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 Page 2 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. AB 1186 Page 3 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 AB 1186 Page 4 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