BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 318
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|Author: |Morrell |
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|Version: |February 23, 2015 Hearing Date: |
| | April 15, 2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Lenin Del Castillo |
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Subject: Education technology and digital resources training
pilot program
SUMMARY
This bill would establish a new pilot program to train teachers
in the County of San Bernardino to more effectively utilize
technology and digital resources and appropriate $1 million in
Proposition 98 General Fund for this purpose.
BACKGROUND
The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), enacted as part of the
2013-14 Budget Act, was a significant reform to the state's
system of financing K-12 public schools. It replaced the prior
system of revenue limits and restricted funding for a multitude
of categorical programs with a new funding formula that provides
base funding for the core educational needs of all students and
supplemental funding for the additional educational needs of
low-income students, English learners, and foster youth.
Because the LCFF funds have limited spending restrictions, local
educational agencies (LEAs) have considerable flexibility to
direct LCFF resources to best meet their students' needs.
Under the old system, revenue limits provided LEAs with
discretionary (unrestricted) funding for general education
purposes, and categorical program (restricted) funding was
provided for specialized purposes, with each program having
unique allocation and spending requirements. Revenue limits
made up about two-thirds of state funding for schools, while
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categorical program funding made up the remaining one-third
portion. For some time, that system was criticized as being too
state-driven, bureaucratic, complex, inequitable, and based on
outdated allocation methods that did not reflect current student
needs.
The previous categorical programs included the California
Technology Assistance Project (CTAP), which provided a
regionalized network of technical assistance to schools and
school districts on the implementation of education technology.
The CTAP was composed of regional consortia that work
collaboratively with school districts and county offices of
education to meet locally defined technology based needs. Its
functions included technical services to support access,
planning, and use of high-speed telecommunications networks as
well as providing technology planning and implementation
assistance to rural and technologically underserved school
districts and county offices of education. The CTAP program is
no longer operative in light of the LCFF.
ANALYSIS
This bill:
1. Appropriates $1 million in Proposition 98 General Fund to
the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to be
allocated to local educational agencies (LEAs) servicing
the County of San Bernardino who apply for the purpose of
implementing a pilot program to train kindergarten and
grades 1 to 12, inclusive, teachers to more effectively
utilize technology and digital resources within their
instructional day, while also measuring and teaching the
critical 21st century skills pupils need to succeed on
California's next-generation online assessments, as well as
to prepare pupils for college and career objectives.
2. Requires the SPI to develop an application process for the
allocation of funds appropriated by the bill, limited to
LEAs servicing the County of San Bernardino.
3. Allows LEAs servicing the county of San Bernardino to apply
for funding to implement the pilot program.
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4. Requires the pilot program to be operated in the County of
San Bernardino and focus on teachers working with
underserved populations.
5. Requires the pilot program to include the ability to
measure 21st century skills of teachers and pupils using
the international standards defined by the International
Society for Technology in Education. The skills to be
measured shall include, but not be limited to, all of the
following:
A. Creativity and innovation
B. Communication and collaboration
C. Research and information fluency
D. Critical thinking and problem solving
E. Digital citizenship
F. Technology operations and concepts
6. Requires the pilot program to provide professional
development for teachers to ensure that these skills are
met and that assistance is provided when these skills are
not met.
7. Provides that the program shall remain in effect only until
January 1, 2020.
STAFF COMMENTS
1. Need for the bill. According to the author's office, the
new assessments associated with English language arts and
mathematics will require digital literacy skills to
demonstrate core content knowledge, which many students do
not presently have. It is critical that students have the
necessary skills to take these tests, which utilize
computers and technology that students and teachers may not
have access to. The author's office indicates that there
has not been a consistent effort to prepare students and
teachers for these changes. There is broad concern that
this lack of preparation might be reflected in the test
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results once the tests are in full effect. This bill is
intended to ensure that teachers have the resources and
understanding to teach their students the digital literacy
skills needed to succeed on the new assessments, as well as
prepare them for college and careers.
2. A new categorical program? The Committee may wish to
consider whether the pilot program proposed by this measure
is consistent with the new Local Control Funding Formula
(LCFF). This new funding formula restructured the existing
K-12 finance system and eliminated over 40 existing
programs. The statutory and programmatic requirements for
these programs were eliminated, thereby rendering any
related activities to be dependent on local district
discretion. In other words, school districts already have
the ability to utilize their LCFF allotments to provide the
technology related training proposed by this bill.
In addition, the 2013-14 Budget Act provided $1.25 billion
in one-time Proposition 98 funds to assist K-12 school
districts in implementing the new Common Core standards.
These funds allowed school districts to make significant
one-time investments in professional development,
instructional materials, and enhancements to technology.
School districts are required, on or before July 1, 2015,
to report detailed information to the California Department
of Education (CDE), including, but not limited to, specific
purchases made and the number of teachers, administrators,
or paraprofessional educators that received professional
development. However, the CDE has estimated that based on
the cost of implementing previous content standards,
successful implementation of the Common Core could cost
approximately $3 billion. Additionally, the Association of
California School Administrators has conducted a survey on
the expenditure of the $1.25 billion for Common Core
implementation and found a relatively even distribution of
expenditures in the three allowable categories
(professional development, instructional materials, and
technology, with slightly more interest in professional
development. When asked about how any new funds provided
would be spent, the priorities of the district respondents
were again fairly evenly distributed among the three
categories.
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3. Too prescriptive? Notwithstanding the potential need for
additional resources for school districts to implement the
Common Core standards, it is unclear why the proposed pilot
program should be limited to only local educational
agencies in the San Bernardino County when other school
districts in the state may have similar technology related
needs. Further, the bill requires the pilot program to use
the international standards defined by the International
Society for Technology in Education. Would it be more
prudent to leave this to the discretion of the program
recipients?
4. SBAC assessments and Common Core. California joined the
Smarter Balanced Assessments Consortium (SBAC) as a
governing state in 2011, for the purpose of developing
assessments that are aligned to the Common Core standards.
California committed to administering the SBAC assessments
to pupils beginning in the 2014-15 school year. The State
is not currently bound by statutes or fiscal requirements
to fulfill the commitments made to SBAC. However, the
State has adopted the Common Core standards and as a
result, has updated curricular frameworks, professional
development modules, supplemental instructional materials,
and is working on the adoption of instructional materials.
School districts have been required to provide instruction
on the Common Core standards for several years now and have
spent resources to do so.
SUPPORT
None received.
OPPOSITION
None received.
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