BILL NUMBER: AB 451	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  FEBRUARY 22, 2010
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 1, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 13, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member  De Leon  
Portantino 

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2009

    An act to amend Sections 52055.57 and 52059 of, and to
add Section 52055.575 to, the Education Code, relating to public
school accountability.   An act to add Section 13998 to
the Government Code, relating to economic development. 


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 451, as amended,  De Leon   Portantino
 .  Public school accountability: grants.  
Economic development: research.  
    The California Council on Science and Technology is a nonprofit
corporation organized pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the federal
Internal Revenue Code. Existing law provides that the council was
established at the request of the Legislature for the specific
purpose of offering expert advice to state government on public
policy issues significantly related to science and technology. 

   This bill would request that the council undertake an assessment
of, and report to the Legislature with recommendations on how to
improve the global competitiveness of the state's science and
technology economy. The bill would authorize the council to convene a
panel of experts to conduct the assessment and to draft the report.
 
   (1) The Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999 requires the
State Department of Education to identify local educational agencies
that are in danger of being identified within 2 years as program
improvement local educational agencies under the federal No Child
Left Behind Act of 2001, and to notify those local educational
agencies, in writing, of this status and provide those local
educational agencies with research-based criteria to conduct a
voluntary self-assessment. The Public Schools Accountability Act
requires a local educational agency identified as a program
improvement local educational agency under the federal No Child Left
Behind Act of 2001 to perform specified tasks, including conducting a
self-assessment and implementing a local educational agency plan.
The Public Schools Accountability Act authorizes a local educational
agency identified for corrective action and subject to a sanction to
apply for a one-year, nonrenewable grant of federal improvement
funding to assist in its improvement process. The Public Schools
Accountability Act specifies the grant amount for each eligible local
educational agency based on the severity of the agency's performance
problems.  
   This bill would delete those requirements and increase the
specified amounts for the one-year, nonrenewable grant. The bill
would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State
Board of Education to consider whether the local educational agency
received funding pursuant to (2) below when determining whether the
local educational agency shall contract with a district assistance
and intervention team or other technical assistance provider. For the
2009-10 fiscal year only, the bill would require that a local
educational agency that received a sanction prior to January 1, 2010,
and received a one-year, nonrenewable grant be provided with an
additional one-time, nonrenewable grant of federal improvement
funding, as specified.  
   (2) This bill would authorize a local educational agency that is
not in corrective action and has schools under its jurisdiction in
year 4 or 5 and beyond of program improvement under the federal No
Child Left Behind Act to apply for a one-year, nonrenewable grant of
federal improvement funding in the amount of $150,000 to assist in
improving those schools and would authorize the agency to expend the
grant funding over the time period allowable under federal law. As a
condition of receiving funding, the bill would require a local
educational agency to comply with specified requirements, including
providing schools in year 4 or 5 and beyond of program improvement
with funding to implement technical assistance, establishing a
district school liaison team, ensuring that all pupils enrolled in a
school in year 4 or 5 and beyond of program improvement continue to
have the option to transfer to another public school served by the
local educational agency, and ensuring that all pupils enrolled in a
school in year 4 or 5 and beyond of program improvement continue to
have supplemental educational services available to them. In
allocating those funds, the bill would require the department to give
first priority to schools in year 5 and beyond of program
improvement under federal law. Educational agencies that receive
funding must allocate a minimum of 85% of the grant to improve
academic achievement of pupils, and may allocate 15% for technical
assistance activities that benefit all program improvement schools,
as specified. The bill would require local educational agencies that
receive funds to provide annual evaluation reports containing
specified data to the Superintendent. These provisions would become
operative only if an appropriation is made for other purposes in the
annual Budget Act or another statute.  
   (3) This bill also would make conforming changes. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:  
   (a) California has long been known as an international leader in
science and technology. Whole industries, including the
biotechnology, computer hardware, computer software, semiconductor,
and wireless communication industries, have spawned from companies
that started in California. These industries have helped build a
vibrant state economy and have provided benefits to people around the
globe.  
   (b) One of the catalysts for California's leadership in science
and technology has been its long history of rich investment in
science, technology, and higher education. However, the state's
leadership in science and technology is threatened by an erosion of
science, technology, and education infrastructure within the state.
 
   (c) It is in the public interest to assess California's science
and technology economy, plan for the future of that economy, and
develop recommendations to improve the global competitiveness of, and
to generate new employment opportunities within, that economy. 

   SEC. 2.    Section 13998 is added to the  
Government Code   , to read:  
   13998.  (a) The California Council on Science and Technology is
hereby requested to undertake an assessment of the global
competitiveness of the state's science and technology economy, and to
report to the Legislature with recommendations on how to improve the
global competitiveness of the state's science and technology
economy. The assessment and report may include, but are not limited
to, all of the following:
   (1) A discussion of the status of the state's science and
technology economy.
   (2) A discussion of the changing nature of science and technology
in the 21st century.
   (3) A directory of public and private innovation facilities and
infrastructure in the state.
   (4) A comprehensive plan for future public and private investments
in the state's science and technology economy.
   (5) Recommendations for new strategies and methodologies to
improve the global competitiveness of the state's science and
technology economy.
   (6) Recommendations for generating new employment opportunities
within the state's science and technology economy.
   (b) The California Council on Science and Technology may convene a
panel of science and technology experts to conduct the assessment
and to draft the report. These experts may include, but are not
limited to, individuals with expertise in science and technology from
industry, colleges and universities, and research laboratories.
   (c) The assessment and report may be completed within one year of
being awarded.  All matter omitted in this version of the bill
appears in the bill as amended in the Assembly, June 1, 2009. (JR11)