BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1226
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 8, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Patrick O'Donnell, Chair
AB 1226
(Chávez) - As Introduced February 27, 2015
SUBJECT: School accountability: local control and
accountability plans: state priorities
SUMMARY: Requires school district local control and
accountability plans (LCAPs) to address the degree to which the
certificated instructional personnel of the school district are
offered opportunities for professional development and growth in
effectiveness, including, but not necessarily limited to, the
requirement to confer with a certificated employee making
specific recommendations as to areas of improvement in the
employee's performance and endeavor to assist the employee in
his or her performance pursuant to existing requirements
regarding professional development for certificated employees.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires the performance of certificated employees to be made
on a continuing basis as follows:
a) At least once each school year for probationary
personnel;
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b) At least every other year for personnel with permanent
status; and
c) At least every five years for personnel with permanent
status who have been employed at least 10 years with the
district, are highly qualified (if in a position that
federal law requires to be occupied by a highly qualified
teacher), and whose previous evaluation rated the employee
as meeting or exceeding standards, provided the employee
and the evaluator agree.
2)Requires the evaluation to include recommendations for
improvement, if necessary, or, if the employee is performing
at an unsatisfactory level, a written notice to the employee
of that fact.
3)Provides that an unsatisfactory evaluation may include a
requirement that the employee be required to participate in a
professional development program.
4)Requires school districts to adopt and annually update LCAPs
and requires each LCAP to address the following eight state
priorities:
a) The degree to which teachers are appropriately assigned;
b) Implementation of the academic content and performance
standards adopted by the State Board of Education (SBE);
c) Parental involvement;
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d) Pupil achievement;
e) Pupil engagement;
f) School climate;
g) The extent to which pupils have access to and are
enrolled in a broad course of study; and
h) Pupil outcomes.
FISCAL EFFECT: State mandated local program
COMMENTS: The requirement for each school district and county
office of education to adopt and annually update an LCAP was
established with the enactment of the local control funding
formula (LCFF). The LCAP requirement does not apply to charter
schools, which are instead monitored on the basis of the goals
and actions specified in their charters, which must be updated
annually beginning July 1, 2015.) Each LCAP must address the
eight state priorities listed above. This bill adds as a ninth
priority the degree to which the district offers opportunities
for professional development and growth.
Prior to the enactment of the LCFF, the annual budget
appropriated funds for several professional development
programs, including:
Bilingual Teacher Training Assistance Program
Certificated Staff Mentoring
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National Board Certification Incentives
Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA)
Peer Assistance and Review (PAR)
When the LCFF was adopted, these categorical programs were
eliminated and the funding for them was rolled into the new
funding formula. Although districts have the authority to
continue any or all of these programs using LCFF funds, many do
not, even though professional development is known to be an
important factor in improving classroom instruction.
Possible conflict with pending legislation. This bill actually
contains two requirements. First, it requires each LCAP to
address the degree to which certificated instructional personnel
are offered opportunities for professional developments.
Second, it requires opportunities for professional development
to include individual conferences and the identification of
specific areas of needed improvement. These second issues go
beyond professional development and get into the area of teacher
evaluation, which is being addressed in separate legislation.
Specifically, the following bills dealing with some aspect of
teacher evaluation have been introduced in the current session:
AB 575 (O'Donnell), pending in the Assembly Education
Committee
AB 1078 (Olsen), pending in the Assembly Education
Committee
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AB 1099 (Olsen), pending in the Assembly Education
Committee
AB 1484 (Weber), pending in the Assembly Education
Committee
SB 499 (Liu), pending in the Senate Education Committee
Each of these bills has the potential to more fully address the
broad and complex range of issues related to teacher evaluation.
Hearing them will also would give the committee a better
opportunity to consider all of the issues involved, structure a
more comprehensive teacher evaluation program, and avoid
possible conflicts or inconsistencies that could result from a
piece-meal approach. In addition, Education Code Section 44644,
which is referenced by this bill, may be replaced with a new
section dealing with teacher evaluation. For these reasons,
staff recommends that the bill be amended to strike the
requirement that opportunities for professional development
include individual conferences and the identification of
specific areas of needed improvement.
Charter schools. Charter schools are not required to adopt
LCAPs. Instead, the petition for each charter must address
some, but not all, of the same state priorities as the LCAP,
such as a description of the school's educational program,
annual goals, and measurable outcomes. State priorities that
must be addressed in an LCAP that are not required to be
addressed in a charter school petition, include teacher
assignment, parental involvement, pupil engagement, and school
climate. This bill makes opportunities for professional
development a ninth state priority for LCAPs. Staff recommends
that the bill be amended to add opportunities for professional
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development to the elements that are required to be addressed by
charter school petitions.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
EdVoice
Students First
Opposition
None received
Analysis Prepared by:Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087
AB 1226
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