BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 232
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|Author: |Hall |
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|Version: |March 19, 2015 Hearing Date: |
| |March 25, 2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: | Yes |
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|Consultant:|Lenin Del Castillo |
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Subject: School accountability: local control and
accountability plans: California ????. Collaborative for
Educational Excellence
SUMMARY
This bill would allow a state-appointed trustee or administrator
of a school district in receivership to request the advice and
assistance of the California Collaborative for Educational
Excellence.
BACKGROUND
California Collaborative for Educational Excellence
Chapter 47, Statutes of 2013 (AB 97, Committee on Budget), and
subsequent legislation created the Local Control Funding Formula
(LCFF), which consolidated most of the state's categorical
programs with general purpose revenue limit funding and would be
phased in over the coming years. One of the main principles
behind the LCFF is that English learners and low-income students
require more attention and resources in the classroom than
students who do not have these same challenges. By providing
more services (and in turn, additional funding) to these student
populations, it is widely believed that this will help close the
achievement gap and help all students perform better.
In addition to the LCFF, the 2013 Budget established a new
system for school accountability. Under the new system, school
districts, county offices of education, and charter schools are
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required to complete a Local Control and Accountability Plan
(LCAP). The LCAP must include a district's annual goals in each
of the following eight state priority areas:
1. Student achievement.
2. Student engagement.
3. Other student outcomes.
4. School climate.
5. Implementation of the Common Core State Standards.
6. Course access.
7. Basic services.
8. Parental involvement.
The plans must also include both district wide goals and goals
for specific subgroups. Districts are required to consult with
stakeholders on their plans and hold at least two public
hearings before adopting or updating their LCAP.
The new funding formula also created a new system of school
district support and intervention. The California Collaborative
for Educational Excellence (CCEE) was created in order to
provide advice and assistance to local educational agencies
(LEAs). Under the new system, if an LEA does not meet
performance expectations in the eight state priority areas, they
could be subject to intervention by their County Office of
Education or the CCEE. LEAs that are continuously not meeting
performance standards, as specified, could be subject to
intervention by the State Board of Education (SBE) and State
Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI). However, LEAs also
may seek assistance from the CCEE on their own.
Existing law specifies that the CCEE shall be governed by a
board consisting of the following five members: (1) the SPI or
his/her designee; (2) the President of the SBE or his/her
designee; (3) a superintendent of a county office of education
appointed by the Senate Rules Committee; (4) a teacher appointed
by the Speaker of the Assembly; and (5) a superintendent of a
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school district appointed by the Governor.
Existing law also specifies that, at the direction of the board
of the CCEE, the fiscal agent shall contract with individuals,
as well as LEAs or organizations with expertise, experience, and
a record of success to carry out the purposes of the Local
Control Funding Formula (LCFF) implementation.
Emergency Loans and School Administrators
Existing law provides the authority for emergency loans to be
given to school districts that are unable to meet their current
operating expenses. Such loans are provided by legislation
enacted at the request of the district. Existing law requires
districts that receive an emergency loan to agree to statutory
terms and conditions regarding repayment of the loan and the
steps to be taken to return the district to financial solvency.
If a district receives an emergency loan of up to 200% of its
recommended budget reserve, the SPI is required to appoint a
trustee who has the authority to stay and rescind any action of
the school district governing board. Further, the appointed
trustee serves until the loan is repaid and the district has
adequate fiscal systems and controls in place. If a school
district receives an emergency loan of more than 200% of its
recommended budget reserve, then the SPI is required to assume
all legal rights, duties, and powers of the governing board and
to appoint an administrator to act on his or her behalf in
exercising this authority. The SPI may return power to the
governing board after specified conditions are met. The costs
of the trustee and administrator and other related oversight and
monitoring activities are borne by the district. Since 1991,
nine school districts have received emergency loans, including:
Oakland Unified, Vallejo City Unified, King City Joint Union
High School District (formerly South Monterey County Joint Union
High School District), West Fresno, and most recently, Inglewood
Unified.
ANALYSIS
This bill would allow a state-appointed trustee or administrator
of a school district in receivership, among other things, to
request the advice and assistance of the California
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Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE).
STAFF COMMENTS
1. Need for the bill. According to the author's office, in
order to receive assistance from the California
Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE), the
governing body of a school district, a county
superintendent, or a district superintendent must make a
request. However, when a school district enters state
receivership, such as Inglewood Unified School District,
and is currently under a state-appointed administrator to
oversee the district's day-to-day operations, the
administrator is not included among those entities that can
request assistance of the CCEE. "School districts with the
most to gain by accessing the CCEE, those under state
receivership, have no direct or clear way of doing so."
