BILL NUMBER: AB 899 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 3, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 11, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 26, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 24, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 6, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 25, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Weber
FEBRUARY 22, 2013
An act to amend Section 60811 of, and to add and repeal Section
60811.4 of, the Education Code, relating to academic content
standards.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 899, as amended, Weber. Academic content standards: English
language development standards.
(1) Existing law requires each school district that has one or
more pupils who are English learners and, to the extent required by
federal law, each county office of education and each charter school,
to assess the English language development of each of those pupils
upon initial enrollment in order to determine the level of
proficiency of those pupils, and thereafter to assess each of those
pupils annually until the pupil is redesignated as English
proficient.
Existing law requires the State Board of Education to approve
standards for English language development for pupils whose primary
language is a language other than English. Existing law further
requires that these standards be comparable in rigor and specificity
to the standards for English language arts.
This bill would additionally require these standards to be
comparable in rigor and specificity to the standards for mathematics
and science.
(2) Existing law, which is to be repealed on July 1, 2013,
requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in consultation
with the state board, to update, revise, and align the English
language development standards adopted pursuant to existing law to
the state board-approved academic content standards for English
language arts, as provided.
This bill would require the Superintendent, on or before January
1, 2015, to recommend modifications to the English language
development standards to link with the state board-approved academic
content standards for mathematics and science for adoption by the
state board. The bill would require the Superintendent, in
consultation with the state board, to convene a group of experts in
English language instruction, curriculum, and assessment, as
provided, to meet those requirements and to review the mathematics
and science academic content standards to identify those standards
that correspond to the English language development standards. The
bill would require the Superintendent to hold a minimum of 2 public
meetings in order for the public to provide input regarding any
modifications to the English language development standards.
The bill would require the state board, on or before August 1,
2015, to adopt or reject the Superintendent's recommendations for the
English language development standards to correspond with the state
board-approved academic content standards for mathematics and
science, as specified. The bill would require the state board to
ensure that any modifications to the English language development
standards adopted by the state board are incorporated into the
appropriate mathematics and science curriculum frameworks.
The bill would require that funding be provided in the annual
Budget Act or another statute before these provisions could be
implemented. The bill would make its provisions inoperative on July
1, 2016.
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 60811 of the Education Code is amended to read:
60811. The state board shall approve standards for English
language development for pupils whose primary language is a language
other than English. The standards shall be comparable in rigor and
specificity to the standards for English language arts adopted
pursuant to Section 60605.8, the standards for mathematics adopted
pursuant to Sections 60605.8 and 60605.11, and the standards for
science adopted pursuant to Section 60605.85.
SEC. 2. Section 60811.4 is added to the Education Code, to read:
60811.4. (a) On or before January 1, 2015, the Superintendent
shall recommend to the state board modifications to the English
language development standards, adopted pursuant to Section 60811.3,
to link with the academic content standards for mathematics adopted
by the state board pursuant to Sections 60605.8 and 60605.11 and the
academic content standards for science adopted by the state board
pursuant to Section 60605.85. If the state board modifies the English
language development standards to link with the academic content
standards for mathematics and science, it shall explain, in writing,
to the Governor and the Legislature the reasons for the modification.
The Superintendent's recommendations and the state board's actions
shall assist schools in the implementation and application of English
language development standards in the mathematics and science
subject areas.
(b) In meeting the requirements of subdivision (a), the
Superintendent, in consultation with the state board, shall convene a
group of experts in English language instruction, curriculum, and
assessment, including individuals who have a minimum of three years
of demonstrated experience instructing English learners in the
classroom at the elementary or secondary level. The experts shall
review the mathematics and science academic content standards to
identify those standards that correspond to the English language
development standards. The Superintendent shall ensure that members
of the group include, but are not necessarily limited to, individuals
who are schoolsite principals, school district or county office of
education administrators overseeing programs and support for English
learners, personnel of teacher training schools at institutions of
higher education, and curriculum and instructional specialists with
English learner experience. At least a majority of the members of the
group of experts shall be currently employed public schoolteachers.
(c) Prior to completing the requirements of subdivision (a), the
Superintendent shall hold a minimum of two public meetings 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) in order for the public to provide input regarding
any modifications recommended pursuant to this section.
(d) (1) On or before August 1, 2015, the
state board shall adopt or reject the Superintendent's
recommendations for the English language development standards
adopted pursuant to Section 60811.3 to correspond with the state
board-approved academic content standards for mathematics adopted
pursuant to Sections 60605.8 and 60605.11 and the state
board-approved academic content standards for science approved
pursuant to Section 60605.85.
(2) The state board shall ensure that any modifications to the
English language development standards adopted by the state board are
incorporated into the appropriate mathematics and science curriculum
frameworks.
(e) This section shall not be implemented unless funds are
appropriated by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or another
statute for its purposes.
(f) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2016, and as
of January 1, 2017, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
becomes operative on or before January 1, 2017, deletes or extends
the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.