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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