BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1204
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|Author: |Chau |
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|Version: |May 4, 2015 Hearing |
| |Date: June 17, 2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Lynn Lorber |
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Subject: Instructional Quality Commission: membership: pupil
members
SUMMARY
This bill expands the membership of the Instructional Quality
Commission to include a student member.
BACKGROUND
Existing law:
1)Establishes the Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) for the
purpose of recommending curriculum frameworks to the State
Board of Education (SBE), developing criteria for evaluating
instructional materials, and evaluate and recommend
instructional materials for adoption to the SBE.
(Education Code § 33530 and § 60204)
2)Provides the membership of the IQC is as follows:
a) A member of the Assembly appointed by the Speaker of the
Assembly
b) A member of the Senate appointed by the Senate Committee
on Rules
c) One public member appointed by the Speaker of the
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Assembly
d) One public member appointed by the Senate Committee on
Rules
e) One public member appointed by the Governor
f) 13 public members appointed by the SBE upon the
recommendation of the Superintendent of Public Instruction
or the members of the SBE. (EC § 33530)
1)Requires that at least seven of the 13 public members
appointed by the SBE be recognized authorities or experienced
practitioners in their fields. (EC § 33530)
2)Requires that at least seven of the public members be current
K-12 classroom or mentor teachers. (EC § 33530)
3)Establishes the SBE, and provides that its membership consists
of 10 members who are appointed by the Governor, with the
advice and consent of two-thirds of the Senate. (EC § 33000)
4)Requires the Governor to appoint a student member to the SBE,
with the advice and consent of two-thirds of the Senate, and
establishes a process for selecting the
student member. The term of office of the student member is
set at one year, beginning on August 1, and is limited to one
term. The student must be, at the time the student's term on
the State Board of Education (SBE) begins, enrolled in good
standing in grade 12 in a public high school. (EC § 33000.5)
5)Authorizes the SBE, whenever it is authorized by law to
appoint members to a board, commission, or other statutorily
created body, to also appoint a nonvoting student member to
that body. (EC § 33011)
ANALYSIS
This bill expands the membership of the Instructional Quality
Commission (IQC) to include a student member. Specifically,
this bill:
1)Expands the membership of the IQC from 18 to 19 members, by
increasing the number of public members from 13 to 14.
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2)Requires, so far as it is practical and consistent with the
duties assigned to the IQC by the State Board of Education
(SBE), that one of the 14 public members be a student.
3)Requires the student member to be enrolled in good standing in
a public high school.
4)Requires the student to be chosen from among the two finalist
candidates who were not chosen for nomination as the student
member on the SBE.
5)Requires that the student member be a voting member with full
rights and duties as other members of the IQC.
6)Requires that student members be appointed for a single,
one-year term, and prohibits the student from being eligible
to serve more than one full term.
7)Increases from 7 to 8 the number of current classroom teachers
appointed to the IQC.
STAFF COMMENTS
1)Need for the bill. According to the author, "The current
membership structure of the IQC does not include student
participation as members. There is a need to recognize that
students are the largest stakeholders in the state's education
system, and deserve an opportunity to participate in the
development of curriculum, standards, and instructional
material recommendations on the IQC."
2)Currently authorized. Existing law authorizes the SBE, whenever
it is authorized by law to appoint members to a board,
commission, or other statutorily created body, to also appoint
a nonvoting student member to that body. This bill requires
the appointment of a student member to the IQC, chosen from
among the two finalist candidates who were not chosen for
nomination as the student member on the SBE.
3)Selection of a student member on the State Board of Education
(SBE). Existing law establishes the process for selecting the
student member for the SBE, as follows:
a) The SBE notifies every school district governing board,
district superintendent, high school principal, high school
student activities director, and student body president by
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September 15 of each year that applications are being
accepted for the student member's position.
b) Applications for the student member's position are
submitted to the SBE no later than October 31 of each year.
c) A screening committee of the SBE selects 12 semifinalists.
d) Student members of local school boards select six
candidates from the 12 semifinalists.
e) The SBE, by December 31 of each year, selects three
finalists for the Governor's consideration and ranks the
finalists according to their preference. The Governor then
chooses the student to appoint and submits the name to the
Senate for confirmation. (EC § 33000.5)
1)A one-year appointment to a multi-year process. This bill
establishes a one-year term for the student representative to
the Instructional Quality Commission (IQC). Many of the IQC's
projects span many years, such as the revisions to curriculum
frameworks.
2)Fiscal impact. According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill imposes minor General Fund costs to the
California Department of Education to add an additional
student member to the IQC and to cover substitute teacher
costs for the additional teacher member.
3)Related legislation. SB 532 (Leyva, 2015) requires that a school
district governing board act on a request for pupil
representation on the board within 60 days of receipt of the
request, and requires a unanimous vote of all voting members
of the board in order to eliminate a student representative
from the board, subject to such action being noticed as a
public item on the board's agenda. SB 532 is pending in the
Assembly Education Committee.
SUPPORT
Association of California School Administrators
California Association of Student Councils
California School Boards Association
California Teachers Association
OPPOSITION
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None received.
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