BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
                              Senator Carol Liu, Chair
                                2015 - 2016  Regular 

          Bill No:               AB 943            
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          |Author:     |Travis Allen                                         |
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          |Version:    |May 4, 2015                               Hearing    |
          |            |Date:     July 1, 2015                               |
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          |Urgency:    |No                    | Fiscal:     |Yes             |
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          |Consultant: |Lenin Del Castillo                                   |
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          Subject:  Charter schools:  California Collaborative for  
          Educational Excellence

            SUMMARY
          
          This bill requires that the California Collaborative for  
          Educational Excellence (CCEE), when assigning a contractor to  
          provide advice and assistance to a charter school, to give  
          priority to a contractor that has expertise, experience, and a  
          record of success in working with charter schools in improving  
          pupil outcomes.  


            BACKGROUND
          
          Chapter 47, Statutes of 2013 (AB 97, Committee on Budget), and  
          subsequent legislation created the Local Control Funding Formula  
          (LCFF), which consolidated most of the state's categorical  
          programs with general purpose revenue limit funding and would be  
          phased in over the coming years.  One of the main principles  
          behind the LCFF is that English learners and low-income students  
          require more attention and resources in the classroom than  
          students who do not have these same challenges.  By providing  
          more services (and in turn, additional funding) to these student  
          populations, it is widely believed that this will help close the  
          achievement gap and help all students perform better.

          In addition to the LCFF, the 2013 Budget established a new  
          system for school accountability.  Under the new system, school  
          districts, county offices of education, and charter schools are  
          required to complete a local control and accountability plan  







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          (LCAP).  The LCAP must include a district's annual goals in each  
          of the following eight state priority areas:  

          1)Student achievement; 

          2)Student engagement; 

          3)Other student outcomes; 

          4)School climate; 

          5)Implementation of the Common Core State Standards; 

          6)Course access; 

          7)Basic services; and 

          8)Parental involvement.




          The LCAPs must also include both district wide goals and goals  
          for specific subgroups.  Districts are required to consult with  
          stakeholders on their plans and hold at least two public  
          hearings before adopting or updating their LCAP.  

          The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) legislation established  
          a new system of school district support and intervention.  The  
          California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE) was  
          created in order to provide advice and assistance to local  
          educational agencies (LEAs).  Under the new system, if an LEA  
          does not meet performance expectations in the eight state  
          priority areas, they could be subject to intervention by their  
          County Office of Education or the CCEE.  LEAs that are  
          continuously not meeting performance standards, as specified,  
          could be subject to intervention by the State Board of Education  
          (SBE) and State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI).   
          However, LEAs also may seek assistance from the CCEE on their  
          own.

          Existing law specifies that the CCEE shall be governed by a  
          board consisting of the following five members:  









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          1)The SPI or his/her designee; 

          2)The President of the SBE or his/her designee; 

          3)A superintendent of a county office of education appointed by  
            the Senate Rules Committee; 

          4)A teacher appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly; and 

          5)A superintendent of a school district appointed by the  
            Governor.

          Existing law also specifies that, at the direction of the board  
          of the CCEE, the fiscal agent shall contract with individuals,  
          LEAs or organizations with expertise, experience, and a record  
          of success to carry out the purposes of the LCFF implementation.  


            ANALYSIS
          
          This bill requires that the CCEE, when assigning a contractor to  
          provide advice and assistance to a charter school, to give  
          priority to a contractor that has expertise, experience, and a  
          record of success in working with charter schools in improving  
          pupil outcomes.  


          STAFF COMMENTS
          
       1)Need for the bill.  According to the author's office, existing  
            law provides authority for the SPI to assign the CCEE to  
            charter schools to reach their goals, and ultimately  
            authorizes the chartering authority to close any charter  
            school that does not meet the standards of its local control  
            and accountability plan (LCAP).  The author's office indicates  
            this bill ensures that our California students have experts in  
            their respective fields assisting their schools in helping  
            them reach their educational goals.

       2)Is the bill necessary?  Under the direction of the SBE, the  
            fiscal agent for the CCEE is required to contract with  
            individuals, LEAs, or organizations to provide 
          
            advice and assistance to LEAs, including charter schools that  








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            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:

          a)   The eight state priorities;

          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 in foster care, and individuals  
               with exceptional needs.


            It appears that the fiscal agent already has the authority to  
            contract with an entity that has expertise in working with  
            charter schools in improving pupil outcomes.  While the bill  
            could help ensure that contractors assigned by the California  
            Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE) have expertise  
            and experience with charter schools, the Committee may wish to  
            consider whether this bill is necessary.

            Additionally, by requiring the CCEE to give priority to  
            contractors with charter school experience, this bill could  
            remove the CCEEs discretion in selecting the most qualified  
            individual or organization and limit the pool of contractors  
            to choose from.  To the extent that a contractor is selected  
            based primarily on its previous charter school experience,  
            this could work against the best interests of a charter school  
            if it is unable to provide the most effective support or  
            technical assistance.  To help alleviate these concerns, the  
            author proposes to amend the bill and replace its current  
            content with a provision requiring the fiscal agent for the  
            CCEE, in selecting a potential contractor for a charter  
            school, to consider whether that individual or organization  
            has a record of success in working with charter schools in  
            improving pupil outcomes.  Staff concurs with this amendment  
            as it would allow the CCEE the flexibility to contract with  








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            the best available individual or organization rather than  
            statutorily requiring charter school experience to take  
            precedent over potentially more important considerations.


       3)Purpose of the CCEE.  Current law specifies that the purpose of  
            the CCEE is 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).  However, the CCEE board itself does not have a  
            statutory role in evaluating local educational agency (LEA)  
            performance, determining which LEAs receive advice and  
            assistance, or the delivery of advice and assistance.  Those  
            functions lay with the Superintendent of Public Instruction  
            (SPI), county superintendents of schools, and the individuals  
            and organizations with whom the fiscal agent has contracted to  
            provide those services.  The advice and assistance may be  
            provided upon request of an LEA (in which case the LEA pays  
            for the cost).  Alternatively, the CCEE may be assigned to an  
            LEA upon the recommendation of the SPI, if the SPI and the  
            county superintendent of schools in which the LEA exists,  
            determine that assistance is needed to help the LEA achieve  
            the goals it has specified for itself in its LCAP.  

            The 2013 Budget Act appropriated $10 million to establish this  
            new system of support through the CCEE.  The State Department  
            of Education recommended, and the State Board of Education  
            approved, the selection of Riverside County Office of  
            Education as the fiscal agent for the California Collaborative  
            for Educational Excellence (CCEE).  Because the number of  
            districts that will need assistance is unknown and the role of  
            the CCEE is still unclear, the cost of the new support and  
            intervention system going forward has yet to be determined.   
            The CCEE board met only for the first time on February 25,  
            2015.  The Governor's Proposed 2015 Budget does not include  
            ongoing funding for the CCEE, but the Administration will be  
            considering ongoing funding as the system is further  
            developed.  

       4)Fiscal impact.  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
            Committee, there could be an unknown, likely absorbable  
            Proposition 98 General Fund impact and that the costs  
            associated with providing a specific contractor will likely be  
            absorbed within existing Proposition 98 General Fund support  








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            for the CCEE.

            SUPPORT
          
          California Charter Schools Association
          Charter Schools Development Center
          EdVoice
          StudentsFirst

            OPPOSITION
           
           None received.

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