BILL ANALYSIS
AB 122
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 1, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
AB 122 (Coto) - As Amended: March 24, 2009
SUBJECT : Small schools
SUMMARY : Authorizes school districts to establish small
schools. Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes declarations and findings regarding the following:
a) The impact of smaller school size, including lower
dropout and truancy rates; increased parent involvement; a
greater sense of belonging; fewer discipline problems;
fewer crime, violence and gang participation; decrease in
incidences of alcohol and tobacco abuse; and increase in
pupil attendance;
b) There is ample evidence that well-planned and
well-implemented small schools can result in astonishing
growth in pupil achievement and a significant narrowing of
the achievement gap;
c) Parent groups and school districts throughout the state,
including San Diego, Oakland, Sacramento, San Jose, Los
Angeles, and San Francisco have initiated efforts to create
small schools; and
d) The trend in California has been to build larger and
larger schools.
2)Expresses the intent of the Legislature to reenact and revise
provisions in state law that have been repealed to create an
incentive for school districts to establish small schools with
the assistance of funding for new construction, modernization,
and reconfiguration of existing schoolsites.
3)Authorizes a school district to establish a small school
subject to all the following conditions:
a) Pupil enrollment in a kindergarten and grades 1 through
5 school shall not be fewer than 80 pupils and more than
250 pupils; in kindergarten and grades 1 through 8 school,
no fewer than 80 pupils and not more than 450 pupils; and
the number of pupils enrolled in a school with grades 6
through 12 shall not be fewer than 80 pupils and not more
AB 122
Page 2
than 400 pupils for those grades.
b) The school shall be staffed by school district employees
who volunteer to be assigned to the school.
c) The facilities that house the pupils enrolled in the
school shall be located in proximity to one another.
d) Enrollment in the school shall be open to all pupils who
have at least one parent or guardian who is a resident in
the attendance area of the school district.
e) Admission to the school shall not be determined by pupil
achievement. The school shall have a heterogenous pupil
population in terms of pupil achievement that reflects the
diversity of the pupils in that school district. The small
school shall develop an objective, transparent process to
ensure the school has a heterogeneous pupil population.
f) The school shall have a governing body consisting of
school staff, parents, guardians, and pupils. Members of
those groups shall be elected to the governing body by
their peers.
g) A school district that establishes a small school shall
allocate funds to the small school in a manner that results
in the small school receiving the amount of funds that each
pupil would generate at the pupil's prior school or the
school that the pupil would otherwise attend. Funds shall
be subtracted for contracted or required school district
services as set forth in the school plan or the memorandum
of understanding between the governing board of the small
school and the governing board of the school district.
School staff and the governing body of the small school
shall have flexibility on how funds allocated to the school
district are spent.
h) The small school shall have autonomy over budget, hiring
decisions, curriculum, instructional practices, and,
subject to negotiated collective bargaining agreements,
working conditions.
i) A school district that establishes one or more small
schools pursuant to this chapter shall develop, with
collaboration from representatives of community groups,
AB 122
Page 3
bargaining units representing the employees of the school
district, and parents of pupils of the school, a school
plan for each small school that includes all of the
following:
i) Goals for pupil achievement.
ii) Teaching and learning philosophy.
iii) Curricular focus of the school.
iv) Goals for school culture and practices.
v) Leadership goals.
vi) Tentative budget.
vii) Decisionmaking process, including the role of the
governing board of the small school.
viii) An evaluation plan based on multiple measures. The
school's own evaluation that includes the results of
assessments required by the state shall be submitted to
the department at the beginning of the second year of the
school's operation.
j) A school district that establishes a small school
pursuant to this bill shall develop a process for
interested stakeholders to submit proposals for the
establishment of a small school. The proposal shall include
all of the factors in (i) above.
aa) A school district that establishes one or more small
schools pursuant to this chapter shall adopt regulations
that include the small school or schools as part of an
academic reform strategy focused on the positive outcomes
small schools are intended to produce. The positive
outcomes resulting from the adopted academic reform
strategy shall include, but are not limited to, any of the
following:
i) A clearly defined mission and goals.
ii) High standards and expectations for pupils and
staff.
iii) Personalization.
iv) Individual respect.
v) Universal involvement in decisionmaking.
vi) Integrated learning.
vii) Multiple measures of pupil achievement.
viii) Antiracist and relevant curriculum.
ix) Differentiated instruction.
x) Project-oriented learning.
