BILL NUMBER: SB 1200 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 2, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator Hancock
FEBRUARY 22, 2012
An act to add Sections 60605.10 and 60605.11 to the Education
Code, relating to academic content standards.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1200, as amended, Hancock. Academic content standards:
standards review commission.
Existing law requires the State Board of Education to adopt
statewide content and performance standards in the core curriculum
areas of reading, writing, mathematics, history/social science, and
science, as specified. Existing law authorizes the state board to
modify any proposed content standards or performance standards prior
to adoption, and to adopt content and performance standards in
individual core curriculum areas as those standards are submitted to
the state board.
Existing law , until July 1, 2014, establishes the
Academic Content Standards Commission and requires the commission to
develop internationally benchmarked academic content standards, at
least 85% of which are required to be the common core academic
standards developed by the Common Core State Standards Initiative
consortium or another specified interstate collaboration. Existing
law requires the commission to present its recommended academic
content standards to the state board and requires the state board by
August 2, 2010, to either adopt the standards proposed by the
commission or reject them.
This bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction
to recommend and the state board to adopt the college and career
readiness anchor standards developed by the Common Core State
Standards Initiative consortium. The bill would also authorize the
state board to take action to resolve any technical issues in the
academic content standards it adopted pursuant to the above-described
provisions.
This bill would authorize the review of the mathematics standards
described above by a 11-member standards review commission, appointed
as specified and convened for that purpose, if the Superintendent
and the state board jointly find that there is a need to revise or
modify the standards. The bill would authorize the standards review
commission that is convened for these purposes to review and
make recommendations to modify only the grade 8 common core
standards in mathematics. The bill would require the state board,
upon receiving recommendations from this standards review commission,
to adopt, reject, or revise the standards as proposed by the
commission and to notify the Governor, the Senate Committee on Rules,
and the Speaker of the Assembly that it has acted. If the state
board rejects the recommendations, the bill would require the state
board to provide to the Superintendent, the Governor, and the
appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature a
specific written explanation of the reasons why the proposed
standards were rejected. If the state board revises the standards,
the bill would require it to present its reasons for revising the
standards at a public meeting held pursuant to the Bagley-Keene Open
Meeting Act, and to adopt the revised standards at a subsequent
meeting no later than June 30, 2013.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 60605.10 is added to the Education Code, to
read:
60605.10. For the purposes of meeting federal
requirements and applying for federal grants, the Superintendent
shall recommend and the state board shall adopt the college and
career readiness anchor standards developed by the Common Core State
Standards Initiative consortium. The state board may also take action
to resolve any technical issues in the standards adopted pursuant to
Section 60605.8.
SEC. 2. Section 60605.11 is added to the Education Code, to read:
60605.11. (a) If the Superintendent and the state board jointly
find that there is a need to revise or modify the mathematics
academic content standards adopted pursuant to Section 60605.8, the
review shall be conducted by a standards review commission convened
for that purpose and in accordance with this section.
(b) (1) After making a finding pursuant to subdivision (a), the
Superintendent and the state board shall notify the Governor, the
Senate Committee on Rules, and the Speaker of the Assembly of the
finding, including need for modifications,
the reasons for the needed modifications, and the reasons for
the need to appoint members to a standards review commission.
Consequently, a standards review commission consisting of 11 members
shall be appointed as follows:
(A) The Governor shall appoint four members.
(B) The Senate Committee on Rules shall appoint three members.
(C) The Speaker of the Assembly shall appoint three members.
(D) The Superintendent shall appoint one member.
(2) Not less than one-half of the members appointed by each of the
appointing authorities pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be current
public school elementary or secondary classroom teachers.
(3) In making appointments to the commission, the appointing
authorities shall consult with each other to ensure that the
commission includes all of the following:
(A) Individuals with expertise in the subject area under review.
(B) Individuals from different geographical areas of the state.
(C) Individuals who reflect the ethnic and gender diversity of
California.
(D) Individuals who are knowledgeable about English learners and
pupils with disabilities.
(4) Members of the commission shall serve at the pleasure of the
appointing authority.
(5) Pursuant to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9
(commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3
of Title 2 of the Government Code), all meetings and hearings of the
commission shall be open and available to the public.
(c) (1) If a standards review commission is convened, the
commission may only review and make recommendations to
modify the grade 8 common core standards in mathematics.
(2) The recommendations of the standards review commission made
pursuant to paragraph (1) and modifications approved by the state
board with regard to those recommendations shall ensure all of the
following:
(A) The rigor of the state common core standards is maintained so
that all high school graduates are prepared for college and careers,
as specified in the common core standards.
(B) All of the state common core standards developed by the
consortium or the interstate collaboration set forth in Section
60605.7 are adopted.
(C) Modifications, including additions and revisions, amount to no
more than 15 percent of the state common core standards adopted by
the state board.
(d) Upon receiving recommendations from a standards review
commission, the state board shall do one of the following:
(1) Adopt the standards as proposed by the commission.
(2) Reject the standards as proposed by the commission. If the
state board rejects the standards, it shall provide to the
Superintendent, the Governor, and the appropriate policy and fiscal
committees of the Legislature a specific written explanation of the
reasons why the proposed standards were rejected.
(3) Revise the standards as proposed by the commission. If the
state board revises the standards, it shall, in a public meeting held
pursuant to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing
with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2
of the Government Code), provide written reasons for its revisions.
The state board shall not adopt the revised standards at the same
meeting at which it provides the written reasons for revising the
standards, but shall instead adopt these revisions at a subsequent
meeting no later than June 30, 2013.
(e) The Superintendent and the state board shall notify the
Governor, the Senate Committee on Rules, and the Speaker of the
Assembly after the state board takes action pursuant to subdivision
(d) on recommendations submitted by a standards review commission
pursuant to this section.