BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
2298 (Torlakson)
Hearing Date: 08/02/2010 Amended: 06/14/2010
Consultant: Dan Troy Policy Vote: ED 6-2
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 2298 would require the Department of
Education (CDE) to periodically update rules and regulations in
physical education, compile a manual in physical education (PE)
for distribution teachers that is consistent with statute and
with the content standards adopted by the State Board of
Education (SBE), and would also require high school PE
instruction to be consistent with the PE model content
standards.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Fund
Teaching manual $1,700
General
Content standards Unknown, likely
millions General*
Regulations $100 to $150 for each update
General
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Current law requires the adopted course of study for grades 1-6
to include PE for a minimum of 200 minutes every 10 schooldays
and for 400 minutes every 10 schooldays for grades 7-12.
Current law states legislative intent that all pupils have
access to a high-quality, comprehensive, and developmentally
appropriate PE program on a regular basis. Current law requires
the CDE to compile and print a PE manual for distribution to
teachers. Current law also states legislative intent, among
other things, that school districts with elementary schools
provide each PE teacher yearly theoretical practical training in
developmental PE, pursuant to the PE framework. Teachers who
have successfully completed one college level course in
elementary PE are exempted from this provision.
This bill would make several changes to law requiring PE
requirements. The bill would require CDE to periodically update
rules and regulations concerning PE; to compile and print a PE
manual consistent with the SBE-adopted content standards for
distribution to teachers; modifies legislative intent concerning
the provision of teacher training in PE; and require PE
instruction to be consistent with the SBE-adopted content
standards.
The bill's provisions would create new costs in several ways.
CDE has not compiled a new manual for teachers since 1976, costs
for updating and distribution would $1.7 million. There would
also be costs of $100,000 to $150,000 to update rules and
regulations, whenever that is done (the bill is not clear when
this should occur). In terms of local costs, the bill would
mandate districts to provide instruction consistent
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AB 2298 (Torlakson)
with the PE model content standards. Under current law, the
model content standards are offered as a framework for programs,
but its use is not mandated. To the extent that following the
standards is deemed to be more costly than existing
requirements, this bill may generate reimbursable costs through
a test claim with the Commission on State Mandates. These costs
are indeterminable but could be in the millions based on other
mandates that required a specific course of instruction.
This bill would also somewhat expand legislative intent
regarding the training for PE instructors for grades 1-6. Under
current law, teachers that have completed one college level
course in elementary PE are is exempted form the training, while
this bill would provide that those teachers are not a priority
for training. As this provision represents intent rather than a
requirement, any new costs would not likely be reimbursable.
However, given the bill's requirement to teach to the content
standards, there may be significant pressure to provide
professional development. This cost would be in the millions.