BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2353|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2353
Author: McCarty (D)
Amended: 8/16/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 9-0, 6/15/16
AYES: Liu, Block, Hancock, Huff, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan,
Vidak
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/11/16
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 5/31/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Teacher professional development: culturally
responsive instruction
SOURCE: California Federation of Teachers
DIGEST: This bill requires the California Department of
Education (CDE) to identify professional development programs in
culturally responsive instruction.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Establishes the Local Control Funding Formula which
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permanently consolidated the vast majority of categorical
programs, including the Professional Development Block Grant
which supported professional development activities such as
teacher recruitment and retention incentives, along with
revenue limit apportionments, into a single source of funding.
The statutory and programmatic requirements for almost all of
these categorical programs were also eliminated, leaving any
related activities left to local districts' discretion.
2)Requires the governing board of each school district and each
county board of education to adopt a local control and
accountability plan (LCAP), and to update the plan annually.
Existing law requires LCAPs to include both of the following:
a) A description of the annual goals, for all students and
each subgroup of students, to be achieved for each of the
state priorities and for any additional local priorities
identified by the governing board.
b) A description of the specific actions the school
district will take during each year of the LCAP to achieve
the goals, including the enumeration of any specific
actions necessary for that year to correct any deficiencies
in regard to the state priorities. (EC § 52060 and §
52066)
This bill:
1)Specifies various legislative findings and declarations,
including: culture is essential to learning; culture plays a
role not only in communicating and receiving information, but
also in shaping the thinking process of groups and
individuals; and culturally responsive teaching is a pedagogy
that recognizes the importance of including pupils' cultural
references in all aspects of learning.
2)Requires the CDE to identify professional development programs
in culturally responsive instruction and provide links to
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those programs on its Web site.
Comments
Need for the bill. According to the author's office, the
current structure for ensuring that teachers receive appropriate
training in cultural competency "does not include strategies for
those who seek employment in a school district where racial and
cultural makeup of the student body vastly differ from the
school district where they were trained in their core
competencies. This lack of training is also apparent when
teachers pursue teaching opportunities in California who are
from other states or other countries. Further, there is a need
to address the training needs of teachers and administrators who
have been working in the educational system for some time and
may not have received the level of cultural competency training
appropriate to meet their local district needs."
Related budget activity. The 2015-16 Budget Act included $490
million for local educational agencies (LEAs) to promote
educator effectiveness and were specifically earmarked for a
menu of options that included beginning teacher and
administrator support and mentoring, professional development,
and coaching and support services for teachers identified as
needing improvement. Since LEAs have just received these funds
and have three years to spend them, the number of districts that
have fully spent them or still have funds available is unknown.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, CDE estimates
about $150,000 one-time General Fund for experts to review and
identify programs to post online and for CDE staff to support
the project. These costs include the substitute reimbursements
and travel costs for 20 volunteer teachers to serve as reviewers
for three days and for four content experts. To the extent that
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the intent of this bill could also be met with consultation of a
select few experts and a comparable reduction in administrative
oversight, costs to the state would be less.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/12/16)
California Federation of Teachers (source)
Alameda County Office of Education
American Civil Liberties Union of California
Association of California School Administrators
Children Now
Los Angeles Unified School District
San Bernardino County District Advocates for Better Schools
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/12/16)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 5/31/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,
Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth
Gaines, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez,
Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Roger Hernández,
Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine,
Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty,
Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell,
Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas,
Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner,
Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gallagher, Harper
Prepared by:Lenin DelCastillo / ED. / (916) 651-4105
8/16/16 18:21:25
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