BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 470
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Date of Hearing: April 24, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
AB 470 (Mullin) - As Amended: April 9, 2013
[This bill is being heard for informational purposes. No vote
will be taken at this hearing.]
SUBJECT : School Safety and Teacher Training
SUMMARY : Removes the Teacher Credentialing Block Grant from
Tier 3 flexibility, makes changes to the California Beginning
Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA) Program, and specifies
that $321,000 shall be apportioned for specified strategies to
reduce school crime and violence. Specifically, this bill :
1)Strikes the provision specifying that funds appropriated under
that School Safety Consolidated Competitive Grant are
available for encumbrance for five years from the date of
appropriation.
2)Strikes the Teacher Credentialing Block Grant from the
provisions authorizing recipients of funds to use funding
received for any educational purpose.
3)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to
perform onsite reviews for all approved teacher induction
programs at least every four years, as a midpoint review
within the accreditation process currently conducted by the
Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) every seven years.
4)Specifies that the SPI's review shall be conducted in
consultation with the CTC on selected elements of the
induction program and include a complete fiscal review.
5)Requires the SPI to make the results of the onsite reviews
available to the CTC.
6)Requires the SPI to enforce each teacher induction program's
standards to ensure each program is meeting state standards.
7)Prohibits a school district or consortium of schools that
receives state funding for its induction program from charging
beginning teachers for participation in the induction program.
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8)Specifies that from the amounts appropriated in the Budget Act
for the School Safety Consolidated Competitive Grants program,
$321,000 shall be apportioned for the strategies, programs,
and activities specified in Education Code Section 32261(d).
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the School Safety Consolidated Competitive Grant
and requires the SPI, in partnership with the Attorney
General's Office, to distribute grant funds through a
competitive process.
2)Expresses the intent of the Legislature to encourage school
districts, county offices of education, law enforcement
agencies, and agencies serving youth to develop and implement
interagency strategies, in-service training programs, and
activities that will improve school attendance and reduce
school crime and violence, including vandalism, drug and
alcohol abuse, gang membership, gang violence, hate crimes,
bullying, including bullying committed personally or by means
of an electronic act, teen relationship violence, and
discrimination and harassment, including, but not limited to,
sexual harassment.
3)Specifies that for Fiscal Year (FY) 2008-09 to FY 2014-15,
specified categorical program funds may be used for any
educational purposes.
4)Specifies that for FY 2009-10 to FY 2014-15, the SPI or other
administering state agency shall apportion the funds based on
the same relative proportion that a recipient received in FY
2008-09 for specified categorical programs.
5)Specifies that, for FY 2008-09 to FY 2014-15, local
educational agencies (LEAs) that use the flexibility provision
shall be deemed to be in compliance with the program and
funding requirements contained in statutory, regulatory, and
provisional language.
6)Requires the governing board of a school district or a county
office of education to hold a public meeting prior to and
independent of a meeting where the governing board adopts a
budget for use of the specified categorical funds.
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7)Requires the SPI and the CTC to jointly administer the
California BTSA System. This joint administration requires
the SPI and the CTC to provide, or contract for the provision
of, all of the following:
a) Establish requirements that will govern the review and
approval of local BTSA programs;
b) Implement a system that ensures BTSA program quality and
effectiveness;
c) Improve and refine the formative assessment system;
d) Improve and refine professional development materials
and strategies for those who will implement the teacher
induction programs;
e) Conduct and track research related to beginning teacher
induction; and,
f) Evaluate the validity of California's Standards for the
Teaching Profession and the Standards of Quality and
Effectiveness for the BTSA Program.
8)Permits a school district or a consortium of school districts
to apply to the SPI for funding to establish a local teacher
induction program and requires the SPI to allocate $3,000 per
each participating teacher.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Categorical Flexibility . There are approximately 60
categorical programs that serve specific goals (e.g., to assist
high school students in passing the high school exit exam) or
for specific programs (e.g., ROC/Ps, special education). There
are also numerous statutes and regulations that specify
allowable use of categorical funds and how funds are allocated.
