BILL NUMBER: AB 615 CHAPTERED 09/08/00 CHAPTER 369 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 8, 2000 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 7, 2000 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 23, 2000 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 22, 2000 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 8, 2000 AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 25, 2000 AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 15, 2000 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 26, 1999 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 17, 1999 AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 8, 1999 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 21, 1999 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 2, 1999 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 20, 1999 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 6, 1999 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 26, 1999 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Runner and Strom-Martin (Principal coauthor: Senator Alpert) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Calderon, Campbell, Soto, Strickland, and Zettel) (Coauthors: Senators McPherson and Rainey) FEBRUARY 19, 1999 An act to amend Section 63000 of, to add a chapter heading to, and to add Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 63050) to, Part 35 of, the Education Code, relating to categorical education programs. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 615, Runner. Categorical education funding. Existing law establishes various categorical programs, including, among other programs, school improvement programs, bilingual education programs, education technology programs, foster youth programs, dropout prevention programs, and Economic Impact Aid programs. Those programs may be eligible for state and federal categorical funding. The program that provides economic impact aid funds to school districts requires the funds to be expended for the purpose of providing instructional services to limited-English-proficient pupils and economically disadvantaged pupils, as defined. The various categorical programs require school districts to meet certain requirements and perform certain duties as a condition to receiving funds. The categorical program funds are required to be expended for specifically designated purposes. This bill would establish the Pilot Project for Categorical Education Program Flexibility under which a school district would have flexibility in the expenditure of categorical funds within 3 clusters: the school improvement and staff development cluster, the alternative and compensatory education cluster, and the school district improvement cluster. The bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to select not more than 75 school districts that apply to participate in the pilot project and would give a school district approved for participation a minimum of 5 years of funding flexibility. The bill would exempt a school district participating in the pilot project from the program requirements and regulations of the categorical education programs constituting the 3 clusters, except as required by this program. The bill would require each school district participating in the pilot project to annually report to the State Department of Education information requested by the State Department of Education. The bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to convene a group consisting of a representative of the Secretary for Education and representatives from the State Department of Education, office of the Legislative Analyst, and the Department of Finance, to advise the department regarding the evaluation of the pilot projects. The bill would require the State Department of Education to report to the Governor and to the education policy committees and the fiscal committees of both houses of the Legislature on the pilot project in accordance with a specified schedule and make reports to the legislative committees annually with a final evaluation submitted no later than February 1, 2005. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. A chapter heading is added to Part 35 (commencing with Section 63000) of the Education Code, immediately preceding Section 63000, to read: CHAPTER 1. EXPENDITURE FOR DIRECT SERVICES TO PUPILS SEC. 2. Section 63000 of the Education Code is amended to read: 63000. The provisions of this chapter shall apply to funds received for the following categorical programs: (a) Child care and development programs pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 8200) of Part 6. (b) School library programs pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 18100) of Part 11. (c) School improvement programs pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 52000) of Part 28. (d) Bilingual education programs pursuant to Article 1 (commencing with Section 52000) and Article 3 (commencing with Section 52160) of Chapter 7 of Part 28. (e) Economic Impact Aid programs pursuant to Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 54000) of Part 29. (f) The Miller-Unruh Basic Reading Act of 1965 pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 54100) of Part 29. (g) Compensatory education programs pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 54400) of Part 29, except for programs for migrant children pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 54440) of Chapter 4 of Part 29. SEC. 3. Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 63050) is added to Part 35 of the Education Code, to read: CHAPTER 2. PILOT PROJECT FOR CATEGORICAL EDUCATION PROGRAM FLEXIBILITY 63050. There is hereby established the Pilot Project for Categorical Education Program Flexibility under which a school district selected to participate in the pilot project shall have flexibility as described in this chapter in the expenditure of the funding the school district receives for the categorical education programs listed in the following three clusters: (a) The school improvement and staff development cluster consisting of the following programs: (1) Administrator training and education as set forth in Article 3 (commencing with Section 44681) of Chapter 3.1 of Part 25. (2) Bilingual Teacher Training and Assistance as set forth in Article 4 (commencing with Section 52180) of Chapter 7 of Part 28. (3) Demonstration programs in intensive instruction as set forth in Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 58600) of Part 31. (4) Early Intervention for School Success as set forth in Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 58685) of Chapter 9 of Part 29. (5) Intersegmental Staff Development. For the purposes of this chapter, intersegmental staff development shall not include any of the following: (A) The English Language Acquisition Program pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 400) of Part 1. (B) The Professional Development Institutes pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 99220) of Chapter 5 of Part 65. (6) High school coach training as set forth in Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 35179) of Chapter 2 of Part 21. (7) Miller-Unruh Basic Reading Act of 1965 as set forth in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 54100) of Part 29. (8) Reader services for the blind as set forth in Article 8.5 (commencing with Section 45370) of Chapter 5 of Part 25. (9) School-based management and advanced career opportunities for classroom teachers as set forth in Article 12 (commencing with Section 44666) of Chapter 3 of Part 25. (10) School development plans and resource consortia as set forth in Article 1 (commencing with Section 44670.1) of, and Article 2 (commencing with Section 44680) of, Chapter 3.1 of Part 25. (11) Improvement of elementary and secondary education as set forth in Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 52000) of Part 28. (12) Specialized secondary program grants as set forth in Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 58800) of Part 31. (13) Student vocational education organizations as set forth in subdivision (b) of Section 19632 of the Business and Professions Code. (14) Gifted and Talented Pupils as set forth in Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 52200) of Part 28. (b) The alternative and compensatory education cluster consisting of the following programs: (1) Agricultural vocational education incentives as set forth in Article 7.5 (commencing with Section 52460) of Chapter 9 of Part 28. (2) California Indian education centers as set forth in Article 6 (commencing with Section 33380) of Chapter 3 of Part 20. (3) Dropout prevention as set forth in Article 6 (commencing with Section 52890) of, and Article 7 (commencing with Section 52900) of, Chapter 12 of Part 28, Article 7 (commencing with Section 54720) of Chapter 9 of Part 29, and Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 58550) of Part 31. (4) Economic Impact Aid as set forth in Article 2 (commencing with Section 54020) of Chapter 1 of Part 29. (5) Foster youth programs as set forth in Chapter 11.3 (commencing with Section 42920) of Part 24. (6) Opportunity classes and programs as set forth in Article 2.3 (commencing with Section 48643) of Chapter 4 of Part 27. (7) Tenth grade counseling as set forth in Sections 48431.6 and 48431.7. (c) The school district improvement cluster consisting of the following programs: (1) Home-to-school transportation as set forth in Article 10 (commencing with Section 41850) of Chapter 5 of, and Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 42290) of Chapter 7 of, Part 24. (2) Voluntary desegregation as set forth in Section 42247 and 42249. (3) Year-round school grants as set forth in Article 3 (commencing with Section 42260) of Chapter 7 of Part 24. 63051. (a) The Superintendent of Public Instruction, with the approval of the State Board of Education, shall select not more than 75 school districts that apply to participate in the pilot project established pursuant to this chapter. (b) Each school district that applies to participate in the pilot project established pursuant to this chapter shall submit a project budget with the application. The project budget shall specify how categorical program funding will be allocated or reallocated under the pilot project. No school district may participate in the pilot project unless the district's proposed plan is approved by the State Board of Education. (c) The superintendent shall determine the 25 largest school districts in the state on the basis of pupil enrollment as of October 1999. From this list, the superintendent shall select no more than one school district from the largest five school districts and no more than four school districts from the remaining 20 largest school districts to participate in the pilot project. If more than one of the largest five school districts applies, or more than four school districts from the remaining 20 school districts applies, the superintendent shall select those school districts to participate in the pilot project by lottery. (d) After making selections pursuant to subdivision (b), the superintendent may select up to 70 additional participants from applicant school districts. The superintendent shall ensure that participating school districts are broadly representative of the state, including small school districts, urban school districts, rural school districts, suburban school districts, elementary school districts, high school districts, and unified school districts. (e) A school district approved for participation shall have a minimum of five years of funding flexibility as described in this chapter commencing on and after the 2000-01 fiscal year. 63052. (a) A school district participating in the pilot project is exempt from the program requirements and regulations for those categorical education programs listed in Section 63050. (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a school district participating in the pilot project shall receive the same amount of funds for the categorical programs constituting the three clusters described in Section 63050 while participating in the pilot project as the school district received for those programs in the year prior to participation in the pilot project, plus growth and cost-of-living adjustments if approved in the annual Budget Act. However, nothing in this section shall be construed to allow program expansion for any of the categorical programs contained in the clusters specified in Section 63050 that are also included in subdivision (b) of Section 63051. All funding for those programs is suspended for the duration of the district's pilot program participation. (c) A school district participating in the pilot project shall not be entitled to receive, and may not receive, funding in replacement of categorical funds that have been redirected or otherwise reduced pursuant to this chapter. This subdivision may not be construed to prevent a school district from receiving funds that the district is otherwise eligible to receive for cost-of-living adjustments, or growth adjustments that are allocated in accordance with this code, unless otherwise provided for in the annual budget process. 