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. ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Version: July 15, 2015 |Policy Vote: ED. 8 - 0 | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Hearing Date: August 17, 2015 |Consultant: Jillian Kissee | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ? 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 ? 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 ? 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 ? 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. -- END --