BILL NUMBER: AB 756 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 31, 2006
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 30, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 28, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 15, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 7, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 22, 2006
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 7, 2005
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Goldberg
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Richman)
(Coauthor: Senator Alquist)
FEBRUARY 18, 2005
An act to add and repeal Article 4.5 (commencing with Section
52062) of Chapter 6.1 of Part 28 of the Education Code, relating to
school finance.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 756, Goldberg School finance: the Flexible Funding for Pupil
Achievement Program.
Existing law, the Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999,
establishes (1) the Public Schools Performance Accountability
Program, consisting of programs for schools based on their
performance on statewide accountability tests and measures of that
achievement; (2) procedures for local educational agency intervention
that are to be taken regarding local educational agencies that are
not meeting the pupil achievement requirements of the federal No
Child Left Behind Act of 2001; (3) the state No Child Left Behind
Liaison Team to advise the Superintendent of Public Instruction and
the State Board of Education on appropriate matters related to
implementation of the federal No Child Left Behind Act; and (4) a
Statewide System of School Support to provide support and technical
assistance to school districts, county offices of education, and
schools in need of improvement, as specified. Existing law requires a
county superintendent of schools to calculate a revenue limit for
each school district in the county. Existing law establishes
categorical funding programs for which school districts may be
eligible.
This bill would establish the Flexible Funding for Pupil
Achievement Program and would require the Superintendent of Public
Instruction to administer it. The bill would permit up to 5% of
schools in the state from no more than 25 school districts, as
specified, to participate in the program at any one time and would
require the Superintendent to strive to ensure a balance of
elementary, middle, and high schools among participating schools, as
specified, and that urban, suburban, and rural schools are
represented among participating schools.
The bill would require the governing board of a school district,
after confirming with the Superintendent that there is room in the
program for the school to participate, to adopt, in consultation with
the district superintendent and with the concurrence of the
principal of the applicable school, a participation agreement
containing specified provisions with each school that elects to
participate. The bill would require the governing board of a school
district to annually ensure that its participating schools have a
participation agreement in place, as specified. The bill would
require that each participation agreement have a term of 5 years,
except that each year, the governing board of a school district would
be required to review and revise the per-pupil funding of the
school, as specified. The bill would require the principal and
certificated staff of a participating school to adopt annually an
achievement plan for the school that addresses the organization of
the school, staffing, curriculum, and classroom schedules, as
specified.
The bill would require the district superintendent to notify the
principal of a participating school if that school fails to comply
with its participation agreement and would require the principal,
once notified, to submit a plan to remedy the lack of compliance. The
bill would permit the governing board of a school district to revoke
the participation agreement of a school if that school fails to meet
the goals established in its annual achievement plan for 3
consecutive years and would require the governing board to notify the
Superintendent of any termination of the participation of a school
that occurs.
The bill would require a school district to adopt a distribution
formula that would include specified elements to determine the
allocation of school district revenue limit funding for the use of
individual participating schools. The bill would permit a school
district, at the request of the principal of a participating school,
to expend the funds allocated to the account or accounts of that
participating school for any purpose that is consistent with and
furthers the goals of the achievement plan and the participation
agreement of the school. The bill would permit a school district to
retain up to 10% of the funds received by the district from state and
local sources that are distributed to the accounts of participating
schools of the district according to the distribution formula, as
specified, for administrative and support services costs incurred by
the district on behalf of its participating schools. The bill would
require the Superintendent to promulgate regulations, as he or she
deems necessary, to implement specified provisions.
The bill would require the principal of each participating school
to annually create, based on collaboration with certificated staff
and consultation with the schoolsite council and parent council, if
either or both are constituted at the school, and submit to the
district superintendent a budget for the school. The bill would
require the school district administration, at the request of the
school principal, to provide, using funds retained by the school
district as specified, technical assistance and consultation for the
principal and others involved in the development of a schoolsite
budget. The bill would require the principal of a participating
school to submit to the district superintendent a copy of the
proposed school budget in accordance with the timeframes specified in
the participation agreement of the school. The bill would require
each school district to maintain the financial records for each
school participating in the program as part of the centralized
services provided to each school, including, but not limited to,
issuing checks based on vouchers received from the principal of the
school. The bill would require a school district to pay the costs of
maintaining those financial records from the 10% of moneys reserved
to the school district for administrative and support services for
participating schools, as specified.
The bill would require the principal of a participating school to
annually submit to the district superintendent and the governing
board of the school district a report specifying, at a minimum, the
staffing plan for the school, the academic schedule for the school,
and a description of the educational program of the school. The bill
would require the principal of a participating school to collaborate
with the district superintendent and the certificated staff of the
school to implement the provisions of the program.
