BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �






                          SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
                              Alan Lowenthal, Chair
                             2011-12 Regular Session
                                         

          BILL NO:       AB 5
          AUTHOR:        Fuentes
          AMENDED:       August 24, 2012
          FISCAL COMM:   Yes            HEARING DATE:  August 29, 2012
          URGENCY:       No             CONSULTANT:Beth Graybill

          NOTE:  This bill was heard by this Committee on June 15, 2011 
          and was passed on a 6-0 vote.  The Senate Rules Committee has 
          referred this bill to the Senate Education Committee pursuant 
          to Senate Rule 29.10.  

           SUBJECT  :  Teachers:  teacher evaluations.
          
           SUMMARY   

          This bill repeals and replaces various provisions of existing 
          law governing the evaluation of certificated employees and 
          beginning July 1, 2014, requires school districts to 
          implement a best practices teacher evaluation system, as 
          specified.  

           BACKGROUND  

           Existing law

           The Stull Act expresses Legislative intent that school 
          districts and county governing boards establish a uniform 
          system of evaluation and assessment of certificated 
          personnel.  With the exception of certificated personnel who 
          are employed on an hourly basis to teach adult education 
          classes, the Stull Act requires school districts to evaluate 
          and assess teacher performance as it reasonably relates to:  

          a)   Progress of pupils toward district-adopted and, if 
               applicable, state-adopted academic content standards as 
               measured by state-adopted criterion referenced tests; 
          b)   Instructional techniques and strategies used by the 
               employee; 
          c)   The employee's adherence to curricular objectives; and 
          d)   The establishment and maintenance of a suitable learning 
               environment within the scope of the employee's 
               responsibilities.  



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          (Education Code � 44660 et. seq.)  

          In developing guidelines and procedures for evaluating 
          certificated personnel, governing boards are required to 
          avail themselves of the advice of the certificated 
          instructional personnel in the district's organization of 
          certificated personnel pursuant to collective bargaining 
          statutes.  Districts may, by mutual agreement between the 
          exclusive representatives of the certificated employees, 
          include standards from the National Board for Professional 
          Teaching Standards (NBPTS) or the California Standards for 
          the Teaching Profession (CSTP).  (EC � 44661.5)  

          The Educational Employment Relations Act (EERA) specifies 
          that the scope of collective bargaining includes matters 
          relating to wages, hours of employment, and other terms and 
          conditions of employment.  The law defines conditions of 
          employment to include health and welfare benefits, leave, 
          transfer and reassignment policies, safety conditions of 
          employment, class size, procedures to be used for the 
          evaluation of employees, organizational security, and 
          procedures for processing grievances, the layoff of 
          probationary certificated employees, and alternative 
          compensation or benefits for employees adversely affected by 
          pension limitations as specified.  (Government Code � 3540, 
          3543.2)  

          Existing law requires an evaluation and assessment of the 
          performance of each certificated employee to be made at least 
          once each school year for probationary personnel, at least 
          every other year for personnel with permanent status, and at 
          least every five years for permanent employees who have been 
          employed with the district at least 10 years and were rated 
          as meeting or exceeding standards in their previous 
          evaluation.  Employees who receive an unsatisfactory rating 
          may be required to participate in a program designed to 
          improve the employee's performance and to further pupil 
          achievement and the instructional objectives of the district. 
           Teachers who receive an unsatisfactory rating are required 
          to participate in the Peer Assistance and Review Program if 
          their district offers such a program.  (EC � 44664) 

          Existing law establishes the Peer Assistance and Review 
          Program for Teachers (PAR) by authorizing school districts 
          and the exclusive representative of the certificated 
          employees to develop and implement the program locally.  
          Under current law, PAR programs are to include multiple 



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          observations of a teacher during periods of classroom 
          instruction and sufficient staff development activities to 
          assist a teacher in improving his or her skills and 
          knowledge.  The final evaluation of a teacher's participation 
          in the program is made available for placement in his or her 
          personnel file.  (EC � 44505)