63053. (a) Each school district participating in the pilot project shall annually report to the State Department of Education information requested pursuant to this section, in order to determine the following: (1) Revisions to categorical program implementation and local allocation of funds made pursuant to the district's participation in the pilot project. (2) Academic progress of pupils, as determined by test scores, grades assigned, and other measures, reported by grade level. (b) Each school district participating in the pilot project shall separately report to the State Department of Education assessment data for English language learners, pupils who qualify for compensatory education, gifted pupils, pupils by gender, and all numerically significant ethnic and socioeconomically disadvantaged subgroups within schools. A numerically significant ethnic or socioeconomically disadvantaged subgroup is a subgroup that constitutes at least 15 percent of a school's total pupil population and consists of at least 30 pupils. For the purposes of this section, assessment data shall include test results and related information from all testing conducted pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 60600) of Part 33, Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 60850) of Part 33, and any other standardized testing administered by the participating district. (c) The State Department of Education shall report to the Governor and the education policy and fiscal committees of both houses of the Legislature on the pilot projects established pursuant to this chapter in accordance with the following schedule: (1) By February 1, 2002, the State Department of Education shall submit a summative report of information collected pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b). (2) By February 1, 2003, the State Department of Education shall submit a preliminary evaluation of the pilot projects, prepared in accordance with subdivision (d). (3) By February 1, 2004, the State Department of Education shall submit a summative report of information collected pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b). (4) By February 1, 2005, the State Department of Education shall submit a final evaluation of the pilot projects, prepared in accordance with subdivision (d). (d) The State Department of Education shall prepare, or contract for the preparation of, evaluations of the pilot projects established pursuant to this chapter. Among other matters, these evaluations shall be designed to assess the effect of the pilot projects, if any, on pupil achievement, including the achievement of those groups of pupils for whom assessment data is separately reported pursuant to subdivision (b). Preliminary and final evaluations shall be submitted pursuant to subdivision (c). It is the intent of the Legislature that funds be provided in appropriate budget acts to conduct the evaluations required by this section and that further direction for conduct of the evaluations may be provided through instructions attached to those appropriations. (e) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall convene a group consisting of a representative of the Secretary for Education and representatives from the State Department of Education, Office of the Legislative Analyst, and the Department of Finance, to advise the State Department of Education regarding the evaluation of the pilot projects established by this chapter. (f) After the initial two-year period, the oversight group convened pursuant to subdivision (e) shall review the academic progress of pupils and make a recommendation to the State Board of Education regarding a district's continued participation in the pilot project. 63054. (a) A school district approved for participation in the pilot project may expend the funds from the programs in the school improvement and staff development cluster to improve the quality of instruction and to improve pupil performance and shall expend those funds in a manner that is consistent with the intent of those programs taken as a whole. (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 63052, a school district is not exempt from the program requirements concerning schoolsite plans and councils. (c) The schoolsite council and the governing board of the school district shall approve the schoolsite expenditure plans and budgets for the funds received for the purposes of the school improvement and staff development cluster. 63055. A school district approved for participation in the pilot project may expend the funds from the programs in the alternative and compensatory education cluster to support alternative education settings and compensatory services provided that those settings and services are consistent with the intent of the programs composing the alternative and compensatory education cluster. Participating school districts shall continue to allocate funds in the alternative and compensatory education cluster to schools with the largest number or percentage of pupils in need of alternative and compensatory education. 63056. A school district approved for participation in the pilot project may expend the funds from the programs in the school district improvement cluster for any high priority program that the district considers will improve pupil performance or will be a more effective use of resources.