The bill would require each teacher at a participating school, in
consultation with the parents or legal guardians of a pupil and the
pupil, where age appropriate, to establish academic growth goals for
the pupil at the beginning of each school year and to measure the
progress of the pupil in achieving those goals throughout the year.
The bill would require the principal of each participating school to
ensure that the school operates in an environment that empowers
parents and legal guardians to be involved in the education of their
children and, at a minimum, to ensure that the procedures at the
school require a teacher to communicate in person with the parents or
legal guardians of a pupil if that pupil is not meeting his or her
academic achievement goals.
The bill would authorize the certificated staff and principal of a
participating school, if they deem it necessary to achieve the goals
of the achievement plan of the school and provisions of the
participation agreement of the school, to (1) by unanimous consent,
request that the parties to the bargaining unit agreement for the
certificated staff of the school modify the agreement to permit the
certificated staff to waive specified portions of the agreement as it
relates to that school, as specified; and (2) by a majority vote,
request that the governing board of the school district waive
policies adopted by the governing board as they relate to that
school, as specified.
The bill would require the Superintendent to request private
foundations to fund and conduct independent evaluations of the
planning, implementation, operation, and effectiveness of this
program. The bill would require, at a minimum, that an initial report
of best practices identified among participating schools be
completed within the first 3 years of the operation of the program,
and full evaluations be completed at intervals of 5 years.
The bill would provide that the provisions of the program will be
implemented only if the Superintendent certifies that he or she has
obtained a commitment from private foundations or other private or
public funding sources to provide sufficient funding for the required
program evaluations, as specified.
The bill would make the program operative only until July 1, 2017,
and would repeal the program on January 1, 2018.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 52062) is added to
Chapter 6.1 of Part 28 of the Education Code, to read:
Article 4.5. Flexible Funding for Pupil Achievement Program
52062. (a) The Flexible Funding for Pupil Achievement Program is
hereby established and shall be administered by the Superintendent.
(b) The Legislature finds and declares both of the following:
(1) The academic achievement of pupils in the public schools is
best supported when the personnel at each individual school have
control over the education that the pupils of the school receive.
(2) Schools participating in the pilot program established by this
article, by having the flexibility to focus on the pupils enrolled
in the schools and the individual needs of those pupils, can develop
an educational program designed particularly for the pupils in the
individual schools that will best promote academic achievement and
support pupil growth.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this article
to provide participating schools with the freedom to organize the
most appropriate educational delivery structures to meet the goals of
the individual schools.
52062.1. (a) Up to 5 percent of the public schools in the state
from no more than 25 school districts, including those school
districts participating in the program established by Chapter 10
(commencing with Section 58950) of Part 31 that also have schools
participating in the program established by this article, may
participate in the program at any one time. The Superintendent shall
strive to ensure an appropriate balance of participating elementary,
middle, and high schools relative to the number of those types of
schools in the state as a whole, and that urban, suburban, and rural
schools are represented among the participating schools.
(b) Prior to the governing board of a school district adopting the
agreement of a school to participate in the program pursuant to
subdivision (a) of Section 52062.2, the governing board shall notify
the Superintendent of the interest of the school participating in the
program. If the maximum number of schools pursuant to subdivision
(a) has not been reached, the Superintendent shall notify the
governing board that the school may participate in the program and
shall add the school to the list of participating schools. If the
maximum number of schools pursuant to subdivision (a) has been
reached, the Superintendent shall notify the governing board that the
school shall not participate in the program for the school year for
which authorization was requested by the governing board.
52062.2. (a) The governing board of a school district, after
obtaining authorization for the school electing to participate in the
program to be included in the program pursuant to subdivision (b) of
Section 52062.1, shall adopt a participation agreement with that
school electing to participate in the program. At a minimum, the
agreement with each school shall include all of the following:
(1) The goals and objectives of the school, as specified in the
achievement plan of the school. The governing board shall ensure that
the goals of the plan include targets for improvement that will lead
the school to achieve the overall academic goals set by federal,
state, and local statutes and policies.
(2) The minimum amount of per-pupil funding the school shall be
annually allocated based on the funding formula specified in Section
52062.4.
(3) The timeframes in which the school shall file its annual
budget with the school district.
(4) The community involvement goals for the school to ensure that
the school maintains an atmosphere in which parents and legal
guardians are empowered to be involved with the education of their
children.
(5) The details regarding any provisions of relevant bargaining
unit agreements or policies adopted by the governing board of the
school district of which the principal and certificated staff of the
school intend to pursue a waiver pursuant to Section 52062.7.
(b) The governing board of the school district shall adopt each
participation agreement in consultation with the district
superintendent and with the concurrence of the principal of the
participating school.
(c) The governing board of a school district annually shall ensure
that each school participating in the program has a participation
agreement in place as of May 1 of the year preceding the school year
in which the agreement is in effect.