           Federal requirements  

          The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) has established a 
          process by which states may request flexibility on behalf of 
          themselves, local educational agencies, and schools, by 
          applying for a waiver from certain requirements of the No 
          Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB).  The waiver is intended 
          to provide educators and state and local leaders with 
          flexibility regarding specific requirements of NCLB 
          (principally, the requirement that all students be proficient 
          in math and reading by 2014 and won't have to identify 
          additional schools failing to meet targets) in exchange for 
          rigorous and comprehensive state-developed plans designed to 
          improve educational outcomes for all students, close 
          achievement gaps, increase equity, and improve the quality of 
          instruction.  

          Instructions provided by the DOE indicate that to receive the 
          flexibility, a state's educational agency and each local 
          educational agency must commit to develop, adopt, pilot and 
          implement, with the involvement of teachers and principals, 
          teacher and principal evaluation and support systems that:  
          (1) will be used for continual improvement of instruction; 
          (2) meaningfully differentiate performance using at least 
          three performance levels; (3) use multiple valid measures in 
          determining performance levels, including as a significant 
          factor, data on student growth for all students (including 
          English Learners and students with disabilities), and other 
          measures of professional practice (which may be gathered 
          through multiple formats and sources, such as observations 
          based on rigorous teacher performance standards, teacher 
          portfolios, and student and parent surveys); (4) evaluate 
          teachers and principals on a regular basis; (5) provide 
          clear, timely, and useful feedback, including feedback that 
          identifies needs and guides professional development; and (6) 
          will be used to inform personnel decisions.  

          The U.S. Department of Education has granted waivers to 33 
          states.  In June 2012, California submitted a request to the 
          U.S. Department of Education to set aside specific 



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          requirements of NCLB and requested that the DOE allow the 
          state to use its own accountability system to ensure that all 
          schools improve.  California's request differs from those 
          filed by other states that agreed to several additional 
          federally required policies in exchange for the NCLB waiver.  
          To date, the DOE has not responded to the California's 
          request.  

           Court ruling  

          In November 2011, a group of parents filed a law suit on 
          behalf of their children, (Doe et. al. v Deasy et. al.) 
          asking the court to compel the Los Angeles Unified School 
          District (LAUSD), its superintendent, and its board of 
          education to comply with the Stull Act's requirement to 
          evaluate teachers and administrators based in part on student 
          performance.  In July 2012, Superior Court Judge Chalfant 
          found that the LAUSD was not in compliance with the Stull Act 
          and was violating its mandatory duty under the Act to use 
          pupil progress in teacher and principal evaluations.  The 
          Court ruled that LAUSD must modify its current evaluation 
          process to comply with the Stull Act requirement to 
          incorporate an assessment of the employee's performance as it 
          reasonably relates to the progress of pupils toward the 
          District standards at each grade level in each area of study 
          and as it reasonably relates to the progress of pupils toward 
          State adopted academic content standards as measured by State 
          adopted criterion referenced assessments, if applicable.  

           ANALYSIS  

           This bill  recasts various provisions of the law governing the 
          evaluation of certificated employees.  Specifically, this 
          bill:

          1)   Makes inoperative as of July 1, 2014, and repeals as of 
               January 1, 2015, the following Stull Act requirements:  

               a)        Legislative intent that governing boards 
                    establish a uniform system for evaluation and 
                    assessment.  (EC � 44660)

               b)        The requirement that a governing board, in the 
                    development and adoption of evaluation guidelines 
                    and procedures avail itself of the advice of the 
                    certificated instructional personnel in the 
                    district as part of a locally negotiated collective 



