BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 575
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
575 (O'Donnell)
As Amended August 15, 2016
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(June 4, 2015) |SENATE: |38-0 |(August 18, |
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(vote not relevant)
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|COMMITTEE VOTE: |6-0 |(August 30, |RECOMMENDATION: |concur |
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(Ed.)
Original Committee Reference: ED.
SUMMARY: Re-establishes a sunsetted process for the follow-up
adoption of instructional materials, with a sunset of January 1,
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2024.
The Senate amendments delete the prior contents of the bill and
instead re-establish a sunsetted process which authorizes the
California Department of Education (CDE) to conduct follow-up
adoptions of instructional materials. Specifically, the
amendments:
1)Provide that a follow-up adoption is any adoption other than the
primary adoption that occurs within the existing eight-year
adoption cycle.
2)Require the CDE, before conducting a follow-up adoption in a
given subject area, to post an appropriate notice on its Web
site and notify all publishers or manufacturers known to
produce basic instructional materials in that subject area.
3)Require the notice to specify that each publisher or manufacturer
choosing to participate in the follow-up adoption be assessed
a fee based on the number of programs the publisher or
manufacturer indicates will be submitted for review and the
number of grade levels proposed to be covered by each program.
4)Require the fee to offset the cost of conducting the follow-up
adoption process and reflect the CDE's best estimate of the
cost.
5)Require the CDE to take reasonable steps to limit the cost of the
follow-up adoption and to keep the fee modest, recognizing
that some of the work necessary for the primary adoption need
not be duplicated.
6)Require the CDE, before incurring substantial costs for the
follow-up adoption, to require that a publisher or
manufacturer who wishes to participate in the follow-up
adoption first declare the intent to submit one or more
specific programs for the follow-up adoption and specify the
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specific grade levels to be covered by each program.
7)Require 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.
8)Require the fee to 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.
9)Prohibit a submission from being reviewed for purposes of
adoption, either in a follow-up adoption or in any other
primary or follow-up adoption conducted thereafter, until the
fee assessed has been paid in full.
10)State legislative intent that the fee not be so substantial that
it prevents small publishers or manufacturers from
participating in a follow-up adoption.
11)Authorize the State Board of Education (SBE), upon the request
of a small publisher or manufacturer, to reduce the fee for
participation in the follow-up adoption.
12)Define "small publisher" and "small manufacturer" as an
independently owned or operated publisher or manufacturer who
is not dominant in its field of operation, and who, 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.
13)Require that revenue derived from fees is budgeted as
reimbursements and subject to review through the annual budget
process, and authorizes the fees to be used to pay costs
associated with any adoption and any costs associated with the
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review of instructional materials.
14)Modify existing provisions regarding the submission of
instructional materials from every eight years to at least
once but not more than twice every eight years.
15)Require that, if the CDE determines that there is little or no
interest among publishers and manufacturers in participating
in a follow-up adoption, the CDE recommend to the SBE that the
follow-up adoption not be conducted and the SBE may choose to
not conduct one.
16)Prohibit the use of General Fund revenue to support follow-up
adoptions.
17)Sunset the authority to conduct follow-up adoptions in 2024.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires the SBE to adopt basic instructional materials for
use in kindergarten and grades one to eight in each of the
following subject areas:
a) Language arts, including English language development
b) Mathematics
c) Science
d) Social science
e) Bilingual or bicultural subjects
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f) Any other subject which the SBE deems necessary or
desirable
1)Authorizes instructional materials to be submitted for
adoption in any of the above subject areas every eight years.
2)Requires the SBE to ensure that the submitted basic
instructional materials:
a) Are consistent with the criteria and the standards of
quality prescribed in the curriculum framework
b) Comply with the SBE's guidelines for social content
c) Are factually accurate and incorporate principles of
instruction reflective of current and confirmed research
d) Are aligned to the content standards adopted by the
state board in the subject area and the grade level or
levels for which they are submitted
e) Do not contain materials, including illustrations, that
provide unnecessary exposure to a commercial brand name,
product, or corporate or company logo
1)Requires the process for review of instructional materials to
involve review committees, which must include volunteer
content experts and instructional material reviewers, and be
composed of a majority of classroom teachers from a wide
variety of affected grade levels and subject areas.
2)Requires the rules and procedures for adoption of
instructional materials to be transparent and consistently
applicable regardless of the format of the instructional
materials.
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3)Prior law, SB 734 (Torlakson), Chapter 476, Statutes of 2007,
which sunsets in 2011, provided CDE authority to conduct
follow-up adoptions of instructional materials for existing
subject areas.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee:
1)This bill will likely not result in significant costs to the
state. It expands the authority of the CDE to conduct one
follow-up instructional material adoption in a subject area if
necessary, in addition to the primary adoptions that are
supposed to occur every eight years. It allows a fee to be
assessed to publishers who submit materials to offset the cost
of the follow-up adoption and prohibits the use of General
Fund to support these adoptions. To the extent CDE determines
that there is insufficient interest by publishers and
manufacturers in participating in the adoption, the CDE will
recommend to the State Board of Education not to conduct the
adoption.
2)Minor costs to the CDE to recommend to the SBE that a
follow-up adoption not be conducted.
COMMENTS:
Need for the bill. According to the author, "Between 2008 and
2011, the CDE had the authority to conduct follow-up adoptions
of instructional materials during the eight-year adoption cycle,
providing schools with greater choice and more timely access to
standards-aligned programs that met the state's standards of
quality and compliance with the law.
"This authority sunset during the state's budget crisis, when
all instructional materials adoptions were suspended. Since
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then the suspension has been lifted, and the CDE requires this
authority to conduct these follow-up adoptions. Re-establishing
this authority would provide schools with access to a broader
range of standards-aligned materials in a timely manner."
Current need for authority to conduct follow-up adoptions. The
CDE reports that its most pressing need for this authority
relates to the adoption of mathematics materials.
In January, 2014, the SBE adopted instructional materials for
mathematics, approving 31 California Common Core State
Standards-based programs of various grade levels, submitted by
15 publishers. According to the CDE, though this adoption
occurred recently, it occurred on an extremely accelerated
timeline that in effect excluded the submission of a broader
range of programs. In addition, the adoption occurred before
the publishers knew how the assessments would measure
proficiency relative to the Standards for Mathematical Practice
and the California Common Core State Standards. Statewide
assessments for math were first released in 2014 and the results
of the first official administration became available in the
fall of 2015.
For these reasons the CDE believes that another opportunity to
adopt instructional materials for mathematics is needed, in
order to expand district choice and to provide flexibility for
districts that have policies requiring the use of only
SBE-adopted instructional materials.
Prior use of sunsetted authority. As noted above, the CDE had
the authority to conduct follow-up adoptions between 2008 and
2011, when the authority sunset. CDE reports that it used that
authority three times during those years.
This bill authorizes the CDE to charge a fee to publishers for
the review of their materials for follow-up adoption, requires
the CDE to rake reasonable steps to keep the fee modest, and
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authorizes the SBE to reduce the fee for small publishers.
According to the CDE, when the authority was used in the three
follow-up adoptions that occurred between 2008 and 2001, the fee
was $5,000 per program, per grade level submitted.
Analysis Prepared by:
Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN:
0005016