BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 943
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Date of Hearing: April 22, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
O'Donnell, Chair
AB
943 (Travis Allen) - As Introduced February 26, 2015
SUBJECT: Charter schools: California Collaborative for
Educational Excellence.
SUMMARY: Requires that a contractor that is assigned by the
California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE) to
provide advice and assistance to a charter school, non-charter
school, school district, or county office of education shall
have expertise, experience, and a record of success in working
with charter schools in improving pupil outcomes.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes the CCEE to advise and assist school districts,
county superintendents of schools, and charter schools in
achieving the goals set forth in their Local Control and
Accountability Plans (LCAPs).
2)Authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction, at the
request of the chartering authority and with the approval of
the State Board of Education (SBE), to assign the CCEE to
provide advice and assistance to a charter school that fails
to achieve the goals set forth in its LCAP.
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3)Requires the CCEE to contract with individuals, local
educational agencies, or organizations to provide advice and
assistance to local education agencies, including charter
schools, that have either requested the advice and assistance
or have been identified by the SPI and SBE as being in need of
it.
4)Requires contractors to have expertise, experience, and a
record of success in each of, but not limited to, the
following areas:
a) The eight state priorities that must be addressed by the
LCAP;
b) Improving the quality of teaching;
c) Improving the quality of school district and schoolsite
leadership; and
d) Successfully addressing the needs of special pupil
populations, including, but not limited to, English
learners, pupils eligible to receive a free or
reduced-price meal, pupils if foster care, and individuals
with exceptional needs.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS: The CCEE was established with the enactment of the
Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) to provide accountability
for pupil outcomes. The first level of accountability is
provided by the LCAP, which is an annual plan adopted by each
local education agency (LEA) to describe pupil outcome goals and
how the LEA will use its resources to achieve those goals. The
LCAP must address eight state priorities in the following areas:
Teacher assignments and credentialing
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Implementation of SBE-adopted academic content and
performance standards
Parental involvement
Pupil achievement
Pupil engagement
School climate
Access to a broad course of study
Pupil outcomes in the required areas of study for grades
7 to 12.
The purpose of the CCEE is to provide advice and assistance to
LEAs that persistently struggle to meet expected outcomes. An
LEA may request the assistance of the CCEE , or the CCEE may be
assigned to an LEA by the SPI with the approval of the SBE if it
persistently fails to meet specified pupil outcomes.
The CCEE is governed by a five-member board consisting of the
SPI or his or her designee, the president of the SBE or his or
her designee, a county superintendent appointed by the Senate
Committee on Rules, a teacher appointed by the Speaker of the
Assembly, and a superintendent appointed by the Governor. An
LEA selected by the SPI with SBE approval serves as the fiscal
agent for the CCEE. Superintendent Tom Torlakson and the SBE
have selected the Riverside County Office of Education to be the
fiscal agent. The board had its first meeting on February 25,
2015, at which it adopted bylaws, elected officers, and
appointed a subcommittee to conduct a search for an executive
director.
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Under the direction of the board, the fiscal agent is required
to contract with individuals, local educational agencies, or
organizations to provide advice and assistance to local
education agencies, including charter schools, that have either
requested the advice and assistance or have been identified by
the SPI and SBE as being in need of it. The contractors must
have expertise, experience, and a record of success that
includes, but not be limited to, the following:
The eight state priorities
Improving the quality of teaching
Improving the quality of school district and schoolsite
leadership
Successfully addressing the needs of special pupil
populations, including, but not limited to, English
learners, pupils eligible to receive a free or
reduced-price meal, pupils in foster care, and individuals
with exceptional needs.
The fiscal agent already has the authority to contract with an
individual, local education agency, or organization that has
expertise in working with charter schools in improving pupil
outcomes. This bill, however, requires all contractors to have
that expertise by amending two sections of the Education Code.
First, it amends Education Code Section 52074, which establishes
general requirements for the CCEE. By amending this section,
this bill requires all contractors to have charter school
experience, even if that contractor will not be assigned to work
with a charter school. Because there is no compelling reason
that charter school expertise should be a prerequisite for
working with non-charter schools, staff recommends that this
provision be deleted from the bill.
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Charter schools could get lower quality support. This bill
amends Education Code Section 47607.3, which applies
specifically to charter schools. Accordingly, this provision
does not affect non-charter LEAs. However, if it is desirable
to have an individual or organization with charter school
experience provide advice and assistance to an underperforming
charter school, the CCEE already has the authority to do so.
But this requirement would preclude the CCEE from contracting
with an individual or entity that has a better track record in
assisting low performing schools if that individual or entity
did not also have experience working with charter schools. This
could work against the best interests of the charter school
involved by providing it with lower quality and less effective
assistance. The committee may wish to consider the trade-off
between giving the CCEE the flexibility to contract with the
best available individual or entity versus statutorily requiring
charter school experience to trump other considerations.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
EdVoice
Students First
Opposition
None received
Analysis Prepared
by: Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087
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