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                    bargaining agreement.  (EC � 44661)

               c)        The authorization that a school district may 
                    include standards from the National Board of 
                    Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) or the 
                    California Standards for the Teaching Profession 
                    (CSTP) in its evaluation and assessment guidelines. 
                     (EC � 44661.5)

               d)        The requirement that the governing board of 
                    each school district:  

                    i)           Establish standards of expected pupil 
                         achievement at each grade level in each area 
                         of study, and 

                    ii)            Evaluate and assess certificated 
                         employee performance as it reasonably relates 
                         to the progress of pupils on those standards 
                         and applicable state adopted content standards 
                         as measured by state adopted criterion 
                         referenced assessments and other specified 
                         criteria.  (EC � 44662)  

          2)   Makes findings and declarations regarding teaching, the 
               characteristics of effective teaching, and the 
               importance of teachers in influencing student academic 
               success.  Declares that the primary purpose of an 
               evaluation system is to ensure that teachers meet the 
               highest professional standards of effective teaching, 
               thereby resulting in higher levels of pupil learning.  

          3)   Requires, beginning July 1, 2014, the governing board of 
               each school district to adopt and implement a best 
               practices teacher evaluation system (BPTES).  Requires 
               the BPTES to be locally negotiated pursuant to the 
               Educational Employment Relations Act; specifies that if 
               the certificated employees of the school district do not 
               have an exclusive bargaining representative, the 
               governing board must adopt objective evaluation and 
               support components, as applicable.  

          4)   Requires a BPTES to include but not be limited to the 
               following attributes:  

               a)        Each teacher is evaluated on the degree to 
                    which he or she accomplishes the following 



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                    objectives:  

                    i)           Engages and supports all pupils in 
                         learning, evidence of which may include, but 
                         is not limited to, evidence of high 
                         expectations and active pupil engagement for 
                         each pupil.  

                    ii)            Creates and maintains effective 
                         environments for pupil learning, to the extent 
                         that those environments are within the 
                         teacher's control.  

                    iii)           Understands and organizes subject 
                         matter for pupil learning, evidence of which 
                         may include, but is not limited to, extensive 
                         subject matter, content standards, and 
                         curriculum competence.  

                    iv)            Plans instruction and designs 
                         learning experiences for pupils, evidence of 
                         which may include use of differential 
                         instruction and practices and use of 
                         culturally responsive instruction, such as 
                         incorporation of multicultural information and 
                         content into the delivery of curriculum, to 
                         eliminate the achievement gap.  

                    v)           Uses pupil assessment information to 
                         inform instruction and to improve learning, 
                         evidence of which shall include, but is not 
                         limited to, use of formative and summative 
                         assessments to adjust instructional practices 
                         to meet the needs of individual pupils.  For 
                         certificated employees who directly instruct 
                         English learner pupils in acquiring English 
                         language fluency, the assessment information 
                         shall include the results of the English 
                         language development test.  

                    vi)            Develops as a professional educator, 
                         evidence of which may include, but is not 
                         limited to, consistent and positive 
                         relationships with pupils, parents, staff, and 
                         administrators, use of collaborative 
                         professional practices for improving 
                         instructional strategies, participation in 



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                         identified professional growth opportunities, 
                         and use of meaningful self-assessment to 
                         improve as a professional educator.  

                    vii)           Contributes to pupil academic growth 
                         based on multiple measures.  Requires multiple 
                         measures to include state and local formative 
                         and summative assessments in the grade levels 
                         and subjects that these assessments are 
                         administered and authorizes the inclusion of 
                         other evidence such as classroom work, pupil 
                         grades, classroom participation, presentations 
                         and performances, and projects and portfolios. 
                          States the intent of the Legislature that 
                         assessments developed by a national consortium 
                         and adopted by the SBE and used for BPTES, 
                         meet statistical and psychometric standards.  
                         Also requires:  

                         a)                 Measures used for assessing 
                              pupil academic growth to be valid for the 
                              curriculum and pupil being taught and for 
                              the purpose of teacher evaluation.  
                              Prohibits the use of publishers' norms 
                              established by standardized tests from 
                              being included in the evaluation and 
                              assessment of certificated employee 
                              performance.  