(d) Each participation agreement shall have a term of five years,
except that the governing board of the school district annually shall
review and revise the per-pupil funding of the school according to
paragraph (2) of subdivision (a).
(e) Each participation agreement shall include annual benchmarks
to be used to analyze the progress of the school toward achieving the
goals specified in the agreement.
(f) The principal and certificated staff of the school, pursuant
to Section 52062.6, annually shall adopt an achievement plan for the
school to ensure that the school meets the goals and objectives
specified in its participation agreement.
52062.3. (a) If a school fails to comply with any of the
provisions of its participation agreement, the district
superintendent shall notify the principal of the school of the nature
of the lack of compliance. After receipt of the notice, the
principal shall submit to the district superintendent a plan to
remedy the lack of compliance.
(b) If a school fails to meet the goals established in its annual
achievement plan for three consecutive years, the governing board of
the school district may revoke the participation agreement of that
school. The governing board shall notify the Superintendent of any
termination of the participation of a school in the program.
52062.4. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that the program
promote the equitable distribution of educational resources,
strengthen the scope of decisionmaking, increase flexibility in
resource allocation at the school level, and provide a systematic
method of conforming resource allocation to the unique needs and
priorities of individual schools.
(b) A school district shall adopt a distribution formula to
determine the allocation of school district funds to an account or
accounts for the exclusive use of the participating school. The
distribution formula shall include the following elements:
(1) A calculation of the share of total revenue limit funding for
a participating school, based on the grade levels served at that
school, so that each participating school is allocated to its account
or accounts an amount equal to the following calculations:
(A) The weighted total revenue limit per pupil enrolled that is
equal to the total revenue limit of the school district pursuant to
Section 42238 divided by the following sum:
(i) The number of pupils enrolled in kindergarten and grades 1 to
5, inclusive.
(ii) The number of pupils enrolled in grades 6 to 8, inclusive,
multiplied by a pupil weighting factor of 1.04.
(iii) The number of pupils enrolled in grades 9 to 12, inclusive,
multiplied by a pupil weighting factor of 1.20.
(B) The amount per pupil enrolled determined pursuant to
subparagraph (A) multiplied by the weighted number of pupils enrolled
in each corresponding grade span of the school as specified in
clauses (i) to (iii), inclusive, of subparagraph (A).
(2) The amount per eligible pupil received by the school district
for each of the following categorical programs in the current fiscal
year multiplied by the number of eligible pupils in the school:
(A) Pupil Retention Block Grant, as set forth in Article 2
(commencing with Section 41505) of Chapter 3.2 of Part 24.
(B) Targeted Instructional Improvement Block Grant, as set forth
in Article 6 (commencing with Section 41540) of Chapter 3.2 of Part
24.
(C) School and Library Improvement Block Grant, as set forth in
Article 7 (commencing with Section 41570) of Chapter 3.2 of Part 24.
(D) Program to Reduce Class Size in Two Courses in Grade 9, as set
forth in Chapter 6.8 (commencing with Section 52080).
(E) Class Size Reduction Program for kindergarten and grades 1 to
3, inclusive, as set forth in Chapter 6.10 (commencing with Section
52120).
(F) Economic Impact Aid, as set forth in Article 2 (commencing
with Section 54020) of Chapter 1 of Part 29.
(3) The amount per certificated teacher received by the school
district for the Professional Development Block Grant, Article 5
(commencing with Section 41530) of Chapter 3.2 of Part 24, multiplied
by the number of certificated teachers at the participating school.
(4) The amount per enrolled pupil in the instructional materials
fund of the school district multiplied by the number of pupils
enrolled at the participating school. After the first allocation of
funds to a participating school pursuant to this paragraph,
allocations in subsequent years shall be based only on new funds
received by the school district into its instructional materials
fund.
(c) Each fiscal year, the school district shall allocate to an
account or accounts established specifically for this purpose by each
participating school in the district the amount of funds calculated
according to the distribution formula pursuant to this section for
the respective participating schools in the district.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law related to the
expenditure of funds specified in this article, a school district, at
the request of the principal of a participating school, may expend
the funds allocated to the account or accounts of that participating
school for any purpose that is consistent with and furthers the goals
of the achievement plan and the participation agreement of the
school.
(e) The funds allocated to participating schools on behalf of the
programs specified in subdivision (b) shall supplement, and not
supplant, funding received by the school district for programs, other
than the programs specified in subdivision (b), that were used to
support the school prior to its participation in the program.
(f) A school district may retain up to 10 percent of the funds
received by the district from state and local sources that are
distributed to the accounts of participating schools of the district
according to the distribution formula pursuant to this section for
administrative and support services costs incurred by the district on
behalf of its participating schools.
(g) The Superintendent shall promulgate regulations, as he or she
deems necessary, to implement this section.
