BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                    AB 1935


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          Date of Hearing:  April 13, 2016


                           ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION


                              Patrick O'Donnell, Chair


          AB 1935  
          (Kim) - As Introduced February 12, 2016


          SUBJECT:  Local control and accountability plans:  posting in  
          different languages


          SUMMARY:  Requires Local Control and Accountability Plans  
          (LCAPs) and updates and revisions to the LCAPs to be posted on a  
          school district's and county office of education's Internet  
          website in languages other than English if specified conditions  
          are met.  Specifically, this bill:  


          1)Requires school districts and county superintendents of  
            schools to post LCAPs on their Internet websites in English  
            and each primary language other than English spoken by at  
            least 15% of the pupils enrolled in a school of the district  
            or county office of education schools.


          2)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to  
            post on the California Department of Education's (CDE) website  
            links to the approved LCAP of each school district and county  
            office of education in each language posted on the website of  
            the district or county office of education.


          EXISTING LAW:  








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          1)Requires each school district and county office of education  
            to adopt and annually update an LCAP.


          2)Requires the SPI to post links to each LCAP on the CDE  
            website.


          3)Requires all notices, reports, statements, or records sent to  
            the parents or guardians of pupils in a school to be provided  
            in English and the primary language of the pupils if at least  
            15% of the pupils speak a primary language other than English.


          FISCAL EFFECT:  State mandated local program



          COMMENTS:  Existing law requires school districts and county  
          offices of education to adopt and annually update LCAPs using a  
          template adopted by the State Board of Education (SBE).  Charter  
          schools are required to annually update their goals and actions  
          to achieve those goals, also using the template adopted by the  
          SBE.  The template is designed to provide guidance to local  
          education agencies (LEAs) in providing a listing and description  
          of expenditures for implementing the specific actions included  
          in the LCAP and a listing and description of expenditures that  
          will serve the pupils who are low income, English learners, in  
          foster care and who have been redesignated as fluent English  
          proficient.  

          The SBE -adopted template is a matrix-type document that  
          consists of several columns and rows.  Although the blank  
          template is 15 pages long, most LCAPs are more than 100 pages  
          long, and some are more than 300 pages long.  Because many  
          parents and members of the public have found the length of the  
          templates to be daunting and confusing, many LEAs have produced  








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          more "user friendly" summaries, which provide the basic elements  
          of the LCAP, but without the same level of detail.  Because the  
          cost of translating the full LCAP into multiple languages is  
          likely to be very high, and since the full translated LCAP may  
          be less useful for its intended audience than a translated  
          summary, staff recommends that the bill be amended to require a  
          district or county office of education to translate either the  
          full LCAP or the summary, if it has one, provided the summary  
          contains, at a minimum, the following:


                 A description of the annual goals and specific actions  
               contained in the plan pursuant to Sections 52060(c) and  
               52066(c) of the Education Code.
                 A description of how the plan addresses each of the  
               state priorities pursuant to Sections 52060(d) and 52066(d)  
               of the Education Code.


          This would be a minimum requirement.  A district would still be  
          able to translate the full LCAP is it chooses.


          Charter schools.  Charter schools are not required to adopt  
          LCAPs.  Instead, they are required to annually update their  
          goals and annual actions to achieve those goals that are  
          identified in the charter petition.  The same template that  
          districts use for their LCAPs is also for use by charter schools  
          when they update their annual goals and actions.  Charter  
          schools also enroll large numbers of students from families  
          whose primary language is other than English.  There is no  
          analytical reason to believe that the parents of charter school  
          students are any less deserving than the parents of traditional  
          school students to have access to translated copies of their  
          school's educational plans.  One could argue that students  
          attend charter schools by choice, and therefore have the option  
          to not attend a charter school if it does not meet the students'  
          and their family's needs.  However, not accommodating the  
          language needs of families could be a screen that discourages  








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          attendance by some students, especially English learners.  In  
          such cases, the school would not be fulfilling the intent of the  
          Legislature that charter schools "increase learning  
          opportunities for all pupils, with special emphasis on expanded  
          learning experiences for pupils who are identified as  
          academically low achieving" (Education Code 47601).   
          Accordingly, staff recommends that the bill be amended to apply  
          to charter schools as well as to school districts and county  
          offices of education.


          Arguments in support.  According to the author's office,  
          "Considering that the [Local Control Funding Formula] provides  
          additional funding based upon the number of EL pupils in a  
          district, parents should be able to view the accountability  
          piece-the LCAP-so they can meaningfully participate in their  
          child's education."  In addition, the author's office provided  
          data showing that only about a quarter of districts with an EL  
          population of more than 20% provided a translated version of  
          their LCAPs.  


          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:


          Support


          Advancement Project


          California Association for Bilingual Education


          California Federation of Teachers


          Californians Together Coalition









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          Education Trust West


          Opposition


          None received


          Analysis Prepared by:Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087