BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION Senator Carol Liu, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Bill No: AB 1204 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Author: |Chau | |-----------+-----------------------------------------------------| |Version: |May 4, 2015 Hearing | | |Date: June 17, 2015 | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Consultant:|Lynn Lorber | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 AB 1204 (Chau) Page 2 of ? 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. AB 1204 (Chau) Page 3 of ? 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 AB 1204 (Chau) Page 4 of ? 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 AB 1204 (Chau) Page 5 of ? None received. -- END --