                         b)                 Measures used for assessing 
                              certificated employees who directly 
                              instruct English learner pupils in 
                              acquiring English to include the degree 
                              to which pupils acquire the English 
                              language development standards adopted by 
                              the State Board of Education as 
                              specified.  

                         c)                 Pupil data used for 
                              purposes of teacher evaluation to be 
                              confidential in the same manner as all 
                              other elements of a teacher's personnel 
                              file.  

               b)        Multiple observations of instructional and 
                    other professional practices conducted by 
                    evaluators who have been appropriately trained and 



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                    calibrated to ensure consistency and who have 
                    demonstrated competence in teaching evaluation.  

                    i)           Specifies that the multiple 
                         observations may include but are not limited 
                         to classroom observations, one-on-one 
                         discussions, and review of classroom materials 
                         and course of study, and requires observations 
                         to be conducted using a uniform observational 
                         tool that is appropriate to the teacher's 
                         assignment.  

                    ii)            Requires observers to meet with the 
                         teacher to discuss the purpose of the 
                         observation prior to each formal observation 
                         and meet with the teacher after each formal 
                         observation to discuss recommendations as 
                         necessary, with regard to areas of improvement 
                         in the performance of the teacher.  

               c)        Has at least three performance levels.  

          5)   Permits a locally negotiated evaluation process to 
               designate certificated employees to conduct, or 
               participate in, evaluations of other certificated 
               employees for purposes of determining needs for 
               professional development or providing corrective advice 
               for the certificated employee being evaluated; specifies 
               that non-supervisory certificated employees who conduct 
               or participate in an evaluation are not deemed to be 
               exercising a management or supervisory function, as 
               specified.  

          6)   Requires, on or before May 1, 2013, governing boards to 
               seek comment on the development and implementation of a 
               BPTES and use the comments received to guide the 
               development and implementation of the BPTES.  Requires 
               governing boards to disclose the provisions of the 
               evaluation system at a regularly scheduled public 
               hearing.  Requires governing boards to seek public 
               comment by May 1 of each year prior to negotiations on 
               the BPTES.  

          7)   Repeals and replaces, beginning July 1, 2014, the 
               requirement that school district governing boards 
               establish and define job responsibilities for 
               certificated non-instructional personnel, including, but 



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               not limited to, supervisory and administrative 
               personnel, whose responsibilities cannot be evaluated 
               appropriately under the best practices teacher 
               evaluation system; maintains the current requirement 
               that school districts evaluate and assess the 
               performance of non-instructional certificated employees 
               as it reasonably relates to the fulfillment of those 
               responsibilities.  

          8)   Recasts requirements governing evaluation cycles for 
               certificated employees and unsatisfactory performance:  

               a)        Maintains existing requirement that 
                    probationary personnel be evaluated at least once 
                    each school year and that personnel with permanent 
                    status be evaluated at least every other year.  

               b)        Beginning July 1, 2014, changes the frequency 
                    of evaluations for personnel with permanent status 
                    who have been employed at least 10 years with a 
                    school district who are highly qualified and who 
                    were rated as meeting or exceeding standards at the 
                    previous evaluation.  Specifically, this bill 
                    changes the frequency from at least every five 
                    years to at least every three years, except as may 
                    be provided in the locally negotiated BPTES.  

               c)        Maintains existing requirements for 
                    evaluations:  

                    i)           Requires the evaluation to include 
                         recommendations, if necessary, as to areas of 
                         improvement.  

                    ii)            Requires the employing authority to 
                         notify an employee in writing if the employee 
                         is not performing his or her duties in a 
                         satisfactory manner and to describe the 
                         unsatisfactory performance.  Requires the 
                         employing authority to confer with the 
                         employee and make specific recommendations as 
                         to areas of improvement, and requires an 
                         annual evaluation until the employee achieves 
                         a positive evaluation or is separated from the 
                         district.  

                    iii)           Specifies an employee evaluation 



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                         that contains an unsatisfactory rating of an 
                         employee's performance may include a 
                         requirement that the certificated employee 
                         participate in a program designed to improve 
                         appropriate areas of the employee's 
                         performance, as specified, and requires any 
                         certificated employee who receives an 
                         unsatisfactory rating on an evaluation to 
                         participate in a Peer Assistance and Review 
                         Program for Teachers (PAR) if the district has 
                         such a program.  

