BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2019
Page A
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 2019 (Torlakson)
As Amended April 20, 2010
Majority vote
EDUCATION 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Brownley, Nestande, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Ammiano, |
| |Ammiano, Arambula, | |Bradford, |
| |Carter, Chesbro, | |Charles Calderon, Coto, |
| |Torlakson | |Davis, Monning, Ruskin, |
| | | |Skinner, Solorio, |
| | | |Torlakson, Torrico |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | |Nays:|Conway, Harkey, Miller, |
| | | |Nielsen, Norby |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction
(SPI) to convene a task force for education technology for
purposes of developing recommendations for a comprehensive
statewide plan to increase and enhance the level of technology
used to deliver instruction in California public schools.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the membership of the task force to consist of no
more than 15 education technology experts, including, but not
limited to, parents, administrators, school board members,
researchers, industry representatives, and a majority of
current credentialed teachers and shall include at least one
representative from each of the following: a large, a
medium-sized, and a small school district.
2)Requires the task force to submit recommendations to the State
Board of Education (SBE) and to the Legislature on or before
September 1, 2012, for a comprehensive statewide technology
plan that addresses specified components and to the extent
feasible, consider previously developed state technology
plans.
3)Requires the SBE to adopt a comprehensive statewide plan to
increase and enhance the level of technology used to deliver
AB 2019
Page B
instruction in California public schools, pursuant to the
recommendations of the task force, on or before January 1,
2013.
4)Authorizes the California Department of Education (CDE) to
accept private donations to support the expenses incurred in
operating the task force.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, one-time costs of $150,000 to $225,000, to establish
the task force to develop recommendations for the basis of a
statewide technology plan. This bill specifies that funding
shall be from private donations.
COMMENTS : This bill seeks to create a plan that will include
recommendations for the expansion of the use of technology in
schools.
Existing federal law, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
(NCLB), requires each state to maintain a statewide technology
plan for the purpose of ensuring that technology use is
consistent with the state's strategies for improving student
academic achievement through the use of technology in
classrooms, including improving the capacity of teachers to
integrate technology into curricula and instruction. In May
2005, the SBE approved the NCLB State Technology Plan, which
addresses the federal requirements of NCLB. The plan includes
California's strategies for improving student academic
achievement through the use of technology and efforts to
leverage statewide education technology services, regional
services, grant administration, monitoring, and outreach efforts
so that all efforts focus on promoting research-based proven
practices. Additionally, the Commission on Technology in
Learning (CTL) was established by AB 598 (Soto), Chapter 830,
Statutes of 1999, as an advisory body to the SBE to develop a
report with recommendations to ensure that technology is
systemically integrated into all levels of education.
Furthermore, as a condition of receiving education technology
funding, districts are required to develop or update a
technology plan to reflect a district's plan on using technology
to improve student achievement and to improve the capacity of
all teachers in schools served by the district to integrate
technology effectively into curricula and instruction. The
AB 2019
Page C
components of the plan include curriculum; professional
development; infrastructure, hardware, technical support and
software; funding and budget; and monitoring and evaluation in
such a way as to keep student achievement emphasized in the
district plan.
An argument could be made that another state technology plan may
be duplicative of plans that are already required both of the
state pursuant to NCLB and of districts in order to receive
technology grants. Additionally, the report and recommendations
developed by the CTL are comprehensive in nature and could be
used for policy making purposes by implementing some of the
recommendations in the document. While there is support for
incorporating technology in the classroom, the challenge for the
state has been the fiscal climate which leaves limited resources
for technical equipment, maintenance, support and training to
increase access to technology in the classroom.
Previous legislation: AB 836 (Torlakson) of 2009 would have
required the SPI to establish and convene a task force for
education technology for purposes of making preliminary
recommendations on technology literacy model standards for
grades 7-12, inclusive, and to address specified issues related
to technology. AB 836 was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger
with the following veto message:
"Earlier this year, I issued an Executive Order directing the
State's Chief Information Officer (CIO) to establish the
Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Digital Literacy
Council for the purposes of developing a California Action Plan
for ICT Digital Literacy. The CIO is charged with working with
stakeholders in both the education and technology fields to
develop a plan to incorporate digital literacy in our schools
and workforce. This bill would require the Superintendent of
Public Instruction (SPI) to establish a task force for education
technology, funded by private donations. The SPI does not need
additional statutory authority to convene an internal task force
for this purpose. Therefore, this bill is unnecessary."
SB 1330 (Torlakson) of 2008 would have required the SPI to
convene a task force for the purpose of developing
recommendations for a comprehensive statewide plan to increase
and enhance the level of technology used to deliver instruction
in California public schools. SB 1330 was vetoed by Governor
AB 2019
Page D
Schwarzenegger with the following veto message:
"This bill is unnecessary since current law does not prohibit
the Superintendent of Public Instruction from convening an
internal advisory committee to update the statewide education
technology plan with approval of the State Board of Education.
Increasing and enhancing technology in our schools is important,
but the provisions in this can be accomplished without
legislation."
Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Avina / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0004547