52062.5. (a) The principal of each participating school shall
annually create and submit to the district superintendent a budget
for the school. In developing the annual budget, the principal shall
collaborate with the certificated staff of the school and shall
consult with the schoolsite council and parent council, if either or
both are constituted at the school, in the development of the budget.
The principal shall comply with the budgeting and accounting
practices of the school district. At the request of the school
principal, the school district administration shall provide, using
funds retained by the school district as authorized by subdivision
(f) of Section 52062.4, technical assistance and consultation for the
principal and others involved in the development of a schoolsite
budget.
(b) The principal of a participating school shall submit to the
district superintendent a copy of the proposed school budget in
accordance with the timeframes specified in the participation
agreement of the school.
(c) Each school district shall maintain the financial records for
each school participating in the program as part of the centralized
services provided to each school, including, but not limited to,
issuing checks based on vouchers received from the principal of the
school. The school district shall pay the costs of maintaining the
financial records from the 10 percent of moneys reserved to the
school district for administrative and support services for
participating schools pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 52062.4.
52062.6. (a) The principal and certificated staff of a
participating school annually shall adopt an achievement plan that is
designed to ensure that the school achieves the goals and objectives
specified in the participation agreement of the school. The plan, at
a minimum, shall address the organization of the school, staffing,
curriculum, and classroom schedules to be used at the school, and
shall do all of the following:
(1) Ensure that teachers at the school, at least annually, analyze
the academic performance of the pupils in the school to assess the
progress of pupils toward meeting academic goals.
(2) Specify the appropriate staffing plan for the school to enable
pupils to meet the academic performance goals of the pupils and the
school. The principal or designated instructional team of the school
shall be responsible for hiring certificated staff for the school and
determining which certificated staff positions are necessary and
most appropriate for the school. The principal shall involve members
of the certificated staff of the school in developing the school
staffing plan. The plan shall include provisions for the professional
development of teachers and administrators of the school.
(3) Schedule the schoolday using periods or time blocks that will
work most effectively in achieving the academic performance goals of
the school. In addition, the principal shall ensure that the
instructional hours included in the academic year and in the school
day satisfy the requirements of law.
(4) Specify an educational program for the school that is most
likely to enable the pupils enrolled in the school to achieve the
academic performance goals of the pupils and the school.
(b) The principal of a participating school shall annually submit
to the district superintendent and the governing board of the school
district a report specifying, at a minimum, the staffing plan for the
school, the academic schedule for the school, and a description of
the educational program of the school.
(c) The principal of a participating school shall collaborate with
the district superintendent and the certificated staff of the school
to implement the provisions of this article.
52062.7. (a) Each teacher at a participating school, in
consultation with the parents or legal guardians of a pupil and the
pupil, where age appropriate, shall establish academic growth goals
for the pupil at the beginning of each school year and shall measure
the progress of the pupil in achieving those goals throughout the
year. In measuring the academic growth of each pupil throughout the
school year, the teacher shall use a variety of assessment tools
selected by the principal and certificated staff of the school.
(b) The principal of each participating school shall ensure that
the school operates in an environment that empowers parents and legal
guardians to be involved in the education of their children. At a
minimum, the principal shall ensure that the procedures at the school
require a teacher to communicate in person with the parents or legal
guardians of a pupil if that pupil is not meeting his or her
academic achievement goals.
(c) (1) The certificated staff and principal of a participating
school, if they deem it necessary to achieve the goals of the
achievement plan of the school and provisions of the participation
agreement of the school, by unanimous consent, may request that the
parties to the bargaining unit agreement for the certificated staff
of the school modify the agreement to permit the certificated staff
to waive specified portions of the agreement as it relates to that
school. If the parties to the agreement modify the contract to permit
the requested limited waiver, then the certificated staff and
principal of the participating school by unanimous consent, may waive
the applicable provisions of the agreement.
(2) The certificated staff of a participating school and
principal, if they deem it necessary to achieve the goals of the
achievement plan of the school and provisions of the participation
agreement of the school, by a majority vote, may request that the
governing board of the school district waive policies adopted by the
governing board as they relate to that school. If the governing board
agrees in writing, then those policies shall be deemed waived.
52062.8. The Superintendent shall request private foundations
fund and conduct independent evaluations of the planning,
implementation, operation, and effectiveness of this program. At a
minimum, an initial report of best practices identified among
participating schools shall be completed within the first three years
of the operation of the program, and full evaluations shall be
completed at intervals of five years.
52062.9. The provisions of the program created by this article,
other than Section 52062.8, shall be implemented only if the
Superintendent certifies that he or she has obtained a commitment
from private foundations or other private or public funding sources
to provide sufficient funding for the program evaluations required
pursuant to Section 52062.8.
52062.10. This article shall become inoperative on July 1, 2017,
and, as of January 1, 2018, is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2018, deletes
or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is
repealed.