BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1907
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 21, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
AB 1907 (Cook) - As Amended: April 13, 2010
SUBJECT : Charter schools: instruction.
SUMMARY : Exempts nonclassroom based charter schools offering
real-time synchronized instruction from the requirements in the
Education Code and regulations pertaining to independent study,
commencing in the 2011-12 fiscal year, as specified.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Exempts nonclassroom based charter schools offering real-time
synchronized instruction from the requirements in the
Education Code and regulations pertaining to independent
study, commencing in the 2011-12 fiscal year, if it satisfies
all of the following:
a) All online instruction is synchronous, delivered in
real-time.
b) All teachers providing instruction are highly qualified,
holding the appropriate subject matter credential in the
courses they teach.
c) The ratio of full-time equivalent certificated teachers
teaching through online instruction to pupils engaged in
that instruction shall be substantially equivalent to the
ratio of teachers to pupils in traditional in-classroom
study of the same subject matter.
d) The subject matter content shall be the same for the
online course as for the corresponding traditional
in-classroom course approved by the chartering authority.
e) All pupils are required to attend classes during normal
school hours and login to classes according to a bell
schedule provided by the charter school.
f) Regular pupil attendance is required and documented
consistent with the charter school's policies. Teachers
shall used technology and other means to ensure that pupils
are attending the online classroom environment throughout
AB 1907
Page 2
the period of instruction by means such as live audio
discussion, real-time text messaging, or web-video cameras.
g) Average daily attendance is calculated, maintained, and
reported for each period based on actual pupil attendance
and participation in the online classroom environment.
h) All pupils voluntarily elect to participate in the
online course. The parent or guardian of the pupil shall
provide written consent before the pupil may participate in
an online course.
i) Charter school pupils are engaged in educational
activities required of those pupils.
j) The charter school is accredited by the Western
Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).
aa) The charter school develops and implements policies
addressing all of the following factors:
i) Test integrity.
ii) Evaluation of the online courses including a
comparison with traditional in-classroom courses.
iii) A procedure for attaining informed consent from both
the parent and pupil regarding course enrollment.
iv) The teacher selection process.
v) Criteria regarding pupil priority for online
courses.
vi) Equity and access in terms of hardware or computer
laboratories.
vii) Teacher training for online teaching.
viii) Teacher evaluation procedures.
ix) Protocols for verifying actual attendance and
participation by pupils engaged in synchronous learning.
x) Pupil computer skills necessary to take an online
course.
xi) The provision of onsite support for online pupils.
bb) The charter school maintains records verifying the time
that a pupil spends online in assigned classes, and the
time the teacher spends online providing instruction.
cc) The charter school requires all pupils for whom average
daily attendance apportionment is claimed to be enrolled in
the charter school for at least 80 percent of the minimum
AB 1907
Page 3
instructional time required to be offered pursuant to
paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 47612.5.
2)Sunsets these provisions on July 1, 2016.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires nonclassroom-based instruction in charter school to
comply with the requirements of independent study pursuant to
Article 5.5 of Chapter 5 of Part 28. (California Code of
Regulation, Title 5, Section 11963.1)
2)Requires the teacher-student ratio in an independent study
charter school to be 25 to one or less. (Education Code
51745.6)
3)Specifies that a charter school is not eligible to receive
apportionments for independent study by pupils, unless it has
adopted and implemented written policies, that include the
following, among others:
a) The maximum length of time that may elapse between the
time an independent study assignment is made and the date
by which the pupil must complete the assigned work.
b) The number of missed assignments that will be allowed
before an evaluation is conducted to determine whether it
is in the best interests of the pupil to remain in
independent study.
c) A requirement that a current written agreement for each
independent study pupil shall be maintained on file.
(Education Code 51747)
4)Specifies that "classroom-based instruction" in a charter
school, occurs only when charter school pupils are engaged in
educational activities required of those pupils and are under
the immediate supervision and control of an employee of the
charter school who possesses a valid teaching certification.
(Education code 47612.5)
5)Specifies for purposes of calculating average daily attendance
for classroom-based instruction apportionments, at least 80%
of the instructional time offered by the charter school shall
be at the schoolsite, and the charter school shall require the
attendance of all pupils for whom a classroom-based
apportionment is claimed at the schoolsite for at least 80% of
the minimum instructional time required to be offered.
AB 1907
Page 4
(Education code 47612.5)
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill is keyed non-fiscal; however, the
Assembly Appropriations Committee has requested to hear this
bill and it will be referred if passed by this committee.
COMMENTS : This bill was heard by this committee on March 24,
2010 and failed passage. At that time, the bill retroactively
exempted nonclassroom based charter schools offering real-time
synchronized instruction from the requirements in the Education
code and regulations pertaining to independent study, commencing
in the 2005-06 fiscal year.
