BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 455
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Date of Hearing: May 1, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 455 (Medina) - As Amended: April 9, 2013
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:7-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction
(SPI) to consult with a group of experts on blind and visually
impaired persons to develop standards, aligned to the Common
Core (CC) Standards, regarding braille literacy and mathematics
code for pupils in K-12 grades. Further requires the SPI to
consult with a group of experts on the deaf and hard-of-hearing
to develop literacy standards in American Sign Language (ASL)
that are aligned to the CC Standards for pupils in grades K-12.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Amends existing law that established a braille literacy
advisory task force to require at least-one half of the
members be currently employed public school teachers.
2)Requires the SPI to make a recommendation to the State Board
of Education (SBE) regarding the development of braille
reading and mathematics standards aligned to the CC Standards
by March 30, 2015, and requires the SBE to adopt these
standards by June 30, 2015.
3)Requires the SBE, if it revises the braille reading or
mathematics standards recommended by the SPI, to provide
written reasons at a public meeting and adopt the revised
standards at a subsequent meeting, but no later than August
31, 2015.
4)Requires the group of experts the SPI consults with to develop
ASL literacy standards comprise at least one-half public
school teachers. Further requires the SPI to make a
recommendation on the development of these standards by March
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30, 2015.
5)Requires the SBE, by June 30, 2015, to adopt the ASL literacy
standards aligned to the CC Standards. Further requires the
SBE, if it revises the standards recommended by the SPI, to
provide written reasons at a public meeting and adopt the
revised standards at a subsequent meeting, but no later than
August 31, 2015.
6)Requires county offices of education (COEs), school districts,
and special education local plan areas (SELPAs) to provide
deaf and hard-of-hearing pupils opportunities for instruction
to master the ASL literacy standards aligned to the CC
Standards adopted by the SBE.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)One-time GF administrative costs, likely between $150,000 and
$250,000, to reestablish the braille standards task force and
establish a task force to develop ASL standards, as specified.
1)Potential, unknown GF/98 costs, likely less than $100,000, to
COEs, school districts, and SELPAs to provide deaf and hard of
hearing pupils opportunities for instruction to master ASL
literacy standards aligned to the CC Standards, as specified.
Presumably, these costs would not be reimbursable if in the
pupil's individualized education plan delineated the use of
these literacy standards in their instructional program.
There were 13,937 pupils identified as deaf or hard of hearing
in 2011-12.
COMMENTS
1)Background . As a condition of applying for the federal Race
to the Top (RTT) grant program, states were required to adopt
the CC Standards in English language arts (ELA) and
mathematics by the fall of 2010. As part of California's RTT
application, SB 1 X5 (Steinberg), Chapter 2, Fifth
Extraordinary Session, Statutes of 2010, was enacted to
establish the Academic Content Standards Commission (ACSC),
consisting of 21 members appointed by the governor (11), the
Senate Committee on Rules (5), and the Speaker of the Assembly
(5), to develop academic content standards in language arts
and mathematics. In August 2010, the ACSC made its
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recommendations to the SBE and the SBE adopted these
standards.
2)Purpose . Since the state's adoption of the CC Standards in
ELA and mathematics, it has taken necessary conforming steps
to align other standards/curriculum with these standards. For
example, legislation has passed to align the CC Standards in
ELA with English language development standards for English
learner pupils and to require the SPI to develop curriculum
frameworks aligned to both sets of CC Standards.
According to SDE, there are 686,352 pupils with special needs
enrolled in California schools in 2011-12. Of this number,
13,937 (2%) are identified as deaf or hard of hearing and
4,327 (.01%) are identified as having a visual impairment. In
order to ensure these students have the same access to the
state's high quality CC Standards, the current standards for
braille literacy and mathematics should be updated. The state
does not currently have standards for ASL and therefore, these
standards need to be developed and aligned to the CC Standards
in ELA as well.
The SPI, the sponsor of this measure, indicates Maryland has
adopted model braille standards aligned to the CC Standards
for the blind and visually impaired. According to the SPI,
"These standards, if adopted by California, will provide
guidance for educators as they apply to students who are blind
and visually impaired." The SPI further notes the California
Schools for the Deaf, Fremont and Riverside have been
collaboratively developing standards aligned to the CC
Standards in ELA, literacy in history-social science, science,
and technical subjects for students who are deaf and
hard-of-hearing and use ASL as their primary language. The
SPI anticipates both groups of experts reviewing the Maryland
and California Schools for the Deaf's work, as appropriate, in
meeting the requirements of this bill.
3)Technical amendment . The bill requires the SBE, should it
recommend revisions to both the braille and ASL standards, to
make these revisions at a public meeting. Generally, the
language related to public meetings includes the term
regularly scheduled. This language is necessary to ensure a
special SBE meeting won't be called solely to consider
standard revisions, which will reduce mandated costs
associated with the Open Meetings Act. The committee
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recommends the author amend the bill to include this language.
4)Existing law , via AB 2326 (Frommer), Chapter 653, Statutes of
2002, required the SPI to form an advisory task force to
develop standards for the mastery of the braille literacy code
for pupils in grades K-12. The task force was required to
report by June 30, 2004.
AB 897 (Coto), Chapter 530, Statues of 2005, required the SPI
to utilize the task force established by Chapter 653 to
develop standards for the mastery of the braille mathematics
code for pupils in grades K-12. The task force was required
to report by March 1, 2006. This measure also required the
SBE, by June 1, 2006, to adopt standards for both the braille
literacy and mathematic codes. Chapter 530 also required
COEs, school districts, and SELPAs to provide opportunities
for instruction to master the braille reading and mathematics
standards, as specified.
In 2006, the SBE adopted the braille standards in reading and
mathematics. These standards are available on SDE's website
for teachers, parents, and members of the public to access.
After the task force completed its work, it dissolved. This
bill proposes to reestablish and reconfigure this task force
to establish new braille standards in reading and mathematics
that are aligned to the CC Standards, as specified.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081