BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gloria Romero, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 487
AUTHOR: Brownley
AMENDED: June 1, 2009
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: July 1, 2009
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Nancy Anton
SUBJECT : Disposal of unusable K-12 instructional
materials.
SUMMARY
This bill (1) relaxes some of the restrictions placed on
the State Board of Education (SBE) and school districts as
it relates to the disposal of unusable surplus or
undistributed obsolete instructional materials and (2)
extends these provisions to include county offices of
education (COE).
BACKGROUND
Current law limits the options available to the SBE and
school districts for disposing of unusable instructional
materials to any of the following ways:
1) Donation to:
a. Any governing board, county free library or
other state institution.
b. Any public agency or institution or
government of any country that was a former
territory or US possession.
c. Any nonprofit charitable organization.
d. Children or adults for the purpose of
increasing literacy.
2) Sale to any organization that agrees to use the
materials solely for educational purposes.
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3) Mutilating and selling for scraps at the highest price
that can be obtained.
4) Destroying in an economical way, as specified.
Current law also provides that any agencies receiving such
obsolete instructional materials must certify and agree to
use the materials for educational purposes only and not to
make a charge of any kind to the people receiving or using
the materials.
ANALYSIS
This bill expands the options available to the SBE and
schools districts for the disposal of unusable
instructional materials.
Specifically, the bill deletes restrictions regarding the
organizations to which the materials may be sold thereby
allowing the materials to be sold without restriction.
However, the bill specifies that the disposition of the
proceeds from any sale of such materials shall be as
follows:
50% to the State General Fund.
50% be available for school districts and COE to
acquire basic instructional materials, supplemental
instructional materials or technology-based materials.
The bill also expands these provisions to apply to COE.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Why are there surplus materials ? Current law requires
the SBE to adopt basic instructional materials for use
in kindergarten to grade 8, inclusive, (K-8) in
language arts, mathematics, science, social science,
and bilingual or bicultural subjects not less than two
times every six years, and not less than two times
every eight years in any other subject for which the
SBE determines the adoption of instructional materials
to be necessary or desirable. Current law requires
local governing boards to provide pupils with
standards-aligned textbooks or basic instructional
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materials no later than 24 months after those
materials have been adopted by the SBE.
2) Prior legislation . This bill is similar to AB 2654
(Coto) which was heard and passed by the Senate
Education Committee (6-2) on June 14, 2006. This
measure was held in the Senate Appropriations
Committee.
SUPPORT
Antioch Unified School District
San Francisco Unified School District
OPPOSITION
None received