BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1186
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 24, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
AB 1186 (Bonilla) - As Amended: April 10, 2013
[This bill is being heard for information purposes. No vote
will be taken at this hearing.]
SUBJECT : School finance: categorical programs
SUMMARY : Extends the flexibility for Tier 3 categorical
program funds until 2019-20, as specified. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Extends the flexibility for Tier 3 categorical program funds
until 2019-20, provided, beginning with the 2013-14 fiscal
year, a school district that receives them agrees to use at
least 9% of the total funds for professional development for
certificated and administrative employees related to
implementation of the common core content standards;
purchasing technology to implement assessments aligned with
the common core content standards; or implementation of
programs to integrate science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics (STEM) in grades 7 to 12, inclusive.
2)Provides that the requirements of the bill shall be
inoperative if the amounts appropriated for the Tier 3
programs are increased by less than 18% over the amounts
provides in 2012-13 or if a K-12 local control funding formula
is enacted during the 2013-14 legislative session.
3)Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to
promptly display the requirements of this bill on its Internet
web site, if they are operative.
EXISTING LAW
1)Establishes a "Tier 3" block of 38 K-12 categorical programs
through the 2014-15 fiscal year.
2)Requires the SPI to apportion Tier 3 funds to LEAs, based on
the relative proportion that each LEA received in 2008-09.
3)Authorizes LEAs to use Tier 3 funds for any educational
AB 1186
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purpose through 2014-15.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Categorical program flexibility was provided as part
of the 2008-09 budget to help LEAs manage a nearly 20% reduction
in state K-12 funding. Funding for some programs-notably
special education, child care, and economic impact aid, among
others-was neither reduced nor flexed. These are referred to as
Tier 1 programs. Funding for other programs (English learner
assistance programs, student assessments, and charter school
facility grants, among others) was reduced but not flexed.
These are referred to as Tier 2 programs. Funding for all other
programs, the Tier 3 programs, was both reduced and flexed.
There are 38 Tier 3 programs, the largest five of which are
Targeted Instructional Improvement Block Grant (TIIG), adult
education, regional occupational centers and programs, School
and Library Improvement Block Grant, and the instructional
materials block grant.
The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a multi-state
effort coordinated by the National Governors Association Center
for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State
School Officers (CCSSO). Since 2010, 45 states have adopted the
standards for English and math. They are scheduled to be
implemented in the 2014-15 school year. The Smarter Balanced
Assessment is a computer adaptive assessment system aligned to
the common core standards. Computer adaptive testing is a form
of testing that adapts to the test-taker's ability level.
Concerns have been raised regarding California's readiness to
adopt the common core content standards and implement the
Smarter Balanced assessment. These concerns have centered
around unmet professional developments needs for the teachers
who will be implementing the content standards, the lack of
standards-aligned instructional materials, and the lack of the
technical capacity needed to implement the computer-adaptive
assessments. According to the author's office, the Legislature
has made common core a priority, and this bill will help give
districts the resources they need to implement it in the areas
of professional development and technical capacity. However,
this bill does not increase funding to districts. Rather, it
redirects funds that are currently discretionary to these
purposes.
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In addition, the author states that another purpose of this bill
"is to work toward providing all students in our public schools
access to hand-on STEM education programs. Greater integration
of STEM in our classrooms will ultimately enable California to
more successfully compete in the global economy."
Technical correction. According to the author's office, the
intent of this bill is to extend Tier 3 flexibility until
2019-20 and to impose the 9% requirement only if Tier 3 funding
is increased by at least 18%. As written, however, the bill
renders both the flexibility and the 9% requirement inoperative
if the 18% threshold is not met. Staff recommends the bill be
amended to correct this error.
Related legislation
AB 88 (Buchanan), which is pending in the Assembly Education
Committee, contains the Governor's proposal to implement a Local
Control Funding Formula (LCFF) for schools. The LCFF would
eliminated virtually all categorical programs and allocate most
K-12 dollars through a base grant plus supplemental funding.
The supplemental funding would be based on an LEA's enrollment
of English learners, pupils eligible for free or reduced price
meals, and pupils in foster care.
AB 200 (Hagman), which is pending in the Assembly Education
Committee, eliminates the sunset date on the Tier 3 categorical
programs and provides that, beginning in 2014-15, funds for
those programs shall be allocated based on the amount per ADA
each recipient received in 2013-14.
AB 470 (Mullin), which is pending in the Assembly Education
Committee, removes the Teacher Credentialing block Grant from
Tier 3 flexibility and requires the SPI and the California
Commission on Teacher Credentialing to perform onsite reviews
for all California Beginning Teacher support and Assessment
programs (BTSA), implement high-quality teacher induction
programs, and enforce existing BTSA program standards.
AB 558 (Cooley), which is currently pending in the Assembly
Education Committee, extends the phase out of the reduced
penalties for exceeding K-3 class size reduction
pupil-to-teacher ratios.
AB 1152 (Ammiano), which is pending in the Assembly Education
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Committee, removes the California School Age Families Education
Program (Cal-SAFE) from Tier 3.
AB 1186 (Bonilla), which is pending in the Assembly Education
Committee, extends the flexibility for Tier 3 categorical
program funds, provided, beginning with the 2013-14 fiscal year,
a school district that receives them agrees to use at least 9%
of the total funds for professional development for certificated
and administrative employees related to implementation of the
common core content standards; purchasing technology to
implement assessments aligned with the common core content
standards; or implementation of programs to integrate science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in grades 7 to
12, inclusive.
AB 1215 (Muratsuchi), which is pending in the Assembly Education
Committee, requires that an annual appropriation from the
General Fund be made directly to the Southern California
Regional Occupational Center for the purposes of providing
career and technical education services.
SB 223 (Liu), which passed the Senate Education Committee on a
9-0 vote and is pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee,
extends categorical flexibility in exchange for the recipient
LEA agreeing to specified accountability preconditions.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None received
Opposition
None received
Analysis Prepared by : Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087