BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                            Senator Kevin de León, Chair


          SB 1174 (Lara) - English Language Education
          
          Amended: April 23, 2014         Policy Vote: Education 8-0
          Urgency: No                     Mandate: No
          Hearing Date: May 23, 2014      Consultant: Jacqueline  
          Wong-Hernandez
          
          SUSPENSE FILE.

          Bill Summary: SB 1174 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. 

          Fiscal Impact: 
              Ballot costs: $275,000 - $660,000 in one-time costs to the  
              Secretary of State. Placing a measure on a statewide ballot  
              costs $55,000 - $66,000 per page; ballot measures range in  
              length, but average 10 pages in length.
              Language education model choice: Potentially significant  
              additional local costs to provide access to any language  
              educational model that the parents of 20 or more students in  
              the same grade level request, or to facilitate their  
              transfer to a school that offers the requested model. State  
              mandates enacted by the voters are not reimbursable.  
              However, schools are primarily funded by Proposition 98  
              General Fund dollars.
              State-level oversight: Potentially significant increased  
              workload for the California Department of Education to  
              revise guidance and oversight to ensure the state continues  
              to meet federal requirements to provide certain services to  
              ELs, as a protected class. 

          Background: In 1998, statewide voters passed Proposition 227  
          which requires: a) that all children in California public  
          schools be taught English by being taught exclusively in English  
          language classrooms; b) that English Learners (ELs) be educated  
          through sheltered English immersion during a temporary  
          transition period not to exceed 1 year; and, c) that, once ELs  
          had a good working knowledge of English, they be transferred to  
          English language mainstream classrooms. 









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          The initiative permits schools to provide classes in a language  
          other than English under a parent initiated waiver process under  
          specified circumstances. 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, or to  
          allow a student to transfer to a public school which does offer  
          such a class.   

          It also provides that its provisions could be amended by a  
          statute that becomes effective upon approval by voters or by a  
          statute that furthers its purpose if passed by a 2/3 vote of  
          each house and signed by the Governor. (Education Code §  
          300-340)

          Proposed Law:  This bill amends and repeals provisions of the  
          voter enacted initiative Proposition 227 (of 1998) and renames  
          the proposition as the California Education for a Global Economy  
          Initiative (California EdGE Initiative). This bill would, among  
          other things, delete the sheltered English immersion requirement  
          and waiver provisions, and would instead authorize 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. The bill would authorize all parents  
          to choose the language education model that best suits their  
          child, and require that a school in which 20 pupils or more of a  
          given grade level request a specific language program to offer  
          such a class; otherwise, they must allow the pupils to transfer  
          to a public school in which such a class is offered.

          This bill deletes certain findings and declarations relative to  
          English language instruction, and replaces them with others  
          relative to multilingual skills and instruction. 

          This bill authorizes these education statutes to be amended by a  
          majority vote of each house of the Legislature and signed by the  
          Governor. It requires that the provisions of this bill be  
          submitted to the voters at the November 2016 statewide general  
          election.  

          Staff Comments: This measure will result in direct state General  
          Fund costs of approximately $275,000 - $550,000, to place the  








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          proposed revisions to Proposition 227 on the November 2016  
          statewide ballot. If enacted by voters, this measure could  
          result in additional local costs and savings, depending on local  
          decisions. 

          This bill affords greater flexibility to school districts in how  
          they teach ELs, but also expands the rights of parents. For  
          example, the bill authorizes parents to choose the language  
          education model that best suits their child, and requires that a  
          school in which 20 pupils or more of a given grade level  
          "request a specific language program" to offer such a class;  
          otherwise, they must allow the pupils to transfer to a public  
          school in which such a class is offered. What constitutes a  
          "specific language program" is unclear. Especially considering  
          the findings and declarations' focus on competing in a global  
          economy and dual and tri-lingual immersion programs, this  
          requirement could be construed as requiring schools to offer  
          foreign language immersion programs at the request of 20 pupils,  
          or allow them to transfer to a school that does. Staff notes  
          that the responsibility appears to be on the school to "allow" a  
          transfer out, rather than on a school with the desired language  
          program to allow a student to actually enroll. 

          The CDE has opined that because it has a considerable role in  
          ensuring ELs are appropriately served to comply with federal law  
          and to draw down considerable federal funding, it would have to  
          develop guidance documents, regulations, and definitions of what  
          steps are to be taken by a school district in developing their  
          programs and policies. The CDE would incur significant one-time  
          workload to implement the changes; ongoing monitoring and  
          enforcement would be similar to CDE's current efforts and  
          responsibilities.