BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 429
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|Author: |Jackson |
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|Version: |February 25, 2015 Hearing Date: |
| | April 8, 2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Lynn Lorber |
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Subject: Instructional programs: Title IX instructional videos
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to
designate a county office of education to create an
instructional video on Title IX compliance and a Title IX
students' rights video.
BACKGROUND
Current federal law provides that, in part, "no person in the
United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from
participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to
discrimination under any educational program of activity
receiving Federal financial assistance." In order to be in
compliance with Federal Title IX, a school must show compliance
with one of these three parts. The federal tests are:
1. Athletic participation of women and girls is proportionate
to enrollment.
2. The school has a history and continuing practice of program
expansion for women or girls.
3. The school is fully meeting female athletes' interests and
abilities in its present athletic program. (Title IX of
the Education Amendments of 1972 to the 1964 Civil Rights
Act)
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Current state law establishes standards virtually identical to
those of Federal Title IX, with one modification: in Test 2,
"history" is defined to mean the past two years. (Education
Code § 230)
Each school district and county office of education, or a local
public or private agency that receives funding from the state or
federal government, is required to designate a person to serve
as the Title IX compliance coordinator to enforce compliance at
the local level, including coordinating any complaints of
non-compliance. (Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972
to the 1964 Civil Rights Act; California Code of Regulations,
Title 5, Section 4910)
Enforcement of compliance is initiated upon the filing of a
complaint alleging a violation of Title IX.
Title IX applies to all aspects of educational opportunities,
not just athletics.
ANALYSIS
This bill requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to
designate a county office of education to create an
instructional video on Title IX compliance and a Title IX
students' rights video. Specifically, this bill:
1. Requires the California Department of Education (CDE), to
the extent that one-time funding is included in the Budget
Act of 2016, to apportion funds to a designated county
office of education to be the fiduciary agent for an
instructional video to train school administrators on
comprehensive compliance with Title IX.
2. Requires the designated county office of education to be
"in charge" of the video that will lead to statewide
professional development support for comprehensive Title IX
compliance.
3. Requires the designated county office of education to also
create a Title IX students' rights video for students and
parents.
4. Requires both videos to be available on CDE's website and
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available for download to the websites of individual
schoolsites and school districts.
5. Requires the designated county office of education to
consider and include, as appropriate, available resources
for comprehensive Title IX compliance.
6. Provides that the Superintendent of Public Instruction
(SPI) is to choose the county office of education from
those that apply for designation.
7. Requires the CDE to analyze the relevant data on the
success of the instructional video at the state level, by
monitoring the usage of the video and ascertaining the
levels of complaints filed.
8. Requires the CDE to establish a set of best practices to be
made available to school districts and consortia of
districts to enhance understanding of comprehensive Title
IX compliance.
9. States legislative findings and declarations relative to
the lack of awareness about Title IX, and a lack of
training on monitoring and ensuring compliance.
STAFF COMMENTS
1. Need for the bill. According to the author, "The Senate
Judiciary Committee held an informational hearing on
January 20, 2015, titled Attaining Equal Opportunity for
Girls In California's Secondary Schools: How our Schools
are Complying with Title IX. According to testimony
provided by both the federal Office of Civil Rights and
California Department of Education, trainings held to
inform schools and school districts about their Title IX
requirements and procedures are well attended when made
available, however, due to lack of funding and resources
few trainings are provided. As demonstrated by testimony
provided during the informational hearing, school districts
are often unaware that Title IX requires them to appoint a
Title IX coordinator at both the districts and school
level, adopt and publish rules and procedures regarding
complaints, and notify students, families and staff of
their rights under Title IX."
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2. Compliance with Title IX. Current law provides that
compliance is measured by the three-pronged test:
A. Proportionality to enrollment.
B. History (past two years) and continuing practice
of program expansion for females.
C. Fully meeting female athletes' interests and
abilities in its present athletic program.
Enforcement of compliance is initiated upon the filing of a
complaint alleging a violation of Title IX. Complaints
generally begin at the school district level and can
proceed to the state level and ultimately to the federal
Office of Civil Rights. Current law does not require any
reporting of measures of compliance with Title IX by K-12
schools.