          9)   Maintains the existing requirement that hourly and 
               temporary hourly employees are excluded by the 
               provisions governing the teacher evaluation system, and 
               provides that substitute teachers may be excluded at the 
               discretion of the governing board.  

          10)  Authorizes the SBE, in consultation with the 
               Superintendent of Public Instruction and appropriate 
               education stakeholder groups, to adopt non-regulatory 
               guidance to support the implementation of the BPTES for: 
                                                         

               a)        Model evaluation systems that may be used to 
                    inform school districts' implementation of the 
                    evaluation system.  

               b)        Model processes for implementing observations 
                    required pursuant to paragraph (2) of Section 
                    44662.  

               c)        Model processes for defining calibration for 
                    the purposes of training evaluators.  

               d)        Model processes for developing the observation 
                    tool.  

          11)  Commencing July 1, 2014, provides $60 million 
               appropriated pursuant to the Quality Education 
               Investment (QEIA) to school districts with QEIA eligible 
               schools to plan and implement a Best Practices Teacher 
               Evaluation System (BPTES), as specified.  Requires 
               school districts to use the funds for planning and 
               implementation efforts at the eligible schoolsites, 
               including training evaluators to ensure calibration and 
               consistency and to development of the uniform 



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               observation tool.  

               a)        Specifies that funds provided to local 
                    agencies shall first be used to offset any state 
                    mandated reimbursable costs.

          12)  Adds the BPTES to the Mandate Block Grant and makes 
               other changes to conform to Budget Trailer Bill clean up 
               for the 2012-13 Budget Act.  
           
          13)  Prohibits the State Board of Education (SBE) from 
               waiving BPTES requirements and the Quality Education 
               Investment Act of 2006.  

          14)  Specifies that where a locally negotiated evaluation 
               system is in effect, the evaluation system remains in 
               effect until the parties to the contract negotiate a 
               successor agreement.  

          15)  Specifies that local agencies and school districts shall 
               be reimbursed for costs if the Commission on State 
               Mandates determines that the act contains costs mandated 
               by the state.  

           STAFF COMMENTS  

           1)   Need for the bill  :  According to the author's office, 
               teacher evaluation under the Stull Act is too often 
               inconsistent, unclear, and does little to foster a 
               culture of continuous improvement for teachers.  While 
               some districts do incorporate student performance in 
               their evaluation systems, others do not, and in 
               districts that simply rate their employees as "meeting" 
               or "not meeting" expectations, teachers may not receive 
               sufficient feedback during the evaluation process to 
               understand how to improve their practice.  According to 
               a 2010 report released by the National Board Resource 
               Center at Stanford University, "While evaluation 
               processes across the state vary widely, many of them 
               look very much the same as they did in 1971."  Comments 
               from Accomplished California Teachers indicate that 
               current approaches to teacher evaluation results in a 
               system that teachers do not trust, that rarely offers 
               clear direction for improving practice, and often 
               charges school leaders to implement without preparation 
               or resources.  A January 2011 report by the Center for 
               the Future of Teaching and Learning (CFTL) notes that 



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               evaluations pay "scarce attention to student learning or 
               do not connect that learning to elements of teacher 
               content knowledge or instructional skills that could be 
               improved."  

          Several research studies document the correlation between 
               teacher quality and student achievement.  According to 
               information provided by the author, research indicates 
               differential teacher effectiveness is a strong 
               determinant of differences in student learning, far 
               outweighing the effects of differences in class size and 
               heterogeneity.  Studies have shown that students who are 
               assigned to several ineffective teachers in a row have 
               significantly lower achievement and gains in achievement 
               than those who are assigned to several highly effective 
               teachers.  The stated purpose of this bill is to 
               strengthen teacher quality by improving the state's 
               teacher evaluation requirements.  

