BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 1174
AUTHOR: Lara
AMENDED: April 23, 2014
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 30, 2014
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Kathleen Chavira
SUBJECT : Multilingual education.
SUMMARY
This bill amends and repeals various provisions of statute
implemented by the enactment of Proposition 227 of 1998, to
be submitted to voters for approval at the November 2016
statewide general election.
BACKGROUND
In 1998, statewide voters passed Proposition 227 which:
Requires that all children in California public
schools be taught English by being taught in English and
that they be placed in English language classrooms.
Requires that English Learners (ELs) be educated
through sheltered English immersion during a temporary
transition period not to exceed one year.
Requires that, once ELs had a good working knowledge
of English, they be transferred to English language
mainstream classrooms.
The initiative permits schools to provide classes in a
language other than English under a parent initiated waiver
process under the following circumstances:
The child is at least ten years old and the school
principal and teachers agree that learning in another
language would be better for the child.
The child has been in a class using English for at
least 30 days and the principal, teachers, and head of
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the school district agree that learning in another
language would be better for the student.
The child already is fluent in English and the
parents want the child to take classes in another
language.
Parents/guardians are required to annually give written
informed consent and to personally visit the school to apply
for the waiver. The initiative requires individual schools
to offer a bilingual education class if 20 or more students
in a given grade level are granted a waiver, otherwise a
student must be allowed to transfer to a public school which
does offer such a class.
Additionally, the initiative required the state to provide
$50 million every year for ten years for English classes for
adults who promised to tutor EL students.
It also provides that its provisions could be amended by a
statue that becomes effective upon approval by voters or by a
statute that furthers the Act's purpose if passed by a
two/thirds vote of each house and signed by the Governor.
(Education Code § 300-340)
ANALYSIS
This bill amends and repeals provisions of the voter enacted
initiative Proposition 227. More specifically, it:
1) Renames the proposition as the California Education for
a Global Economy Initiative (California EdGE
Initiative).
2) Modifies the provisions of the initiative to add new
language:
a) Establishes the following findings
and declarations:
i) Finds that all parents
are eager to have their children master the
English language and obtain a high quality
education, and makes several findings about
California's multinational businesses,
employers' needs for multilingual employees,
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the need for multilingual skills for national
security, diplomacy and international
programs, California's natural reserve of the
world's largest languages, and the state's
unique opportunity to provide parents with a
choice of educating their children in English
and one or more additional languages.
ii) Finds that the new local control
funding reforms direct increased resources to
improve English language acquisition and
provide the opportunity for parental choice
and voice regarding access to language
programs that prepare their children to be
more competitive in a global economy, that the
constraints of current law have deprived many
pupils the opportunity to develop multilingual
skills, and that research demonstrates the
benefits of dual and tri-immersion language
programs.
iii) Resolves that amending and appealing
these provisions will advance the goal of
voters to ensure all children receive high
quality education, including English language
instruction and access to high quality,
innovative, and research-based language
programs that provide the California EdGE.
b) Authorizes school districts and
county offices of education to determine the best
language instruction methods and language
acquisition programs to implement by consulting
experts in the field, parents and engaging local
communities.
c) Encourages local schools to:
i) Mix together English
learners from different native language groups
but with the same degree of fluency for
targeted language instruction.
ii) Provide opportunities for
monolingual English speaking students to be
instructed to achieve proficiency in another
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language.
d) Requires that the non-English
language be at the discretion of the parents,
community and school, depending upon linguistic
resources.
e) Updates funding provisions to
reference the elements of the local control funding
formula.
f) Defines dual- or tri-immersion
programs as programs that teach a portion of the
day in English and a portion of the day in another
language.
g) Authorizes parents to choose the
education model that best suits their children and
requires a school to offer a specific language
program if requested by 20 students or more in a
given grade, or else allow the students to transfer
to a public school which offers such a class.
h) Authorizes these statutes to be
amended by a statute that passes with a majority
vote of each house of the Legislature and is signed
by the Governor.
3) Modifies the provisions of the initiative by deleting
the following provisions:
a) Deletes language declaring that
California's public schools do a poor job of
educating immigrant children and waste financial
resources on experimental language programs, and
that immigrant children can easily acquire full
fluency in a new language in heavily exposed to the
language in the classroom at an early age.
b) Delete requirements that all
children be taught in English, placed in English
language classrooms and, if an English learner, be
educated through sheltered English immersion
temporarily for a period not to exceed one year.
c) Deletes the requirement that once an
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English learner has acquired English that the
student be transferred to English language
mainstream classrooms.
d) Deletes definitions relative to
bilingual instruction and instructional modalities.
e) Deletes the language requiring
parents to secure waivers to access bilingual
instruction and makes conforming changes to delete
the parental waiver process and circumstances which
allow for waiver.
f) Deletes language authorizing a
private right of action in the event a student is
denied the option of an English language
instructional curriculum.
g) Deletes the requirements that
provisions be amended by a statute that furthers
the initiative's purpose and passed by a 2/3 vote
of each house.
4) Require that its provisions be submitted to the voters
at the November 2016 statewide general election.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Intent of the bill . According to the author, the top
education systems in the world all require students to
learn multiple languages. Yet California, with its
natural reserve of diverse linguistic resources has
failed to develop a multilingual workforce. In this new
globalized world, the state's economic success depends
upon our ability to prepare a workforce educated to
compete in a global economy, and able to communicate
with the world.
In addition, the Legislature has recently taken effort
to provide greater local control over funding and
programs in our K-12 schools.
According to the author, existing statute hinders the
ability of districts and schools to innovate, cultivate,
and promote the multilingual skills necessary to keep
our state competitive globally. Proposition 227 created
major barriers to providing multilingual classrooms.
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These barriers have resulted in a low number of schools
offering multilingual instruction and very long
enrollment waiting lists at those that do. Removing and
amending these provisions will make it easier for
districts and parents that desire to offer multilingual
programs, and return local control to districts and
parents to drive the educational model that works best
for their children.
2) In order to become enacted ? Proposition 227 provided
for two ways in which its provisions could be amended;
by statute that becomes effective upon the approval of
voters, or by statute that furthers the act's purpose
and is passed by a two-thirds majority vote of both
houses and is signed by the Governor. In order to
become effective, pursuant to the original provisions of
Proposition 227, this bill must be submitted to and
approved by voters.
3) Side-by-side . Consistent with the original language of
Proposition 227, this bill:
a) Continues to acknowledge that English is the
national public language, important for economic
opportunity, and that all parents are eager to have
their children master English and fully participate
in economic and social advancement.
b) Continues to acknowledge the obligations of
the government and public schools in to provide the
skills to be productive members of society and that
literacy in English is among the most important of
these skills.
c) Maintains the declaration that all California
school children have the right to be provided with
an English language public education.
The attached document outlines the specific amendments and
the replacement language for the current provisions in law
established by Proposition 227.
SUPPORT
Public Counsel
California Language Teachers Association
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San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce
United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA)
OPPOSITION
None received.
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Proposition 227 Comparison to SB 1174 (Lara)