AB 122
Page 4
xi) Heterogeneous pupil grouping.
xii) Pupil-centered classrooms.
xiii) Connectedness with stakeholders.
xiv) Diversity.
xv) A safe environment.
xvi) A high-quality learning environment.
xvii) Alignment of resources with goals.
xviii) Maximizing community resources and partnerships.
xix) Lifelong professional development.
xx) A plan for continuous improvement, including data
analysis.
bb) A small school may be located within an existing
elementary, middle, or comprehensive high school and may be
newly constructed, located on a single site, or located
with other small schools or learning communities. The total
enrollment of a small school site shall not exceed the
recommendation of the department.
4)A school district that establishes one or more small schools
pursuant to this bill is encouraged to do any or all of the
following:
a) Apply for new construction grants for unhoused pupils as
a vehicle for establishing small schools on, adjacent to,
or separate from existing campuses.
b) Use modernization funding to modernize and reconfigure
existing campuses into small schools, either as part of a
comprehensive school complex or as a cluster of small
schools.
c) Establish the small school in order to provide the small
school with the flexibility of a charter school while
allowing it to be located within the district.
i) A small school shall not claim reimbursement for
state mandates, except for costs related to the
administration of the high school exit examination.
5)Repeals the provisions of this bill on January 1, 2017, unless
a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1,
2017, deletes or extends that date.
EXISTING LAW grants authority to school districts to establish
and operate public schools within their boundaries, including
AB 122
Page 5
the establishment of Alternative Schools, defined as a school or
separate class group within a school designed to promote
positive values of self-reliance, initiative and maintain a
learning situation that maximizes student self motivation and
opportunities for teachers, parents and students to
cooperatively develop the learning process and its subject
matters.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Small schools . Much research has been conducted on
the impact of school size on pupil achievement and retention,
graduation rates, parental involvement in the schools, and
school safety. The School Redesign Network at Stanford
University conducted a study of five urban, public high schools
that serve primarily students of color at higher rates than the
state average and send most of their students to college. The
report concluded that the smaller learning communities of the
schools provided more personalization and instructional supports
needed to create more successful learning.
While research shows that smaller is better, there is no
conclusion and agreement on the optimal size of a school.
Research highlights small school sizes ranging from 150 to 1000.
One report by the KnowledgeWorks Foundation titled "Dollars and
Sense: The Cost Effectiveness of Small Schools" concludes that
one size does not fit all, and that determining the upper limit
for enrollment per grade level may be more beneficial than
defining the size for a small school. For example, a
kindergarten through grade 6 school with 500 pupils is not
equivalent to a Kindergarten through grade 8 school with the
same number of pupils. The report recommends specifying an
enrollment cap per grade level as follows:
High schools (9-12): 75 students per grade level (300
total enrollment)
Middle schools (5-8): 50 students per grade level (200
total enrollment)
Elementary schools (1-8): 25 students per grade level (200
total enrollment)
Elementary schools (1-6): 25 students per grade level (150
total enrollment)
In an evaluation of 489 schools of varying sizes, the report
showed that the cost of constructing smaller schools was 20
AB 122
Page 6
percent higher.
Some studies also suggest that there are other approaches to
downsizing, including small learning communities within a large
campus and "academies" within high schools that operate around
themes.
Small High School Pilot Program . In 2004, AB 1465 (Chan),
Chapter 894, Statutes of 2004, established the Small High School
Pilot Program and set aside $25 million ($20 million for new
construction and $5 million for modernization) from state bond
funds for this purpose. Proposition 1D, the
Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities Bond Act of
2006, authorizes up to $200 million from new construction and
modernization funds to be used for Small High Schools.
The pilot provided a small high school, defined as a school with
an enrollment of less than 500 pupils, with an increased grant
amount equivalent to 120% of the base grant. The pilot was
authorized for two years, between January 1, 2006 and January 1,
2008. According to the Office of Public School Construction,
only one project by Porterville Unified School District, housing
499 pupils in 19 classrooms, received funding from New
Construction. No modernization funds were apportioned. The
sunset for the Small High School Pilot Program was January 1,
2008, and the statute was not extended.
Some districts have argued that the current funding structure
encourages the construction of larger schools. State education
bond funds are awarded by per pupil grants. Because the
existing grant levels are inadequate, the only way to increase
the funds available to build a school is to increase the number
of per pupil grants for the school, which result in the
construction of larger schools.
