BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 232|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 232
Author: Hall (D), et al.
Amended: 3/19/15
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 8-0, 3/25/15
AYES: Liu, Huff, Block, Hancock, Leyva, Mendoza, Pan, Vidak
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT: School accountability: California Collaborative for
Educational Excellence: state administrator
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill allows 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.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Specifies that the California Collaborative for Educational
Excellence (CCEE) shall be governed by a board consisting of
the following five members: (a) the Superintendent of Public
Instruction (SPI) or his/her designee; (b) the President of
the State Board of Education (SBE) or his/her designee; (c) a
superintendent of a county office of education appointed by
the Senate Rules Committee; (d) a teacher appointed by the
Speaker of the Assembly; and (e) a superintendent of a school
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district appointed by the Governor.
2)Specifies that, at the direction of the board of the CCEE, the
fiscal agent shall contract with individuals, as well as local
educational agencies (LEAs) or organizations with expertise,
experience, and a record of success to carry out the purposes
of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) implementation.
This bill allows a state-appointed trustee or administrator of a
school district in receivership, among other things, to request
the advice and assistance of the CCEE.
Background
AB 97 (Committee on Budget, Chapter 47, Statutes of 2013) and
subsequent legislation created the 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
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
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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 CCEE was created in
order to provide advice and assistance to 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 SBE and SPI.
However, LEAs also may seek assistance from the CCEE on their
own.
Emergency Loans and School Administrators. Emergency loans may
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. Districts
that receive an emergency loan are required 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/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.
Comments
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Need for the bill. According to the author's office, in order
to receive assistance from the 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, this bill provides all school districts under
state receivership with a clear path to access the CCEE.
Is the bill necessary? Existing law provides several ways for
LEAs to access assistance from the CCEE. Specifically,
subsection (f) of Education Code § 52074 allows the 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.
Purpose of the CCEE. Existing law specifies that the purpose of
the CCEE is to advise and assist school districts, county
superintendents of schools, and charter schools in achieving the
goals set forth in their 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
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provided upon request of an LEA (in which case the LEA pays for
the cost). Alternatively, the 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 CCEE. The California
Department of Education recommended, and the SBE 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.
Inglewood Unified School District. SB 533 (Wright, Chapter 325,
Statutes of 2012) provided an emergency loan of $29 million from
the 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 the 2010-11 school
year. In April 2012, the Los Angeles County Office of Education
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
SPI 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.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified 4/27/15)
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Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Torlakson
Los Angeles County Office of Education
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: Supporters argue that this bill allows
for assistance services to be provided by the CCEE and be
particularly helpful for school districts that are under state
receivership.
Prepared by:Lenin Del Castillo / ED. / (916) 651-4105
4/28/15 15:31:20
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