The FY 2009-10 budget had an important impact on categorical
programs. The budget agreement imposed a 20% reduction on 39
programs and gave LEAs that received those funds in FY 2007-08
the flexibility to use the funds for any educational purposes
from FY 2008-09 through FY 2012-13 (SBX3 4 (Ducheny), Chapter
12, Statutes of the 2009-10 Third Extraordinary Session). This
reduction and flexibility provision is commonly known as "Tier
3" flexibility, which essentially gives LEAs $4.5 billion in
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additional unrestricted funds. Tier 1 protected four
categorical programs from cuts and flexibility while 11
categorical programs sustained reductions but were given no
flexibility under Tier 2. For Tier 3 funds, school districts
receive their allocations based on the applicable percentage the
programs received in FY 2008-09. SB 70 (Budget Committee),
Chapter 7, Statutes of 2011, extended categorical flexibility to
2014-15. Until 2015-16, LEAs are not required to justify or
report average daily attendance in order to receive the
specified categorical funds.
The 39 Tier 3 programs include: Adult Education, Advanced
Placement Programs, American Indian Early Childhood Education
Centers, American Indian Education Centers, Arts and Music Block
Grant, California Association of Student Councils, CAHSEE -
Instructional Support, California School Age Families Education,
Certificated Staff Mentoring, Charter School Categorical Block
Grant, Child Oral Health Assessments, Civic Education, Class
Size Reduction (9th Grade), Community Day Schools,
Community-Based English Tutoring Program, County Office of
Education: Williams Audit, Deferred Maintenance, Educational
Technology - CTAP, Gifted and Talented, Instructional Materials
Block Grant, Mathematics and Reading Professional Development,
National Board Certification Incentives, Peer Assistance and
Review, Physical Education Teacher Incentive Program, Principal
Training Program, Professional Development Block Grant, Public
School Accountability Act, Pupil Retention Block Grant, Regional
Occupational Centers and Programs, Sanctions - High Priority
Schools Grant Program, School and Library Improvement Block
Grant, School Safety Block Grant (8-12), School Safety
Competitive Grants, Specialized Secondary Program Grants,
Supplemental Instruction (Summer School), Supplemental School
Counseling Program, Targeted Instructional Improvement Block
Grant, Teacher Credentialing Block Grant, and Teacher Dismissal
Apportionments.
This bill has two separate parts. One part of the bill sets
aside funds for the School Community Violence Prevention
Training program using funds from the School Safety Consolidated
Competitive Grants and the other part of the bill removes the
Teacher Credentialing Block Grant from Tier 3 flexibility and
makes changes to the BTSA program.
School Safety Consolidated Competitive Grants . The School
Safety Consolidated Competitive Grants consolidated six programs
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- the Safe School Planning and Partnership Mini-grants, School
Community Policing, Gang-Risk Intervention Program, Safety Plan
for New Schools, School Community Violence Prevention Training,
and Conflict Resolution - into one program administered by both
the California Department of Education (CDE) and the Attorney
General's Office. The program received $14.3 million in FY
2012-13. This bill requires $321,000 from the School Safety
Consolidated Competitive Grants to be allocated for the
activities specified in EC Section 32261(d), which encourages
school districts, county offices of education, law enforcement
agencies and agencies serving youth to develop and implement
interagency strategies, in-service training programs, and
activities to improve attendance and prevent school crime and
violence, including bullying. According to the CDE, these
activities are conducted through the School Community Violence
Prevention Training Grant. The Kern County Office of Education
is awarded the funds to administer and coordinate trainings on
three topics: safe school planning, crisis preparedness and
response, and bullying and cyberbullying prevention and
intervention. The trainings are offered on a statewide basis in
various parts of the state divided into 11 regions and are
conducted by law enforcement and education professionals.
