BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     AB 631


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          Date of Hearing:  April 22, 2015


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS


                                 Jimmy Gomez, Chair


          AB  
          631 (Bonilla) - As Amended March 26, 2015


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          Urgency:  No  State Mandated Local Program:  NoReimbursable:  No


          SUMMARY: This bill establishes the Common Core and Next  
          Generation Science Standards Implementation Fund (Implementation  
          Fund), to provide $1 billion for the implementation of those  
          standards and the English Language Development standards, upon  
          appropriation by the Legislature.   Specifically, this bill:  










                                                                     AB 631


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          1)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to  
            allocate funds to local educational agencies (LEAs), defined  
            as school districts, county offices of education, charter  
            schools, and state special schools, on an equal per pupil  
            basis and based on prior year enrollment.  


          2)Allows the funding to be available for encumbrance through the  
            2016-17 fiscal year.


          3)Requires that LEAs spend this funding for any of the  
            following: Professional development for teachers,  
            administrators, and paraprofessionals; integration of the  
            CCSS, NGSS, and ELD standards through technology-based  
            instruction; and instructional materials aligned to the above  
            standards.


          4)Requires, as a condition of receiving funding, the governing  
            body of the LEA develop a spending plan (adopted by the  
            governing board) and report expenditure information to the  
            California Department of Education (CDE), including purchases  
            made and the number of personnel trained.  Requires the CDE to  
            report this information to the appropriate fiscal and policy  
            committees of the Legislature.


          5)Provides that the article will not be implemented unless  
            funding is provided for that purpose in the annual budget act  
            or other statute.


          FISCAL EFFECT: One-time Proposition 98/GF costs of $1 billion  
          for the Implementation Fund, contingent upon funding provided in  
          the annual budget act or other statute for this purpose.  This  
          bill does not contain an appropriation for this purpose and the  
          Governor's January budget proposal does not include funding  
          specifically for the Implementation Fund. 








                                                                     AB 631


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          COMMENTS:  


          1)Purpose. California is in the process of overhauling its  
            curriculum standards for English language Arts, Mathematics,  
            and Science. These new content standards and their  
            accompanying computer-based assessments require districts to  
            properly train teachers, update instructional materials, and  
            increase the integration of technology. Based on the cost of  
            implementing previous content standards, the Department of  
            Education estimated that Common Core would cost $3 billion to  
            successfully implement. The state has dedicated $1.25 billion  
            directly towards this effort.  This bill proposes to provide  
            an additional $1 billion to implement the new standards.





          2)Funding history. The 2013-14 Budget Act provided $1.25 billion  
            (one-time/P98) to LEAs to support the transition to the CCSS,  
            the NGSS and the ELD standards. Allowable activities included  
            professional development, instructional materials, and  
            technology. This funding provides approximately $201 per  
            student and can be used through the 2014-15 fiscal year. 

            The 2014-15 Budget Act appropriated $400 million to reduce  
            K-12 education mandate claims backlog and expressed  
            Legislative intent that the funding be used for the  
            implementation of the above standards.
           
             The 2015-16 Governor's Budget proposes a one-time payment of  
            $1.1 billion toward the mandates backlog with the expressed  
            intent that LEAs use the funds for the implementation of the  
            above standards. The author's office indicates that the  
            funding source for this bill is anticipated one-time  
            Proposition 98/GF revenues in excess of those proposed in the  








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            Governor's Budget.  The Legislative Analyst's Office has  
            projected at least $1 billion to $2 billion additional  
            one-time revenue will be available for appropriation in this  
            year's budget process. 





          3)Prior legislation.  AB 2319 (Bonilla), of the 2013-14 Session,  
            would have established the Innovation, Training, and Common  
            Core Implementation Fund to provide funding for professional  
            development aligned to new academic content standards,  
            education technology, and instructional materials aligned to  
            new content standards. The bill was held on Suspense in this  
            committee.



          Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081