BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2548
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GOVERNOR'S VETO
AB
2548 (Weber)
As Enrolled September 9, 2016
2/3 vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |75-1 |(June 1, 2016) |SENATE: |39-0 |(August 24, |
| | | | | |2016) |
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|ASSEMBLY: |78-0 |(August 30, | | | |
| | |2016) | | | |
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Original Committee Reference: ED.
SUMMARY: Requires the State Board of Education (SBE) to adopt a
statewide accountability system aligned to state and federal
accountability requirements. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the accountability system to:
a) Be a single, integrated system that aligns local, state,
and federal accountability requirements;
b) Satisfy the requirements of the federal Every Student
Succeed Act (ESSA);
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c) Align California's local control framework with the need
to identify, support, and improve California's highest need
schools; and
d) Rely upon data from key indicators adopted by the SBE
pursuant to the SBE-adopted evaluation rubrics.
2)Requires the SBE, with regard to developing the statewide
accountability system, to rely upon data from key indicators
established pursuant to the evaluation rubrics adopted by the
SBE. Requires, at a minimum, the key indicators to include
all of the following:
a) For elementary and middles schools, a measure of: pupil
achievement in at least English language arts, mathematics,
and science; academic growth; progress toward English
proficiency; chronic absenteeism; school climate.
b) For high schools, a measure of: pupil achievement in at
least English language arts, mathematics, and science;
graduation rates; progress toward English proficiency;
college and career readiness; chronic absenteeism; and
school climate.
c) Requires substantial weight and, in aggregate, much
greater weight, to be given to the measure of: pupil
achievement in English language arts (ELA), math and
science; academic growth and progress towards English
proficiency.
3)Requires, in identifying appropriate assistance for a school
or Local Educational Agency (LEA), the California
collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE) and the county
superintendents of schools to analyze data aligned with all
the state priorities in order to align the level of support,
collaboration, and intervention to the needs of the LEA or
individual school or schools.
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4)Requires the accountability system to ensure the creation of a
data and reporting system that provides meaningful and
accessible information on school and school district
performance that is displayed through an electronic platform.
Parents and the public must have the ability to easily access,
compare, analyze, and summarize school reports, pupil
performance results, and the progress made by schools and
school districts in reaching all of the state's priority areas
for purposes of local control and accountability plans and the
local control funding formula.
5)Requires notifications of stakeholder engagement, school
support, and improvement activities to be translated in the
top five languages as identified by the California Department
of Education (CDE).
6)States the intent of the Legislature that, to the extent
required by state and federal law, the information on school,
school district, and subgroup performance be made available in
the top five languages as identified by the CDE.
The Senate amendments:
1)Require the accountability system to be a single system that
integrates local, state, and federal accountability
requirements;
2)Require the measure of progress toward English proficiency to
include, but not be limited to, data on the reclassification
rates of English learners and long-term English learners, when
available;
3)Require the SBE to establish a mechanism to meaningfully
differentiate the performance of all public schools based on
pupil outcomes for purposes of advice and assistance from the
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California Collaborative for Educational Excellence and county
offices of education;
4)Require notifications of stakeholder engagement, school
support, and improvement activities to be translated in the
top five languages as identified by the California Department
of Education (CDE); and
5)State the intent of the Legislature that, to the extent
required by state and federal law, the information on school,
school district, and subgroup performance be made available in
the top five languages as identified by the CDE.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes the Local Control Funding Formula, requires local
educational agencies to adopt and annually update a Local
Control and Accountability Plan that includes a description
of:
a) The annual goals, for all students and each subgroup, to
be achieved for each of the state priorities and for any
additional local priorities; and
b) The specific actions the school district or county
office of education will take during each year to achieve
the goals, including any specific actions to correct any
deficiencies in regard to the state priorities (Education
Code (EC) Section 42238, et seq., Section 52060, and
Section 52066)
2)Requires the SBE to adopt evaluation rubrics to assist:
a) A school district, county office of education or charter
school in evaluating its strengths, weaknesses, and areas
that require improvement;
b) A county superintendent of schools in identifying school
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districts and charter schools in need of technical
assistance and the specific priorities upon which the
technical assistance should be focused; and
c) The Superintendent of Public Instruction in identifying
school districts for intervention.
3)Requires the SBE to adopt, as part of the evaluation rubrics,
standards for school district and individual school
performance and expectations for improvement in regard to each
of the state priorities. (EC Section 52064.5)
Existing federal law:
1)Establishes the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA),
which requires states to establish accountability systems that
include the following indicators:
a) Proficiency in reading and math; Graduation rates for
high schools; English language proficiency;
b) For elementary and middle schools, student growth or
another indicator that is valid, reliable, and statewide;
and
c) At least one other indicator of school quality or
success, such as measures of safety, student engagement, or
educator engagement.
2)Requires the accountability system to have substantial weights
on specified academic indicators.
3)Requires states, at least once every three years, to identify
the lowest performing 5% of Title I schools and all high
schools with a graduation rate that is below 67% for
comprehensive support. (United States Code, Title 20, § 6301,
et seq.)
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FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Unknown General Fund costs, potentially in the hundreds of
thousands of dollars, for CDE to comply with the data
components of this bill. This bill requires data to be
provided to parents and the public that is "meaningful and
accessible" and displayed through an electronic platform. The
bill requires parents and the public to have the ability to
easily access, compare, analyze, and summarize school reports,
pupil performance results, and the progress made by schools
and school districts in reaching all of the state's priority
areas. The current school data systems, CALPADs and
DataQuest, do not present data in this format. It is not
clear if CDE would be able to adapt existing systems or if a
new data system would need to be developed. Either way,
significant resources would be needed to present data in this
manner.
2)Unknown Proposition 98/GF cost pressures, in the millions of
dollars, to the extent this expanded accountability system
identifies more school districts or school sites in need of
state intervention and assistance.
3)The CDE estimates ongoing General Fund costs of $320,000 for
two positions to support the development, implementation, and
maintenance of a new state/federal aligned accountability
system. These positions are needed irrespective of this bill.
The CDE has submitted a budget request for this staffing
support and the request is still being considered by the
Legislature.
COMMENTS: According to co-sponsors of this bill, Children Now
and Education Trust West, this bill will align the state and
federal accountability requirements, avoiding the confusing and
sometimes conflicting systems of the past, and bringing together
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the strengths of both systems to promote high levels of
achievement and equity. Specifically, according to the
sponsors, the bill proposes to establish common "key indicators"
that apply to both districts and schools and also align with the
state's values. The bill also sets forth criteria for
identifying districts and schools in need of support and
improvement and clarifies that the CCEE and county
superintendents shall analyze data aligned with all of the state
priorities in order to align the level of support,
collaboration, and intervention to the needs of the local
education agency or individual school or schools. The bill also
requires the development of a data dashboard, showing student
outcomes from multiple measures.
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE:
I am returning Assembly Bill 2548 without my
signature.
This bill would impose new requirements for the public
school accountability system that the State Board of
Education has already developed.
The Board has spent more than two years listening to
parents, students, teachers, school leaders and the
public in order to create a thoughtful and integrated
federal, state and local accountability system based
on the Local Control Funding Formula.
On September 8, 2016, the Board adopted the Local
Control Funding Formula indicators which serve as the
foundation of the new accountability system. The
Board is committed to continuously improving the
system and has an annual review process in place for
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just that reason. It is unnecessary and premature to
impose additional requirements at this time.
Analysis Prepared by:
Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN: 0005138