendents and
            Administrators (source)
          Association of American Publishers


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           OPPOSITION  :    (Verified  5/12/11)

          Association of California School Administrators (unless 
          amended)
          San Bernardino County District Advocates for Better Schools

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    According to the author's office, 
          "Under the Williams Settlement statutes, sufficiency for 
          instructional materials is defined to be standards aligned 
          instructional materials from the same adoption.  If a 
          district wants to purchase new materials, it must provide 
          students in the same grade level or course with materials 
          from the same adoption.  In these difficult fiscal times, 
          it makes it difficult for a district to make any purchases 
          at all because it becomes an 'all or nothing' decision.  
          This bill provides an option to school districts and it 
          gives greater flexibility 
          in helping their most disadvantaged students have the tools 
          necessary to close the achievement gap."


          CPM:cm  5/12/11   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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