3. Training. The federal Office of Civil Rights issued a
guidance letter in 2011 reminding local educational
agencies that the Title IX regulations require, among many
other things, schools to ensure that employees designated
as Title IX coordinators have adequate training on what
constitutes sexual harassment, including sexual violence,
and that they understand how the recipient's grievance
procedures operate.
http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-
201104.pdf There are no clear requirements for training on
Title IX compliance in California's statutes.
4. Existing resources. This bill requires the designated
county office of education to consider and include, as
appropriate, available resources for comprehensive Title IX
compliance. There do not appear to be any resources on the
California Department of Education's (CDE) website with
specific guidance or training regarding monitoring and
ensuring compliance with Title IX. The CDE sent a
notification to all school superintendents on September 20,
2013 identifying the State Title IX coordinator, and
reminding schools of their obligations under current law to
designate a Title IX coordinator, post information about
the Title IX coordinator, and post policies regarding
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non-discrimination. This notification does not provide
specific guidance or training resources.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/di/eo/titleixnotification.asp
There are several online sources for training on Title IX
compliance.
5. Designated county office of education. This bill requires
the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to select
the designated county office of education from those that
apply for such designation. This bill does not establish
an application process nor guidance for the selection of
the appropriate county office, thereby giving the SPI
complete discretion to determine if the county office is
capable of meeting the fiduciary responsibilities and other
requirements of this bill.
6. Clarifying amendments. This bill requires the creation of
an instructional video to train school administrators on
comprehensive compliance with Title IX. Staff recommends
an amendment to clarify that the video is to also serve as
a training tool for designated Title IX coordinators and
other school personnel.
This bill requires the designated county office of education to
be "in charge of the video that will lead to statewide
professional development support for comprehensive Title IX
compliance." Staff recommends an amendment to clarify that
the designated county office of education is responsible
for the creation of the instructional video and that the
video is to be available as a statewide training resource.
This bill requires the California Department of Education (CDE)
to analyze the relevant data on the success of the
instructional video by monitoring the usage of the video
and ascertaining the levels of complaints filed. Staff
recommends an amendment to clarify that the CDE is required
to identify how many times the instructional video was
downloaded or viewed, and how many complaints were lodged
before the video was available and how many complaints were
lodged one year after the video was available.
7. Related and prior legislation.
RELATED LEGISLATION
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AB 884 (Calderon, 2015) changes the title of the existing
article in the Education Code from "Athletes Bill of
Rights" to "Gender Equity in Education." AB 884 is
scheduled to be heard by the Assembly Arts, Entertainment,
Sports, Tourism, and Internet Media Committee on April 7.
PRIOR LEGISLATION
SB 1349 (Jackson, Ch. 258, 2014) requires public K-12 schools
that offer competitive athletics to make public information
relative participation by gender in athletics.
AB 1549 (Rendon, 2014) was amended late in the legislative
session to require the State Auditor to audit public
postsecondary educational institutions for compliance with
Title IX every three years. AB 1549 was held in the Senate
Rules Committee.
AB 2512 (Bonilla, 2014) would have authorized, beginning January
1, 2018, school districts and county offices of education
to include information relative to compliance with Title IX
gender equity in the "school climate" category of local
control and accountability plans. AB 2512 was vetoed by
the Governor, whose message read:
I appreciate the author's concerns but believe
that the recently enacted Local Control Funding
Formula should not now be subjected to a series
of amendments. The law envisions that local
communities fashion the plans that work best for
them. State intervention in this process is
premature.
AB 2323 (Jackson, 2004) would have required the California
Department of Education to develop a Gender Equity
Compliance Survey for high schools.
AB 2323 was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
SUPPORT
American Civil Liberties Union
Association of California School Administrators
California Women's Law Center
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Fair Play for Girls in Sports, Legal Aid Society-Employment Law
Center
Junior Leagues of California
Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Torlakson
OPPOSITION
None received.
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