          The CFTL has recommended making teacher evaluation 
               multi-dimensional, strengthening the training of those 
               who conduct evaluations, and tying evaluation results 
               directly to substantive feedback to teachers.  The 
               National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality 
               suggests a strong evaluation system must "involve 
               teachers and stakeholders in developing the system; use 
               multiple indicators; and give teachers opportunities to 
               improve in the areas in which they score poorly."  
               Likewise, the New Teacher Project states "evaluations 
               should provide all teachers with regular feedback that 
               helps them grow as professionals, no matter how long 
               they have been in the classroom.  The primary purpose of 
               evaluations should not be punitive.  Good evaluations 
               identify excellent teachers and help teachers of all 
               skill levels understand how they can improve."  

          This bill requires school districts, beginning July 2014, to 
               establish teacher evaluation systems that evaluate 
               teachers on the degree to which they follow specified 
               objectives (the California Standards for the Teaching 
               Profession), including how they contribute to pupil 
               academic growth.  Under the provisions of the bill, 
               school districts would be required to assess a teacher's 
               contribution to pupil academic growth based on multiple 
               measures, including state and local formative and 
               summative assessment data.  Proponents of AB 5 note that 
               the bill strengthens the state's existing evaluation 



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               system by creating a policy framework that links student 
               achievement and teacher performance and could improve 
               the state's eligibility for a federal waiver of 
               provisions of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 
               2001.  Supporters also note that AB 5 provides districts 
               with flexibility to work with certificated employees and 
               parents to develop local evaluation systems that are 
               appropriate for and responsive to the local community 
               while clearly requiring the use of state and local 
               assessment data in evaluating a teacher's contribution 
               to pupil academic growth.  

           2)   Summary of amendments since the Committee heard the bill 
               in June 2011  .  At the time the Committee heard this bill 
               in June 2011, witness testimony raised a number of 
               issues including the timing of implementation, the need 
               to ensure that evaluators are appropriately trained and 
               calibrated, mandated costs, the role of parents in the 
               evaluation process, and the manner in which evaluations 
               would inform professional development.  Amendments taken 
               in Committee addressed the training and calibration of 
               evaluators and a non-substantive technical amendment.  

          Since the Committee heard the bill in June 2011, two key 
               policy issues have emerged that have prompted recent 
               amendments to this bill:  (1) the opportunity to apply 
               for a federal waiver of certain requirements of the No 
               Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), and (2) the 
               lawsuit filed regarding the evaluation of teachers in 
               the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).  The 
               author has amended the bill to address these issues and 
               provide for public comment in the local development of a 
               BPTES.  Senate Appropriations Committee amendments 
               address fiscal costs and implementation timelines.  
               Specifically, these amendments:  

               a)        Remove language tying implementation to paying 
                    off the deficit factor and instead makes the 
                    provisions effective July 1, 2014 and allocates a 
                    total of $89 million in one-time unexpended CTA v. 
                    Schwarzenegger Settlement Funds in 2013-14 fiscal 
                    year to eligible Quality Education Investment Act 
                    (QEIA) schools (schools ranked in the lowest two 
                    deciles of the Academic Performance Index) as 
                    follows:  

                    i)           $60 million to school districts with 



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                         QEIA cohort schools and QEIA eligible schools 
                         to begin planning for implementation of the 
                         Best Practices Teacher Evaluation System.  

                    ii)            $29 million allocated to school 
                         districts with current QEIA schools to 
                         implement the Common Core Standards in English 
                         language arts and mathematics.  

               b)        Require parent/community input.  The bill 
                    requires the governing board of a school district, 
                    by May 2013, to hold a public hearing to seek input 
                    on implementation of the BPTES and requires 
                    districts to use this input in developing the new 
                    evaluation system.  Requires districts to seek this 
                    input each time they negotiate changes to the 
                    BPTES.

