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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