According to the CDE, there has been an increased demand in the
trainings since the December 14, 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook
Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut.
Education Code Section 32283, which directs the Department of
Justice and the CDE to contract with one or more professional
trainers to coordinate statewide workshops for school districts,
county offices of education, and schoolsite personnel to assist
them in the development of their respective school safety and
crisis response plans, and provide training in the prevention of
bullying, is also an appropriate section to cite regarding the
trainings. Staff recommends adding a reference to EC Section
32283.
According to the author, the purpose of the bill is to withdraw
the training grants funds from Tier 3 flexibility. The author
states, "local flexibility threatens the training program's
existence and schools are in danger of losing access to leading
edge safety research and processes, as well as regional support
in post-crisis environments. Given recent school shootings,
both in California and the country, it is imperative we do
everything we can to ensure our schools are prepared for crisis
situations." The bill directs $321,000 of the funds from the
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School Safety Consolidated Competitive Grants to be apportioned
for this purpose. However, the School Safety Consolidated
Competitive Grants remains in Tier 3 flexibility. To make it
clear that these funds are to be removed from Tier 3, staff
recommends an amendment to exempt these funds in the provision
authorizing the flexibility.
BTSA Program : In the 2011-2012 school year there were 14,689
participating teachers in the BTSA program. The BTSA program
engages first and second year teachers in a job-embedded
formative assessment system of support and professional growth
while they are completing the requirements for the Clear
Credential. BTSA induction programs are locally designed and
implemented in accordance with the Standards of Quality and
Effectiveness for Professional Teacher Induction Programs and
aligned to the California Standards for the Teaching Profession.
This program was established in 1998 with the intent to
implement standards that govern all aspects of teacher
preparation, including subject matter knowledge, professional
preparation, induction, and credential renewal, to strengthen
teacher preparation by better integrating theory and practice,
and to expand teacher induction programs and programs to attract
qualified persons to teaching. SB 2042 (Alpert), Chapter 548,
Statutes of 1998. Through formative assessment of teaching
practices and individualized support and instruction, BTSA
induction programs aim to increase teachers' skill, knowledge,
and abilities, and to improve student achievement by enabling
teachers to provide effective instruction for students of
diverse cultural, linguistic, and academic backgrounds, within
the context of their teaching assignment. The SPI is seeking to
remove this this program from the Tier 3 flexibility. In each
the last two fiscal years, $91,325,000 was appropriated for this
purpose under the Teacher Credentialing Block Grant.
In addition to the removal from Tier 3 flexibility, this bill
requires the SPI to conduct an on-site review of each program at
least every four years and enforce each teacher induction
program's standards. By returning oversight of this program to
the SPI and CTC and increasing the oversight by the SPI, the
intent is to strengthen the quality of BTSA programs across the
state. According to the SPI, it is in the state's interest to
maintain the integrity of this program by upholding high
programmatic standards and quality and that proper training and
support of teachers is a necessary investment for successful
teaching outcomes and student achievement. Additionally, this
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bill prohibits participating induction programs from charging
beginning teachers for participation.
While neither the author nor the sponsor have identified any
empirical evidence to suggest that these induction programs are
low quality or are being offered only at a cost to the teacher,
this committee can look to a report released by the SPI in
September, 2012 (Greatness by Design: Supporting Outstanding
Teaching to Sustain a Golden State). In this report the SPI
asserts that in the current context, existing strong programs
are imperiled in many districts due to budget cuts, and many
have suffered from lack of guidance to ensure that investments
are made efficiently and effectively.
