BILL ANALYSIS
AB 314
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Date of Hearing: May 20, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 314 (Brownley) - As Amended: May 6, 2009
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:8-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill makes several changes to the adoption process for
instructional materials (IM) and extends the timeframe for
school districts to purchase IM from 24 to 36 months.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires policies and procedures for IM adoption to include
the consideration of price, only after recommendations are
submitted to the State Board of Education (SBE) based on
content standard alignment, approved evaluation criteria, and
quality.
2)Requires an IM publisher/manufacturer to provide IM in an
electronic format at a price that is less than the price
charged for the printed version. This measure exempts small
IM publishers from this requirement.
3)Requires the adopted IM list published on the State Department
of Education's (SDE) Internet website to include information
from the findings and recommendations developed by the expert
reviewers/evaluators of IM involved in the review process, as
specified.
4)Deletes the authority of the Curriculum Development and
Supplemental Materials Commission (Curriculum Commission) to
evaluate IM and recommend IM for adoption by the SBE.
5)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to
select and appoint IM reviewers and content experts based on
school districts' recommendations of individuals.
6)Authorizes a local governing board to use Instructional
Materials Funding and Realignment Program (IMFRP) allocations
to purchase state adopted IM in an electronic format, if it
AB 314
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can ensure that each pupil will be provided with a copy of the
IM to use at school and home, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT
Potential GF administrative savings, of at least $100,000, to
reduce the duties of the Curriculum Commission. However, this
funding would need to be redirected to SDE for administrative
costs associated with verifying and selecting IM reviewers and
content experts and posting information on its Internet website,
as specified. Also, the SDE may need additional funding,
potentially in excess of $150,000, to handle administrative
duties previously conducted by the commission. The 2009 Budget
Act allocates $164,000 GF to provide the Curriculum Commission
with subject matter experts.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . Current law requires the SBE to adopt basic IM in
the core academic content areas (English language arts,
mathematics, history/social science, and science) every six
years for use in grades K-8. It is also required to adopt
statewide academically rigorous content standards in the core
curriculum areas, including ELA. These content standards are
implemented through the curriculum frameworks, as adopted by
SBE. The adopted IM must be consistent with the criteria and
standards of quality prescribed in the adopted curriculum
frameworks. Also, the governing board of each school district
maintaining one or more high schools is authorized to adopt IM
for use in the high schools (grades 9-12) under its control.
In May 2007, the Legislative Analyst Office (LAO) released a
report entitled: Reforming California's Instructional
Materials Adoption Process. Specifically, the LAO recommended
"the state continue to involve expert panels, SDE, SBE,
publishers, other advocates, and the general public in the
framework development and adoption process but eliminate the
role of the Curriculum Commission. This would be consistent
with the process used in most adoption states, which either do
not have such commissions or do not involve them in adoption
decisions. Removing the commission from the adoption process,
however, would streamline the process
significantly-eliminating virtually all of the existing
redundancies."
This bill implements this LAO recommendation and authorizes
school districts to submit recommendations for experts to
review IM, as specified.
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2)The Curriculum Commission is an 18 member advisory board to
SBE. Commissioners tend to be recognized authorities in a
specific subject matter, professors, curriculum experts, K-12
teachers, or community members. The commission advises SBE on
the K-12 curriculum frameworks and K-8 IM. In doing so, it
serves as a kind of intermediary between the field experts and
SBE. The commission holds a public hearing on a framework
after the Subject Matter Committee hearing and before the SBE
hearing on the framework. It also holds a public hearing on IM
after content panel members develop their evaluation report
and before SBE holds a hearing to adopt the materials.
3)The IMFRP provides funds to districts to purchase SBE adopted
IM in the four academic content areas and other subjects, as
specified. School districts are required to purchase adopted
IM (as well as locally adopted materials for grades 9-12) for
every student within 24 months after SBE adoption. This bill
would extend the time school districts have to purchase to 36
months. The 2009 Budget Act allocates $333.7 million GF/98
for the IMFRP, which includes a base reduction of 19.8%.
4)Previous related legislation . AB 2315 (Mullin), similar to
this measure with regard to the adoption of IM, was vetoed in
September 2008 with the following message:
"The SBE recently addressed the issue of greater transparency
and clear timelines and procedures in the instructional
materials adoption process. Those SBE regulations were
intended to set forth the process by which the SBE adopts
curriculum frameworks, evaluation criteria, and instructional
materials. Moreover, I see no need to change the process or
the people involved in this important work. The SBE should
maintain the authority of selection and appointment of
instructional materials reviewers and content review experts."
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081