               c)        Require pupil academic growth to be a factor 
                    in a teacher's evaluation and require pupil growth 
                    to be determined based on multiple measures 
                    including state and local formative and summative 
                    assessments.  

               d)        Specify that the act does not supersede or 
                    invalidate a teacher evaluation system that has 
                    been locally negotiated.  The bill states where a 
                    locally negotiated system is in effect, the 
                    evaluation system will remain in effect until the 
                    parties to the contract negotiate a successor 
                    agreement.  

               e)        Prohibit the BPTES and the QEIA program from 
                    being waived by the SBE.  

               f)        Replace the Stull Act with the BPTES in the 
                    K-12 Mandate Block Grant, beginning July 1, 2014.  

               g)        Authorize the SBE to develop non-regulatory 
                    guidelines to assist school districts in 
                    implementing the requirements of the Act.  

           3)   Expands the scope of bargaining  ?  Current law enumerates 
               evaluation procedures as a mandatory subject of 
               collective bargaining.  Critics contend that by 
               requiring the BPTES to be negotiated, AB 5 could have 
               the effect of requiring districts to bargain aspects of 



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               the system, such as evaluation criteria, that could 
               significantly abridge the freedom of school districts to 
               exercise managerial prerogatives essential to the 
               achievement of their mission.  Although some districts 
               currently bargain evaluation criteria with their local 
               unions, the Association of California School 
               Administrators notes that under current law, criteria 
               within the evaluation are not a mandatory subject of 
               bargaining.  Additionally, opponents argue that while 
               the bill specifies the objectives by which teachers must 
               be evaluated, the criteria for determining whether those 
               objectives are indeed met would be subject to 
               negotiation, which could increase implementation time 
               and costs.  On the other hand, proponents argue that the 
               involvement of teachers in the development of the BPTES 
               will help ensure that the system is fair and reflective 
               of the complexity of teaching and learning.  

           4)   Reduces local control  ?  Opponents maintain that AB 5 
               reduces local control by eliminating the only 
               requirement in state law requiring the assessment of 
               student growth toward grade level expectations in 
               evaluations of teachers and administrators.  Critics 
               argue that the elimination of this provision could 
               negatively impact the ability of a governing board to 
               hold teachers accountable for instruction required to 
               meet locally adopted standards of pupil achievement.  
               While school districts would no longer be required to 
               establish local standards, nothing in AB 5 precludes 
               governing boards from establishing local standards of 
               pupil achievement or from including in their local 
               evaluation system, criteria for holding teachers 
               accountable for student outcomes relative to those 
               locally adopted standards.  

          Additionally, some opponents have cautioned that the 
               requirement that "measures used for assessing pupil 
               academic growth be valid and reliable for the curriculum 
               and the pupil being taught as well as for the purpose of 
               evaluation" could create costly delays in implementation 
               if districts need to conduct validation studies before 
               using the assessments to gauge pupil growth in a 
               teacher's evaluation.  

           5)   Meets federal waiver requirements  ?  As mended, AB 5 
               requires school districts to evaluate teachers on the 
               extent to which they contribute to pupil academic growth 



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               based on multiple measures, including state and local 
               (formative and summative) assessments.  Additionally, 
               the bill now requires local evaluation systems to 
               differentiate teacher performance using at least three 
               performance levels.  Binary systems, in which teachers 
               receive either a "satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory" 
               rating, will not comply with the provisions of this act. 
                Arguably, these changes could strengthen California's 
               position relative to its request for the federal NCLB 
               waiver.  However, opponents have expressed concern that 
               the bill's requirements may not be sufficient to qualify 
               the state for the NCLB waiver because the bill does not 
               require data on student growth to be a "significant 
               factor" in a teacher's evaluation and does not address 
               the U.S. Department of Education's requirement that 
               evaluations be used to inform personnel decisions.  
               Under the provisions of this bill, local districts would 
               be able to determine the how much weight to assign to 
               the components of the evaluation system.  The use of 
               performance evaluations to inform personnel decisions 
               will remain consistent with current law.  It is unclear 
               whether these issues would threaten the ability of local 
               educational agencies to submit a competitive application 
               for any future waiver programs that may be made 
               available by the federal government.