According to the author's office, the bill provides all
school districts under state receivership with a clear path
to access the CCEE.
2. Is the bill necessary? Current law provides several ways
for local educational agencies (LEAs) to access assistance
from the CCEE. Specifically, subsection (f) of Education
Code § 52074 allows the Superintendent of Public
Instruction (SPI) to direct the CCEE to advise and assist
an LEA under specified circumstances, including a situation
whereby the governing board of an LEA requests the advice
and assistance of the CCEE. Additionally, pursuant to
Education Code § 52071, if a school district requests
technical assistance, the county superintendent of schools
shall provide technical assistance, including a request
that the CCEE provide advice and assistance to the school
district. For a school district under state receivership,
because the SPI assumes all the legal rights, duties, and
powers of the governing board, it appears that the SPI has
the authority to request technical assistance or the advice
of the CCEE on behalf of that district. Therefore, it can
be reasonably argued that there are already sufficient
mechanisms in place for LEAs to request assistance from the
CCEE.
3. Purpose of the CCEE. Current law specifies that the
purpose of the CCEE is to advise and assist school
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districts, county superintendents of schools, and charter
schools in achieving the goals set forth in their local
control and accountability plans (LCAPs). However, the
CCEE board itself does not have a statutory role in
evaluating LEA performance, determining which LEAs receive
advice and assistance, or the delivery of advice and
assistance. Those functions lay with the SPI, county
superintendents of schools, and the individuals and
organizations with whom the fiscal agent has contracted to
provide those services. The advice and assistance may be
provided upon request of an LEA (in which case the LEA pays
for the cost). Alternatively, the California Collaborative
for Educational Excellence (CCEE) may be assigned to an LEA
upon the recommendation of the SPI, if the SPI and the
county superintendent of schools in which the LEA exists,
determine that assistance is needed to help the LEA achieve
the goals it has specified for itself in its LCAP.
The 2013 Budget Act appropriated $10 million to establish
this new system of support through the California
Collaborative for Education Excellence (CCEE). The State
Department of Education recommended, and the State Board of
Education approved, the selection of Riverside County
Office of Education as the fiscal agent for the CCEE.
Because the number of districts that will need assistance
is unknown and the role of the CCEE is still unclear, the
cost of the new support and intervention system going
forward has yet to be determined. The CCEE board met only
for the first time on February 25, 2015. The Governor's
Proposed 2015 Budget does not include ongoing funding for
the CCEE, but the Administration will be considering
ongoing funding as the system is further developed. The
Committee may wish to consider whether it is appropriate or
premature at this point to potentially expand the scope of
the CCEE by specifically authorizing the administrator of a
school district under receivership to request its
assistance.
4. Inglewood Unified School District. Chapter 325, Statutes
of 2012 (SB 533, Wright) provided an emergency loan of $29
million in General Fund to the Inglewood Unified School
District in order to restore the district back to fiscal
solvency. The district is located in Los Angeles County
and enrolled approximately 15,000 pupils in 26 schools in
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the 2010-11 school year. In April 2012, the Los Angeles
County Office of Education (LACOE) certified Inglewood
Unified School District's fiscal status as negative, which
meant that based upon current projections at the time, the
district could not meet its financial obligations for the
2011-12 or 2012-13 fiscal years. The current State Trustee
for the Inglewood Unified School District was appointed by
the Superintendent of Public Instruction in June 2013,
taking over for the Interim State Administrator. The
Interim State Administrator was appointed in December 2012
after the resignation of the district's previous and
initial State Administrator, who was appointed in October
2012.
5. Related and previous legislation.
AB 2408 (Allen, 2014) proposed to expand the governing
board of the CCEE from five to seven members by adding a
representative of charter schools, appointed by the Senate
Rules Committee, and a parent of a California public school
pupil, appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly. AB 2408
passed this Committee on June 4, 2014, but was eventually
vetoed by the Governor with the following message:
I am returning Assembly Bill 2408 without my
signature.
This bill would add two new members to the California
Collaborative for Educational Excellence that was
recently established under the Local Control Funding
Formula.
It is premature to alter the composition of the
Collaborative prior to its initial meeting. I would
prefer to see how the Collaborative functions in its
current form before making any changes.
Chapter 325, Statutes of 2012 (SB 533, Wright), provided an
emergency loan of $29 million in General Fund to the
Inglewood Unified School District to restore the district
back to fiscal solvency.
SUPPORT
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Superintendent of Public Instruction
OPPOSITION
None received.
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