BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 1012 (Jones-Sawyer) - Pupil instruction: course periods
without educational content.
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|Version: July 15, 2015 |Policy Vote: ED. 8 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: August 17, 2015 |Consultant: Jillian Kissee |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: This bill prohibits a school district serving any of
grades 9 through 12 from assigning students to any course
without educational content for more than one week in any
semester, and prohibits the assignment of any student to a
course that the student has previously completed and received a
satisfactory grade, unless specific conditions are met.
Fiscal
Impact:
The California Department of Education (CDE) indicates the
need of eight full-time positions, one part-time position, and
about $794,000 ongoing funding as no office currently exists
to monitor schools for course content. Costs also include
addressing complaints of noncompliance and appeals and
providing technical assistance to the field. See staff
comments. (General Fund)
AB 1012 (Jones-Sawyer) Page 1 of
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Background:1) Existing law requires each school district serving any of
grades 7-12 to offer to all otherwise qualified students a
course of study fulfilling the requirements and prerequisites
for admission to the California public institutions of
postsecondary education and provide a timely opportunity to each
student to enroll within a four-year period in each course
necessary to fulfill those requirements and prerequisites prior
to graduation from high school. Existing law also requires each
school district to offer a course of study that provides an
opportunity for students to attain entry-level employment skills
in business or industry upon graduation from high school, and
encourages districts to provide all students with a rigorous
academic curriculum that integrates academic and career skills,
incorporates applied learning in all disciplines, and prepares
all students for high school graduation and career entry.
(Education Code § 51228)
State regulations require local education agencies to adopt
uniform complaint procedures through which the public can
register complaints regarding educational programs and rights.
(California Code of Regulations, Title 5, Section 4600 et seq.)
This bill is related to Cruz v. State of California, a class
action lawsuit filed May 29th, 2014, in Alameda County Superior
Court against the State on behalf of students in seven schools.
The plaintiffs allege that the state has violated the rights of
the plaintiffs provided by the Equal Protection clauses of the
state constitution "by failing to provide them with basic
educational opportunities equal to those that other students
elsewhere in the State receive" with regard to meaningful
learning time.
The plaintiffs allege that this lack of instructional time is
due to several factors, including: insufficient curricular
offerings and a lack of available qualified teachers; violence
or security disruptions; late changes to the master course
schedule requiring course and teacher changes; unstable,
transient teaching faculties and administration; and unaddressed
student absenteeism. On April 24, 2015 the court denied a
motion for a preliminary injunction due to lack of evidence
AB 1012 (Jones-Sawyer) Page 2 of
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regarding the practices of most California high schools with
regard to classes without content in order to have a standard by
which the performance of the Plaintiff's schools can be
measured.
Proposed Law:
This bill prohibits, beginning with the 2016-17 school year, a
school district maintaining any grades 9 through 12 from
assigning a student to any course period without educational
content for more than one week in a semester unless certain
conditions.
This bill prohibits, under any circumstances, a school district
from assigning a student enrolled to a course period without
educational content because there are not sufficient curricular
course offerings for the student to take during the relevant
period in the school day. A "course period without educational
content" is defined as a course period in which: the student is
released from campus before the conclusion of the designated
school day; the student is assigned to a service, instructional
work experience, or to another course in which the student is
assigned to assist a certificated employee in a course, but the
student is not expected to complete curricular assignments; or
the student is not assigned to any course for the relevant
course period.
This bill also prohibits these school districts from assigning
students to a course the that student has previously completed
and received a grade determined to have satisfied the
requirements and prerequisites for admission to California
postsecondary education institutions and minimum requirements
for receiving a diploma of graduation from high school unless
either:
The course is designed to be taken more than once;
A student or a student's parent, guardian, or educational
rights holder has consented so that the student's grade can be
improved, a school official has determined that the student
AB 1012 (Jones-Sawyer) Page 3 of
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will benefit from being assigned to the course; and the
principal or assistance principal of the school has stated in
writing that these conditions be met.
This bill requires the CDE to develop regulations to govern
these requirements, including the written statement required of
principals or assistant principals regarding students assigned
to courses without educational content and assigning them to
courses that students have already successfully completed. The
CDE is also required to prepare an annual report to the
Legislature regarding actions taken.
This bill allows complaints of noncompliance of these
requirements to be filed with the local educational agency (LEA)
under the Uniform Compliant Procedures (UCP). A complainant may
appeal a decision of the LEA to the CDE if not satisfied. If a
LEA or the CDE find merit in an appeal, the LEA must provide a
remedy to the affected students.
Related
Legislation: There are numerous bills that expand the UCP to
include additional areas in which complaints may be filed with
LEAs.
AB 379 (Gordon, 2015) expands the UCP to include complaints of
non-compliance with certain rights and responsibilities
regarding the education of students who are in foster care or
who are homeless. AB 379 is pending in this Committee.
SB 81 (Chapter 22, Statutes of 2015) among other things, expands
the UCP to include complaints regarding an alleged violation by
a local agency of federal or state law or regulations governing
adult education programs or regional occupational centers and
programs.
AB 1391 (Gomez, 2015), expands the UCP to include complaints of
non-compliance with the required minimum instructional minutes
for physical education. AB 1391 is pending in this Committee.
AB 1012 (Jones-Sawyer) Page 4 of
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AB 302 (Cristina Garcia, 2015) requires LEAs to provide
reasonable accommodations on a school campus for breast-feeding
and expands the UCP to include complaints of non-compliance with
this requirement. AB 302 is pending in this Committee.
Staff
Comments: This bill broadens the areas in which the CDE is
required to monitors schools. Though some of the identified
costs include workload to address complaints of noncompliance
and appeals, the actual level of staff needed is unknown as it
depends on the number of complaints received and the number of
appeals filed using the UCP.
The Commission on State Mandates has determined that specified
activities related to the implementation of the UCP are
reimbursable. However, it is unclear whether the commission
would determine activities related to complaints of
noncompliance regarding courses without educational content
would be reimbursable since the activities would be triggered by
the LEAs' initial decision to place students in these courses.
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