           6)   Doe v Deasy.   Despite recent amendments requiring school 
               districts to evaluate teachers using state and local 
               formative assessments, opponents have expressed concern 
               that AB 5 could circumvent the court judgment and writ 
               issued by the Los Angeles Superior court in this case 
               because the bill does not specifically require multiple 
               measures to include the progress of pupils toward 
               district standards of expected pupil achievement and 
               state adopted academic content standards.   

          7)   Related and prior legislation  .  

          SB 1292 (Liu) authorizes the evaluation of school principals 
               based on the California Professional Standards for 
               Educational Leaders as well as evidence of pupil 
               academic growth, effective and comprehensive teacher 
               evaluations, culturally responsive instructional 
               strategies, the ability to analyze quality instructional 
               strategies and provide effective feedback, and effective 
               school management.  This bill was passed by this 
               Committee on April 25, 2012 a 9-0 vote and is pending 



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               before the Governor.  

          SB 257 (Liu, 2011) would have encouraged school districts to 
               include in its evaluation and assessment guidelines, 
               specific information relating to best teaching practices 
               in all subject areas and authorized a school district to 
               include additional criteria into the evaluation and 
               assessment of certificated employees for the purpose of 
               improving instruction.  The bill limited pupil progress 
               data to no more than 25% of a teacher's evaluation.  
               This bill was passed by this Committee on a 9-0 vote and 
               was subsequently held in the Assembly Education 
               Committee at the request of the author.  

          SB 355 (Huff, 2011) would have authorized the evaluation and 
               assessment of certificated employees using a 
               multiple-measures evaluation system, authorized local 
               educational associations to assign, reassign, and 
               transfer teachers and administrators based on 
               effectiveness and subject matter needs without regard to 
               years of service, and authorized districts to deviate 
               from the order of seniority in terminating and 
               reappointing teachers, as specified.  Required pupil 
               growth to be at least 30% of an employee's.  This 
               measure failed passage in this Committee on May 11, 2011 
               a 3-2 vote.

          SB 955 (Huff, 2010) would have made various changes to 
               statutes governing the layoff and dismissal of 
               certificated employees.  This bill was heard and passed 
               by this Committee on a 5-4 vote and was subsequently 
               held by the Senate Rules Committee.  

           

          SUPPORT
           
          Bennett Kayser, Board Member, Los Angeles Unified School 
          District
          California Federation of Teachers
          California Teachers Association
          Californians for Justice
          Parent Leadership Action Network Bay Area Plan
          PICO California
          Public Advocates
          State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson
          The Campaign for Quality Education



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          United Teachers Los Angeles

           OPPOSITION
           Alliance for a Better Community
          Association of California School Administrators
          Bay Area Council
          California Association of School Business Officials
          California Association of Suburban Schools
          California County Superintendents Educational Services 
          Association
          California School Boards Association
          California State PTA
          Central Valley Education Coalition
          Children Now
          Democrats for Education Reform
          Ed Voice
          Educators 4 Excellence
          El Dorado County Office of Education
          Families in Schools
          Great Oakland Public Schools
          Green Dot Public Schools
          Kern County Superintendent of Schools
          Los Angeles County Office of Education Superintendent of 
          Schools, Arturo Delgado
          Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa
          Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent John E. 
          Deasy
          Parents Advocate League
          Riverside County School Superintendents' Association
          Riverside County Superintendent of Schools, Kenneth M. Young
          San Bernardino County District Advocates for Better Schools
          San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools
          San Diego County Office of Education
          San Francisco Unified School District
          School Employers Association of California
          Small Schools Districts' Association
          Southern Christian Leadership Conference
          Students First
          Students Matter
          Teach +Plus
          The Education Trust West
          United Way of Greater Los Angeles