This bill, as amended, seeks to exempt the Choice 2000 Online
Charter School (Choice 2000), which is a nonclassroom based
online charter school, from existing laws requiring nonclassroom
based charter schools to operate as independent study programs
in order to determine their average daily attendance (ADA) and
instead establishes additional requirements for the school to
follow in order to claim ADA in a manner similar to classroom
based schools.
Background on Choice 2000 & Audit Findings . In the 2005-06
fiscal year (FY) audit of Choice 2000, an audit finding was
reported on the basis that the nonclassroom-based charter school
was not in compliance with independent study requirements.
Based on this audit finding, 100% of the school's reported ADA
apportionment of $1.1 million for that FY was disallowed. In
response, the school filed an appeal with the Audit Appeals
Panel. That appeal was denied by the Audit Appeals Panel. In
the final appeal, an administrative law judge found the school
was in substantial compliance and made a recommendation to the
Audit Appeals Panel to overturn the initial denial. The Audit
Appeals Panel did not accept the judgment made by the
administrative law judge and denied the final appeal. Since
that time, Choice 2000 has filed a superior court lawsuit
challenging the Audit Appeals Panel and the state's regulation
requiring nonclassroom based charter schools comply with
independent study requirements. This lawsuit is ongoing.
Despite the audit finding in the 2005-06 FY and subsequent
advice from the California Department of Education (CDE) that as
a nonclassroom-based charter school, Choice 2000 must comply
with independent study requirements, the school continued to
operate without establishing student independent study
AB 1907
Page 5
contracts. As a result, the same audit finding was reported
again in the 2006-07 FY, 2007-08 FY and in the 2008-09 FY; and,
100% of the school's ADA apportionment in each of those years
was disallowed. Currently the 2006-07 FY and 2007-08 FY audit
findings are under final appeal with the Audit Appeals Panel and
a hearing with an administrative law judge is scheduled in May.
The 2008-09 FY audit is currently the process of being certified
by the Controller.
In January 2010, Choice 2000 applied for a State Board of
Education waiver of the independent study requirements for
nonclassroom-based charter schools. The waiver request was
denied by the State Board.
Based on the history of audit findings dating back to the
2005-06 FY and notice from CDE that Choice 2000 must comply with
the independent study requirements since that time, the
committee should consider whether it is appropriate to authorize
Choice 2000 to operate as a nonclassroom based charter school
and exempt the school from independent study requirements.
Background on Online Instruction : The immediate supervision of
a certificated teacher not only lies at the heart of the
delivery of education services, but is also the foundation of
the state's current attendance accounting and revenue limit
funding system. Elimination of teachers through implementation
of online coursework that is conducted with either synchronous
(teacher and student online simultaneously) or asynchronous
(teacher checking the students work online at different times)
supervision by a teacher presents numerous risks to student
learning, particularly for students with special needs and
students in need of remediation. In addition, elimination of
immediate teacher supervision means that the state has no
mechanism to ensure that a student is actually engaged in the
coursework or if someone else is sitting behind the computer.
From the perspective of the state's interest, these are
situations where the state would be unable to ensure that its
investment in education is spent directly on instruction.
Currently, only in limited circumstances (for example
Independent Study) are schools funded for instruction that
occurs without a pupil being under the immediate supervision of
certificated staff; such circumstances are subject to rigorous
requirements and restrictions; those requirements and
restrictions generally ensure instructional quality in terms of
issues such as student-teacher ratios, curriculum and content,
AB 1907
Page 6
and student assessment.
The usefulness of online curriculum and instruction is becoming
more apparent as delivery systems mature and more electronic
instructional materials are developed, and the potential use of
online education in addressing issues regarding students with
low motivation, dropout and credit recovery, and remedial
instruction is heartening. However, it is not yet clear how the
state should move forward to further authorize and fund online
K-12 educational services, since it is necessary at the same
time to guarantee that the quality of the educational services
provided to a student online is equivalent to that provided in
the classroom and that the state's financial investment in a
pupil's education is served by online education.
Independent Study Requirements for Charter Schools . Charter
school independent study programs are required to maintain a 25
to one teacher to student ratio. They are also required to
implement both a school-wide and individual student independent
study plan that outlines the parameters of the program, how
student performance will be evaluated, and how students are
expected to perform in order to stay in the program. Attendance
accounting for independent study programs is based on the value
of the work performed by the student rather than actual student
attendance, since independent study programs are not classroom
based.
If this bill is passed by the committee, Choice 2000 would not
be required to operate as an independent study program, would
not be required to maintain the 25 to one teacher to student
ratio, and would not be required to develop a school-wide and
individual student independent study plan outlined above. The
committee should consider whether it is appropriate to have
teacher to student ratios higher than 25 to one and whether the
school-wide and individual student independent study plan
benefits student learning, in an online educational environment.
Choice 2000, which uses a synchronous instruction model, is
seeking legislation to relieve them of independent study
requirements. The committee should consider whether it is
appropriate to consider nonclassroom-based instruction anything
other than independent study, since the teacher cannot visually
supervise who is completing the coursework.
