BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 871 (Liu) - California Collaborative for Educational
Excellence: professional development training: pilot program
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|Version: March 15, 2016 |Policy Vote: ED. 8 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: April 11, 2016 |Consultant: Jillian Kissee |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: Contingent upon funding provided in the budget or
another enacted statute, this bill requires the California
Collaborative for Educational Excellence (Collaborative) to
establish a statewide infrastructure to provide professional
development training to local educational agencies (LEAs) to
successfully implement forthcoming evaluation rubrics to be
adopted by the State Board of Education (Board). In addition,
it requires the Collaborative to implement a pilot program that
will inform its long-term efforts to advise and assist LEAs in
achieving the goals set forth in their local control and
accountability plans (LCAP).
Fiscal
Impact: Costs pressure in the low to mid tens of millions over
the 2016-17 and 2017-18 fiscal years depending on the level of
services provided to LEAs. (Proposition 98) (See Staff
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Comments)
Background: The Budget Act of 2013 established a new formula to allocate
funding to LEAs. The formula consolidated most of the state's
numerous separate funding streams for prescribed purposes and
removed most of these funding restrictions. The formula instead
allocates additional funding beyond the base amount, based on
the number and concentration of English learners, low income
students, and foster youth. In addition to a new formula, the
budget established a new system for school accountability.
Under this system, the Board was charged with developing and
adopting an LCAP template which LEAs must complete describing an
LEA's annual goals and progress towards achieving goals in eight
state priority areas.
The Board is also required to adopt evaluation rubrics by
October 1, 2016 to assist LEAs in evaluating their own
strengths, weaknesses, and areas that require improvement and
for county offices of education in identifying school districts
and charter schools in need of technical assistance. The
rubrics will also assist the California Department of Education
in identifying school districts for which intervention is
warranted.
The new accountability system also establishes an entity to
provide support and intervention through the Collaborative. Its
purpose is to provide advice and assistance to LEAs to achieve
the goals specified in their LCAPs. Existing law requires, at
the direction of the Collaborative, the fiscal agent to contract
with individuals, LEAs, or organizations with the expertise,
experience, and a record of success to assist LEAs in meeting
their goals.
In addition to the significant changes in the state
accountability system, changes at the federal level through the
recent enactment of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act
(ESSA) provide an opportunity to create a coherent
accountability system and one of continuous improvement.
According to the Board's March 2016 meeting, each part of the
emerging system will align with the LCFF to support continuous
learning and improvement, equity, and transparency. According
to the Collaborative's February board meeting, Title I of the
SB 871 (Liu) Page 2 of
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ESSA requires a seven percent increase in the required set-aside
of federal funds for school improvement interventions and
technical assistance.
Proposed Law:
This bill requires, beginning in the 2016-17 fiscal year, the
Collaborative to establish a statewide infrastructure to provide
professional development training to LEAs so that the evaluation
rubrics adopted by the Board, are used successfully. The
Collaborative is required to ensure that this training is
provided in each region of the state and available to all LEAs.
The Collaborative is required to submit an implementation plan,
including a timeline to commence training no later than October
15, 2016 and relevant expenditure and provider information, to
the Legislature, Director of Finance, and the Legislative
Analyst's Office within 30 days of the Board's adoption of the
evaluation rubrics.
This bill also requires the Collaborative to implement a pilot
program that will inform its long-term efforts to advise and
assist LEAs in achieving the goals set forth in their LCAPs,
consistent with its purpose outlined in existing law. The
Superintendent is required to assign the Collaborative to assist
LEAs in the pilot program. The bill specifies the Legislature's
intent that this pilot program be used to advise the
Collaborative in their efforts to provide research-based,
quality advice and assistance to LEAs. The Collaborative is
required to submit an implementation plan that includes the
goals of the pilot, a timeline, and a program budget, to the
Legislature, Director of Finance, and the Legislative Analyst's
Office by August 15, 2016. By November 1, 2018, the
Collaborative is required to report on lessons learned from the
pilot program.
Finally, this bill also requires the Collaborative to conduct a
survey in the 2017-18 fiscal year on how LEAs used evaluation
rubrics to develop and implement their most recent LCAP.
Implementation of this bill is contingent upon funding provided
in the annual state budget or another enacted statute.
Staff Comments: The Collaborative roughly estimates costs to be
$23.5 million in the 2016-17 fiscal year and $24.5 million in
the 2017-18 fiscal year, though if this bill were enacted, the
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actual implementation of its requirements could take numerous
forms, thus changing the costs incurred.
This estimate assumes that the professional development
statewide infrastructure could require extensive travel across
the state to ensure each region of the state is provided
training and would be available to all roughly 2,000 LEAs. It
could also include the establishment of an online infrastructure
to make various resources available to all LEAs. The
Collaborative would likely use the authority in this bill to
contract out for providing professional development training to
LEAs. According to the author's office, this professional
development training requirement is intended to be one-time.
The costs for the pilot would likely vary depending on a number
of factors including the number of LEAs assigned by the
Superintendent of Public Instruction, their size, and their
unique characteristics and challenges they face. According to
the Collaborative, the services provided through the pilot would
likely be more intensive than through the professional
development infrastructure. Ultimately, the scope of the bill's
implementation would depend upon whether and at what level of
funding is made available for this purpose.
Staff notes that the Budget Act of 2013 appropriated $10 million
to establish the Collaborative. It is estimated that of this
funding, about $2 million has been spent, not including
expenditures planned for the 2016-17 fiscal year. The
Collaborative has through the 2016-17 fiscal year to liquidate
these funds. Ongoing funding will be considered through the
budget process.
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