The committee may wish to consider the validity of the
assumptions underlying the bill's changes to BTSA. The portions
of this bill related to BTSA are built on the assumptions that
school districts are not providing their beginning teachers with
high quality induction programs and that the programs that are
being offered are being offered at a cost to the teacher. No
empirical evidence of either practice has been offered to this
committee nor has any evidence that teachers have, as a result
of the flexibility in categorical programs, been unable to meet
the requirements of the Clear Credential. While the value of a
high quality BTSA program cannot be underestimated, the removal
of these funds from flexibility, and the increased supervisory
role of the SPI do little to ensure the needs of beginning
teachers will be better served. Therefore, committee staff
recommends removing all references to BTSA, including the budget
line item on page 3, line 18, the requirement for the SPI to
conduct onsite reviews every four years as specified on page 8,
lines 9-16, and the prohibition against fees on page 9, lines
5-6.
FY 2013-14 Budget . The Governor's FY 2013-14 budget proposal
includes a new formula and methodology for K-12 funding called
the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). The LCFF would
replace revenue limit funding and most categorical program
funding with a uniform per-pupil rate based on K-3, 4-6, 7-8,
and 9-12 grade spans, augmented by supplemental funding based on
additional needs of students, such as English learners or
students from low income families. The teacher credentialing
block grant and the School Safety Competitive Grants are
proposed to be folded into the LCFF.
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Arguments in Support . The SPI states, "New teachers and leaders
can either become highly competent in their first years on the
job or they may develop counterproductive approaches or leave
the profession entirely, depending on the kind and quality of
help they encounter when they enter. With its pioneering BTSA
program, California has been a national leader in developing
mentoring programs for beginning teachers. This program has
been found to reduce attrition and improve teacher competence.
However, in the current context of local flexibility, existing
strong programs are imperiled in many districts due to budget
cuts, and many have suffered from lack of guidance to ensure
that investments are made efficiently and effectively. Given
the huge educational and financial costs associated with
replacing teachers and leaders and leaders who leave schools
prematurely (more than $7 billion a year nationally), a strong
induction system will continue to protect California's
investment in teacher preparation."
Arguments in Opposition . The Association of California School
Administrators states, "In 2009, the state faced massive budget
deficits necessitating huge reductions to the education budget.
In an effort to minimize the cuts, the state budget collapsed
over 30 categorical programs and allowed school districts to
make local decisions related to implementing budget reductions.
Public education has faced ongoing fiscal reductions each year
since the 2007-08 fiscal year and not until the passage of Prop
30, have schools had the resources to begin restoring the cuts
from the past several years. As a matter of fact, districts
receive 20% less funding than they should be receiving. Prop 30
revenues will take at least 3 to 5 years to restore these cuts.
This is not the time to remove programs from the current law
flexibility provisions."
Related legislation . AB 88 (Buchanan), pending in this
Committee, would implement the Governor's Local Control Funding
Formula.
AB 200 (Hagman), pending in this Committee, changes the method
of allocating funds for specified categorical programs and
requires local education agencies to provide reports on the
expenditure of those funds at each schoolsite, as specified.
AB 1152 (Ammiano), pending in this Committee, removes the
California School Age Families Education Program (Cal-SAFE) from
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Tier 3 flexibility and prohibits the program from being included
in any education financing proposal that would eliminate
categorical programs.
AB 1186 (Bonilla), pending in this Committee, extends Tier 3
flexibility through 2019-20, provided the recipient LEA spends
at least 7% of the funds on either professional development
related to the implementation of the common core curriculum or
implementation of science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics (STEM) programs in grades 7 through 12.
AB 1214 (Muratsuchi), pending in this Committee, requires the
annual budget to provide an annual appropriation from the
General Fund directly to the Southern California Regional
Occupational Center (SCROC) for purposes of providing career
technical education services.
SB 223 (Liu), pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee,
extends categorical flexibility in exchange for the recipient
LEA agreeing to specified accountability preconditions.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Torlakson (sponsor)
Coalition for Adequate School Housing
Individual BTSA district coordinators and regional directors
Individual educators
Opposition
Association of California School Administrators
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim and Jill Rice / ED. /
(916) 319-2087