Additional Requirements . This bill seeks to establish
AB 1907
Page 7
additional requirements for Choice 2000 to follow, in order to
count their ADA through the traditional classroom based
attendance accounting system. While these additional
requirements appear to address some of the concerns raised
during the Assembly Education Committee hearing on this bill,
they do not address all the concerns raised by the committee.
First, the bill specifies that the ratio of certificated
teachers teaching through online instruction shall be
substantially equivalent to the teacher-pupil ratio in
traditional in-classroom study of the same subject matter.
Since Choice 2000 is entirely an online course platform, and
there is not a classroom based option for students at the
school, it is impossible to compare the teacher to student ratio
of the online courses at Choice 2000 to an in-classroom model.
Since there is no basis for comparison at the school, it is
unclear how it will be determined whether the school has
"substantially equivalent" ratios. Under existing law, they are
required to maintain a 25:1 teacher to student ratio as a
non-classroom based charter school.
Second, the bill specifies that teachers shall use technology
and other means to ensure that students are attending online
courses, throughout the period of instruction, by means such as
live audio discussion, real-time text messaging, or web-video
cameras. Classroom-based instruction requires students to
complete coursework while under the "immediate supervision and
control" of a certificated teacher. One could argue that video
cameras would allow a teacher to maintain supervision of a
student throughout the period of instruction, but it is unclear
whether the teacher could maintain control of a student over the
internet. One could also argue that real-time text messaging
and audio discussions do not allow a teacher to have "immediate
supervision or control" of a student. The committee should
consider whether audio discussion and real-time text messaging
should be considered "immediate supervision and control" for
purposes of attendance accounting.
Third, the bill requires all students for whom ADA apportionment
is claimed to be enrolled in the charter school for at least 80%
of the minimum instructional time. Existing law requires,
for purposes of calculating ADA for classroom-based instruction
apportionments, at least 80% of the instructional time offered
by the charter school to be at the schoolsite, and the charter
school to require the attendance of all pupils for whom a
AB 1907
Page 8
classroom-based apportionment is claimed at the schoolsite for
at least 80% of the minimum instructional time required to be
offered. In this case, enrollment is not equivalent to
attendance. In order to achieve parity with the existing
classroom based attendance accounting process, students would
need to be required to attend for 80% of the minimum
instructional time required, in order to claim full ADA for that
student. If Choice 2000 is exempt under this bill from adhering
to the independent study requirements, and student attendance
would not be required for 80% of the minimum instructional time
required, how will they calculate their ADA?
Arguments in Support . According to the Riverside County Schools
Advocacy Association, current state statutes governing student
attendance accounting and instructional strategies must be
updated to reflect the fast-changing technologies that now drive
the way the world shares information. Our schools are woefully
behind in the use of technology for instruction, to the
detriment of our students and student achievement. While lack
of funding has certainly limited our ability to utilize
technology in education, we are equally hampered by education
code requirements that have not been updated to reflect the
instructional options now available through technology.
Arguments in Opposition . According to the California Teachers
Association (CTA), who opposes the bill, "CTA believes that
on-line learning charters should provide opportunities
consistent with state educational standards and hours of
instruction. This bill would not require the quality contact
time between teachers and students that is essential in helping
all students reach their full potential."
Related legislation : AB 2027 (Blumenfield), pending in the
Assembly Education Committee, authorizes, commencing with the
2011-12 fiscal year, school districts and county offices of
education that offer online education courses to claim one day
of attendance toward average daily attendance on the basis of
the attendance at a class or classes in a classroom-based
setting of a pupil taking at least one high-quality online
course that satisfies prescribed criteria.
Previous legislation : AB 837 (Torlakson) from 2009, which was
held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, would have
established, beginning with the 2010-11 fiscal year, that a
school district or county office of education may claim average
AB 1907
Page 9
daily attendance on the basis of a pupil's attendance at classes
in the classroom-based setting on that day, for the purpose of
learning online under certain circumstances.
AB 2457 (Walters), held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee
in 2008, would have re-established the Online Classroom Pilot
Program to monitor and evaluate pupil participation in
course-based, asynchronous, interactive instruction conducted
over the Internet.
SB 155 (Maldonado), introduced in 2007, was substantially
similar to AB 2457, except that SB 155 also required the
California Department of Education to give priority to
applicants ranked in the Academic Performance Index (API)
deciles 1 through 5, when approving the competitive applications
to operate an online course; SB 155 was later amended into a
different subject matter and signed into law as Chapter 702,
Statutes of 2008.
AB 1985 (Daucher), held in the Senate in 2006, would have
established the Online Classroom Program, replacing the pilot
program with an ongoing, non-pilot program allowing school
districts to receive funds for average daily attendance (ADA) of
pupils who are receiving instruction via the internet and are
located at remote locations.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Riverside County Schools Advocacy Association
Several Individuals
Opposition
California Teachers Association
Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087