BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                            Senator Kevin de León, Chair


          SB 505 (Jackson) - Education Technology
          
          Amended: May 15, 2013           Policy Vote: Education 9-0
          Urgency: No                     Mandate: Yes
          Hearing Date: May 23, 2013      Consultant: Jacqueline  
          Wong-Hernandez
          
          SUSPENSE FILE.

          
          Bill Summary: SB 505 reassigns specific technical assistance  
          duties that were previously fulfilled by the California  
          Technology Assistance Project (CTAP) to the county offices of  
          education (COEs). This bill also extends the sunset on the  
          following California Department of Education (CDE) administered  
          programs: the California Learning Resource Network, the  
          Technology Information Center for Administrative Leadership, and  
          Technical Support for Education Technology in Schools, referred  
          to collectively as the Support for Education Technology in  
          Schools (SETS) projects, until January 1, 2019.

          Fiscal Impact: This bill extends the sunsets on three programs  
          that are currently subject to categorical flexibility. The  
          fiscal estimates below represent the annual cost to continue the  
          programs as they were funded in 2008-09, before they were  
          included in categorical flexibility. The CDE has indicated that  
          it would seek additional funding to expand the role of these  
          programs if they are continued. 
              California Learning Resource Network (CLRN): $987,884  
              General Fund.
              Technology Information Center for Administrative Leadership  
              (TICAL): $723,517 General Fund.
              Technical Support for Education Technology in Schools  
              (TechSETS): $577,079 General Fund.
              SETS contract administration: $125,000 in staffing costs  
              for the CDE.
              Mandate: Potentially substantial reimbursable mandate on  
              COEs, which this bill requires to undertake activities  
              previously done through consortia that received state grant  
              funds.

          Background: Existing law authorizes the CTAP to provide a  








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          regionalized network of technical assistance to schools and  
          school districts on the implementation of education technology.  
          CTAP is composed of regional consortia that work collaboratively  
          with school districts and county offices of education to meet  
          locally defined technology based needs. CTAP's functions include  
          providing technical services to support access, planning, and  
          use of high speed telecommunications networks, as well as to  
          provide technology planning and implementation assistance to  
          rural and technologically underserved school districts and COEs.  
           
          
          Existing law also authorizes the SETS projects, which consist of  
          the CLRN, TICAL, and TechSETS. The CLRN helps teachers select  
          online materials by conducting a review of electronic learning  
          resources, such as software and video, for alignment with  
          content standards. TICAL provides professional development for  
          education administrators in areas of data-driven decision  
          making, integrating technology into standards-based curriculum,  
          and technology planning, operations, and management. TICAL also  
          maintains a web portal that features resources for  
          administrators to assist with digital school leadership.  
          TechSETS provides resources and support for school technology  
          staff through an online interactive help desk, professional  
          development, and assistance with planning and installing  
          technology infrastructures.

          The 2012 Budget Act includes $14.1 million in Proposition 98  
          General Fund for the CTAP and the State SETS projects but these  
          funds are included in Tier III categorical flexibility through  
          2014-15, and school districts may utilize them for any  
          educational purpose. The CTAP and the SETS projects sunset on  
          January 1, 2014.     

          Proposed Law: SB 505 requires COEs to provide technical  
          assistance to schools and school districts on the implementation  
          of education technology, as specified. This bill also extends  
          the sunset on the SETS projects: CLRN, TICAL, and TechSETS until  
          January 1, 2019.

          Staff Comments: This bill extends the sunset on the SETS  
          projects in order to continue existing activities related to  
          education technology, and to use the infrastructure to assist in  
          Common Core Standards implementation. As part of implementing  
          Common Core Standards, the state will be moving to a  








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          computer-based assessment system. The CDE had indicated that it  
          will seek increased funding for the SETS projects to support  
          their expanded roles in the state transition to Common Core. The  
          CDE believes a more appropriate budget for each of the projects  
          is: $1.25 million for the CLRN, $825,000 for TICAL, and $625,000  
          for TechSETS; this represents an increase across projects of  
          approximately $500,000.

          This bill also requires COEs to provide technical assistance to  
          schools and school districts on the implementation of education  
          technology, including: a) Professional development; b)  
          electronic learning resources; c) hardware; d)  
          telecommunications infrastructure; e) technical assistance to  
          school districts in developing a support system to operate and  
          maintain an education technology infrastructure, including  
          improving pupil recordkeeping and tracking related to pupil  
          instruction; f) coordination with and support for the funding  
          and implementation of federal, state, and local programs; g)  
          funding; h) technical assistance and information to support  
          access, planning, and the use of high-speed telecommunications  
          networks; and, i) technology planning and implementation  
          assistance to rural and technologically underserved school  
          districts.

          Requiring new responsibilities of COEs, which were previously  
          done by regional consortia receiving state grant funding, will  
          likely constitute a significant reimbursable state mandate for  
          any services a COE provides to a school or school district  
          relative to education technology.

          Staff notes that as part of the 2013-14 Governor's Budget, the  
          Administration proposes to restructure the existing K-12 finance  
          system and eliminate over 40 existing programs. The  
          Administration proposes to primarily fund LEAs using a new  
          formula known as the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). The  
          LCFF would consolidate the vast majority of state categorical  
          programs and revenue limit apportionments into a single funding  
          stream and would eliminate the statutory and programmatic  
          requirements for almost all existing categorical programs,  
          including educational technology programs for which this bill  
          seeks to preserve designated funding. Under the Governor's  
          proposal, LEAs could still operate the programs, but would not  
          receive a specific allocation for them. 









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