This bill is similar to AB 1841 (Coto), which was held in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee Suspense file in 2008. Last
year's bill attempted to revive the funding stream for the Small
High School Pilot Program. The focus of AB 122 is on the
structure and programmatic aspects of small schools and simply
encourages school districts to apply for state bond funds to
construct or rehabilitate existing buildings to facilitate small
schools.
The bill requires the district to establish a process whereby
AB 122
Page 7
interested stakeholders can submit proposals to establish a
small school pursuant to this bill. If the district chooses to
establish the small school, the district shall provide the funds
each pupil would normally generate to the school. The school
shall have a governing body consisting of school staff, parents,
guardians, and pupils, who shall be elected by their peers. The
bill requires the district to give the small school autonomy and
flexibility over budget, hiring, curriculum, instructional
practices, and working conditions. The bill specifies that
enrollment shall be open to all pupils with at least one parent
or guardian residing in the district's attendance area, but
specifies that the school must have a heterogeneous pupil
population in terms of pupil achievement that reflects the
diversity of the pupils in that school district.
The author may wish to consider the following:
Clarify and provide guidelines for governance issues: Establish
the structure of the governing body, including specifying the
size of the body, establish the process for election, and
specify the duties and responsibilities of the governing body.
Clarify what "elected by their peers" mean. Would school staff
only vote for school staff, parents only vote for parents, etc.?
Clarify the relationship between the governing body and the
local school board. The local school board is ultimately
responsible for accountability measures. Should the local
school board be required to conduct regular evaluations of the
school? Should the school's governing body be required to
provide reports to the local governing board on how funds are
spent?
Clarify the role of staff and the governing board: Section
58530 (g) says "school staff and the governing board of the
small school shall have flexibility on how funds allocated to
the school district are spent." Do both staff and the governing
body make decisions jointly?
Clarify enrollment procedures: The bill requires the school to
have a heterogeneous pupil population in terms of pupil
achievement that reflects the diversity of the pupils in that
district. It is unclear how a school can ensure that the pupil
population be heterogeneous without subjectively selecting
students. Is admission to the school based on prior test
scores? What if a pupil is new to the state or country and
doesn't have test scores?
AB 122
Page 8
Challenge to establishing small schools . Districts can and have
already established small schools. The bill cites successful
efforts in Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, San
Francisco, and San Jose. Some are theme-based schools while
others are "schools within a school". In its letter of Support,
San Francisco Unified School District writes, "At San Francisco
Community, our small school serving 285 students in grades K-8,
the Small Schools by Design Policy has allowed our project-based
approach to flourish using the curriculum autonomies. We teach
a project-based approach for half of our school year where
students are deeply engaged in nine-week, science-based,
challenge-driven projects which provide the context for learning
essential standards."
The challenge in establishing small schools is funding for
facilities and programs, including staffing. This bill does not
address funding barriers beyond encouraging districts to apply
for state bond funds.
Arguments in Support . The author states, "The purpose of AB 122
is to close the achievement gap and to assist many more
California students experiencing achievement and success in our
schools. AB 122 points out and defines the potential of small
schools to meet this aim. Many such schools, including in Los
Angeles, Oakland and San Francisco, have proven themselves as
places for student success and for closing the achievement gap.
The bill also defines key elements of small schools and
identifies incentives to school districts to develop small
schools.
"The State Superintendent of Public Instruction identified his
primary goal for 2008 (the Year of Education) was to close the
achievement gap. At the same time, data and studies continue to
show that the achievement gap is not closing - but in many cases
it is broadening. Change within large schools, especially in
high poverty communities to meet the needs of all students and
ensure their success, remains agonizingly beyond our reach. At
the same time, there exists ample evidence that small schools
supported within existing school districts can make a dramatic
difference in student success. In San Jose's generally low
scoring Alum Rock School District one small elementary school
has earned an API score of 881 and a small middle school has
earned an API of 795. Both schools serve students typically
characterized as coming from low performing student population."
AB 122
Page 9
Suggested amendments :
1)On page 5, line 1, strike "board" and insert "body".
2)The bill requires the school to send its evaluation to the
Department of Education. It should include the report to the
Assembly and Senate Education Committees.
3)Strike Section 58531(c)(2). This provision was specific to
dependent charters, which has been deleted from the bill.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
San Francisco Unified School District
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087