BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1012
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Date of Hearing: May 20, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
1012 (Jones-Sawyer) - As Amended May 6, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill prohibits, starting with the 2016-17 school year, a
school district maintaining any of grades 7 to 12 from assigning
any students to any "course period without educational content"
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for more than one week in any semester, or to a course that the
student has previously completed with a grade sufficient to meet
the A-G requirements and graduation requirements, unless
specifically authorized per requirements of the bill.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Defines "course period without educational content" as one
course period during which any of the following occurs: the
pupil is sent home or released from campus before the
conclusion of the designated schoolday; the pupil is assigned
to service, instructional work experience, or to a course that
has a different name, but involves the pupil providing
assistance to a certificated employee in a situation in which
the ratio of pupil to employee is greater than one to one; or
the pupil is not assigned to any course for the relevant
course period.
2)Sets forth reasons why a pupil may be assigned to a course
without educational content and requires the principal or
assistant principal to certify and place the rationale in the
students cumulative file.
3)Clarifies a school district is not prohibited from
establishing and offering evening high school classes,
independent study, courses of work-based learning or work
experience, or distance learning if the program otherwise
meets all of the requirements of law governing that program.
4)Excludes pupils enrolled in an alternative school, a community
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day school, a continuation high school or an opportunity
school from provisions of the bill.
5)Sets forth an expedited Uniform Complaint Procedures (UCP)
process:
a) Requires the local education agency (LEA), within five
days of receipt of a complaint, to conduct a complete
investigation, issue a written decision, and if the agency
determines the complaint has merit, report back to the
Department of Education (CDE) regarding the basis for the
complaint, the findings and the remedy provided.
b) Authorizes a complaint to be appealed to the CDE, who
shall issue a written decision within 30 days of receipt of
the appeal.
c) Requires the LEA, if the CDE renders a decision in favor
of the complainant, to immediately convene a local
assistance committee to develop a written plan to ensure
that the school district satisfies the requirements of the
complaint. Establishes the membership and stakeholders
involved in the committee, including a CDE representative.
Requires the committee to complete the plan no later than
21 days after the CDE makes the determination.
d) Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI)
to prepare an annual report detailing actions taken
pursuant to the UCP process and submit to the Legislature.
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e) Provides the SPI with all power and authority necessary
to effectuate these requirements.
6)Requires the SPI to adopt regulations to establish procedures
governing specified provisions, including the form of the
certifications required by the bill and the new UCP.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Administrative costs to the CDE, potentially in excess of
$800,000. Currently CDE does not have a unit tasked with the
specific requirements of the bill. CDE indicates they would need
substantial resources, potentially five to eight research
consultants and legal staff, to adequately review UCP appeals.
CDE staff would also be required to participate in local
assistance committees under the new UCP process established by
this bill. In order to meet the 21-day requirement for
developing an action plan for the school, multiple local
assistance committees will likely be convened at the same time.
Sufficient CDE staff would need to be available to travel on
short notice to participate in these committees.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, thousands of high school
students across California are tracked into so-called
"classes," where they are given meaningless "credits" for
sitting at home, in the office, or taking a course they've
already passed. School districts have given these courses
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different names ("home," "service," "work-experience,"
"college," "adult") and many of the affected students need
real, academic classes to fulfill graduation or college access
requirements. This bill would prohibit this practice unless
the principal can certify why a student needs to be placed in
such classes.
2)Pending litigation. This bill addresses one of the five parts
of the Cruz v. State of California, a class action lawsuit
filed May 29, 2014, in Alameda County Superior Court against
the state on behalf of students in seven schools in four
school districts: Oakland Unified School District (USD); Los
Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), West Contra Costa
USD, Compton USD.
The plaintiffs allege that the state has violated the Equal
Protection clauses of the state constitution by failing to
provide students with basic educational opportunities equal to
those that other students elsewhere in the State receive with
regard to meaningful learning time. They allege that this
lack of instructional time is due to several factors.
On February 5th of this year, the plaintiffs filed a motion
for a preliminary injunction. On April 24th, Alameda County
Superior Court Judge George C. Hernández, Jr. denied this
motion, stating that "If, at this stage, Plaintiffs cannot
supply reliable evidence regarding the actual practices of
most California high schools with regard to the use of
contentless classes and the timely implementation of
appropriate master schedules, the court lacks a fair standard
against which to measure the performance of Plaintiff's own
high schools and cannot determine, even preliminarily, whether
Plaintiffs have some possibility of prevailing on their
claims." The plaintiffs have until June 16, 2015, to appeal
the denial of their motion for preliminary injunction. If the
plaintiffs do not appeal, they will continue with discovery on
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all allegations of the complaint.
According to the Legislative Analyst's Office, the Legislature
approved $3.4 million in the current year for the CDE and SBE
to contract for legal services related to this case, and the
Governor's Budget proposes providing an additional $3.7
million for this contract in 2015-16.
3)Uniform Complaint Procedures Process. The UCP was established
in 1991 as a means of creating a "uniform system of complaint
processing" for educational programs. The authority for this
process is located in regulations, not state statute.
Complaints permitted under this process include violations of
state law regarding certain educational programs,
discrimination, harassment and civil rights. Parents,
students, employees, and community members can file complaints
on behalf of themselves or on behalf of another individual.
Most procedural activities required under the state's UCP have
been found to be reimbursable state mandates.
4)Related Legislation:
a) AB 379 (Gordon), pending in this committee, establishes
an expedited UCP process requiring action within five days
for complaints alleging violations of certain educational
rights afforded to students in foster care and students who
are homeless.
b) AB 304 (Garcia), pending in this committee, establishes
an expedited UCP process, requiring action within five days
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with regard to lactation accommodations for students.
c) AB 907 (Burke), pending in this committee, extends the
existing UCP process to financial aid recipients enrolled
in COE programs in order to comply with federal
requirements.
d) AB 1391 (Gomez), pending in this committee, authorizes
complaints regarding local education agency (LEA)
noncompliance with the physical education instructional
minute requirement to be filed under the Uniform Complaint
Procedures (UCP) process.
Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)
319-2081