BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 201|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 201
Author: Liu (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 8-1, 4/3/13
AYES: Liu, Wyland, Block, Correa, Hancock, Hueso, Jackson,
Monning
NOES: Huff
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-2, 5/23/13
AYES: De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Gaines
SUBJECT : Instructional materials: academic content standards
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill authorizes the State Board of Education
(SBE) to adopt, by November 30, 2015, K-8 instructional
materials that are aligned to the Common Core English language
arts (ELA) standards and the Common Core development standards
(ELD).
ANALYSIS : The SBE adopted the Common Core academic content
standards (in mathematics and ELA) in August 2010.
Existing law:
1. Requires the SBE to adopt, by September 30, 2012, new ELD
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standards that are aligned to the ELA standards
2. Establishes processes for the development of supplemental
instructional materials in the ELA (by September 30, 2012),
the ELD (by June 30, 2014), and mathematics (by September 30,
2012 and July 30, 2013).
3. Authorizes the SBE to conduct an adoption of basic
instructional materials in mathematics, by March 30, 2014.
4. Prohibits the SBE from adopting instructional materials,
updated curricular frameworks, or evaluation criteria until
the 2015-16 school year.
5. Prohibits the SBE from adopting basic instructional
materials in the ELA or mathematics in the year succeeding
the year in which the SBE adopts basic materials in the other
subject for the same grade levels.
This bill authorizes the SBE to adopt instructional materials
for grades K-8 that are aligned to the ELA standards and the ELD
standards. Specifically, this bill:
1. Authorizes the SBE to adopt basic instructional materials
for K-8 that are aligned to the ELA standards and the ELD
standards, by no later than November 30, 2015.
2. Lifts the restriction on the back-to-back adoption of
instructional materials in mathematics and the ELA.
3. Requires all of the following, for purposes of conducting
the adoption:
A. The California Department of Education (CDE) to
provide notice to all publishers or manufacturers known
to produce basic instructional materials in the ELA and
the ELD, post an appropriate notice on its Internet Web
site, and take other reasonable measures to ensure that
appropriate notice is widely circulated to potentially
interested publishers and manufacturers.
B. The notice to specify that each publisher or
manufacturer choosing to participate in the adoption
shall be assessed a fee based on the number of programs
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the publisher or manufacturer indicates will be
submitted for review and the number of grade levels
proposed to be covered by each program.
C. The CDE, before incurring substantial costs for the
adoption, to require that a publisher or manufacturer
that wishes to participate in the adoption first
declare the intent to submit one or more specific
programs for adoption and specify the specific grade
levels to be covered by each program.
D. The CDE, after a publisher or manufacturer has
declared the intent to submit one or more programs and
the grade levels to be covered by each program, to
assess a fee that shall be payable by the publisher or
manufacturer even if the publisher or manufacturer
subsequently chooses to withdraw a program or reduce
the number of grade levels covered.
E. The fee assessed to be in an amount that does not
exceed the reasonable costs to the CDE in conducting
the adoption process. The CDE is required to take
reasonable steps to limit costs of the adoption and to
keep the fee modest.
F. A submission by a publisher or manufacturer is
prohibited from being reviewed for purposes of adoption
until the fee has been paid.
G. The SBE, upon the request of a small publisher or
small manufacturer, is authorized to reduce the fee for
participation in the adoption.
H. The CDE, if it determines that there is little or no
interest in participating in an adoption by publishers
and manufacturers, to recommend to the SBE whether or
not the adoption shall be conducted, and the SBE is
authorized to choose not to conduct the adoption.
I. Revenue derived from fees to be budgeted as
reimbursements and subject to review through the annual
budget process, and are authorized to be used to pay
for costs associated with any adoption and for any
costs associated with the review of instructional
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materials, including reimbursement of substitute costs
for teacher reviewers and to cover stipends for content
review experts.
4. Defines "small publisher" and "small manufacturer" as an
independently owned or operated publisher or manufacturer
that is not dominant in its field of operation and that,
together with its affiliates, has 100 or fewer employees, and
has average annual gross receipts of $10 million or less over
the previous three years.
Comments
According to the Senate Education Committee, California's Common
Core initiative includes the adoption or approval of new
standards, frameworks, criteria by which instructional materials
are evaluated, supplemental instructional materials, basic
instructional materials, and a new assessment system.
California is currently pilot testing new assessments and
expects full implementation of new assessments in English
language arts and mathematics in Spring 2015. This bill
provides a due date of November 30, 2015, for instructional
materials that are aligned to both the ELA and the ELD
standards. The CDE is currently working on other Common
Core-related activities (approving supplemental instructional
materials, evaluating mathematics instructional materials),
which precludes the CDE from initiating another adoption prior
to the date established in this bill. While state-adopted
materials for K-8 will not be available to school districts
prior to the expected administration of the new assessments,
supplemental materials in the ELA and the ELD (separately) are
currently available. Further, existing law authorizes school
districts to use instructional materials that are aligned to
California's original academic content standards or California's
Common Core standards, including materials that have not been
adopted by the SBE.
Fee-based adoption . This bill establishes a fee-based adoption,
whereby instructional materials publishers are assessed a fee
based on the number of subjects, number and types of materials,
and grade levels. According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee's analysis of prior legislation that also calls for a
fee-based adoption, the CDE indicates that the process ensures
the CDE will fully recover its costs of the adoption. Some
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publishers of instructional materials have expressed concern
that this process requires a significant investment of resources
to develop the materials and pay for consideration by the CDE
and SBE without any assurance that school districts will
purchase those materials (particularly without a requirement for
districts to purchase nor specific resources for districts to do
so). The recently authorized adoption of mathematics materials
is fee-based. It may be reasonable to monitor that process to
determine if publishers face insurmountable obstacles.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriation Committee:
Reviews: Significant state costs, which will be fully
recovered by publishers' fees.
Instructional materials: Substantial cost pressure for local
educational agencies to purchase new instructional materials.
SUPPORT : (Verified 4/3/13) (per Senate Education Committee
analysis) (Unable to reverify at time of writing)
California Federation of Teachers
California School Boards Association
State Superintendent of Public Instruction
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, the
SBE adopted the ELAs and mathematics in 2010. The SBE adopted
updated standards for the ELD that are aligned with the Common
Core in 2012. The Legislature recently authorized the approval
of separate supplemental instructional materials the ELA and for
the ELD. The next step is to authorize the adoption of basic
instructional materials that are aligned to both the ELA
standards and the ELD standards.
PQ:d 5/25/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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