BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 339
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 30, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
AB 339 (Bonilla) - As Amended: March 7, 2011
SUBJECT : Instructional materials review fees
SUMMARY : Reenacts provisions requiring follow up adoptions of
instructional materials in addition to the primary adoptions
that occur within a six or eight year cycle and requires the
State Board of Education (SBE) to adopt regulations for
conducting social content reviews of instructional materials
submitted outside of the primary and follow up adoptions and to
assess a fee for the review. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the SBE to adopt regulations for social content
reviews conducted at the request of a publisher outside the
primary and follow up adoption processes.
2)Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to do
all of the following:
a) Conduct, or contract for, social content review of
instructional materials, as defined, outside the primary
and follow up adoption processes, provided that the
publisher pays a fee assessed by the CDE.
b) Assess a fee on a publisher or manufacturer in an amount
that does not exceed the reasonable costs to the CDE for
conducting the review.
c) Establish the fees to be paid for the social content
reviews in accordance with the statutory rules governing
the fees, and notice for fees, to be established for follow
up adoptions.
3)Provides that fee revenues for social content reviews shall be
continuously appropriated and available to the CDE from year
to year until expended in order to pay costs associated with
the social content review.
4)Defines a "follow up adoption" as an adoption other than the
primary adoption that occurs within a six- or eight-year
adoption cycle established by law.
AB 339
Page 2
5)Requires the CDE to give notice to publishers prior to
conducting a follow up adoption, including in the notice the
fee that will be assessed to participating publishers or
manufacturers.
6)Requires that the fee shall offset the cost of conducting the
follow up adoption process and requires the CDE take
reasonable steps to limit costs of the follow up adoption and
to keep the fee modest.
7)Requires that the CDE require that the publisher who wishes to
participate in the follow up adoption first declare their
intent to do so and requires that a fee be assessed on a
publisher who declares intent to participate even if the
publisher subsequently chooses to withdraw.
8)Defines "small publisher" and declares legislative intent that
the fee not be so substantial that it prevents small
publishers from participating in a follow up adoption, and
allows the SBE to reduce the fee at the request of a small
publisher.
9)Provides that fee revenues are continuously appropriated to
pay costs associated with any follow up adoption and available
to the CDE from year to year until expended.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the SBE to adopt basic instructional materials for
use in kindergarten and grades one to eight, inclusive, (K-8)
and requires the SBE to ensure that the instructional
materials it adopts meet specified criteria, and requires
those criteria to be approved by resolution at the time the
resolution adopting the framework for the current adoption is
approved, or at least 30 months before the date that the
materials are to be approved for adoption.
2)Prohibits the SBE from adopting instructional materials or
follow the procedures for the adoption of instructional
materials until the 2013-14 school year.
3)Requires local governing boards to provide standards-aligned
textbooks or basic instructional materials no later than 24
months after those materials are adopted by the SBE, except
AB 339
Page 3
that for the 2008-09 to the 2012-13 fiscal years, inclusive, a
governing board of a school district is not required to
provide pupils with instructional materials by the specified
period of time following adoption of those materials by the
SBE.
4)Provides that instruction in social sciences shall include the
early history of California and a study of the role and
contributions of both men and women, black Americans, American
Indians, Mexicans, Asians, Pacific Island people, and other
ethnic groups to the economic, political, and social
development of California and the United States (U.S.) with
particular emphasis on portraying the role of these groups in
contemporary society.
5)Requires instructional materials used in schools to accurately
portray the contributions of both men and women in all types
of roles, including professional, vocational, and executive
role and the role and contributions of Native Americans,
African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans,
European Americans, and members of other ethnic and cultural
groups to the total development of California and the U.S., as
well as the role and contributions of the entrepreneur and
labor in the total development of California and the U.S.
6)Prohibits school districts from adopting instructional
materials that contain any matter reflecting adversely upon
persons because of their race, color, creed, national origin,
ancestry, sex, handicap, or occupation or any sectarian or
denominational doctrine or propaganda contrary to law.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : This bill reinstates provisions relative to social
content reviews of non-SBE-adopted instructional materials, and
provisions requiring follow-up adoptions of instructional
materials.
Social content reviews : Current law requires instructional
materials, in addition to meeting the requirements of the
content standards, curriculum frameworks, and evaluation
AB 339
Page 4
criteria, to also be approved for social content. For example,
state law specifies that instructional materials must portray
the contributions of both men and women in professional,
vocational, and executive roles, and the role and contributions
of Native Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian
Americans, European Americans, and members of other ethnic and
cultural groups to the total development of California and the
U.S.
CDE currently conducts social content reviews for state-adopted
instructional materials, and up until last year, was also
conducting reviews for non-adopted instructional materials, such
as supplemental materials. The publisher or manufacturer
requesting the review would be charged a fee for the
out-of-cycle social content review. The CDE contends that the
social content review of non-SBE-adopted instructional materials
is a service offered to school districts to ensure all
instructional materials comply with social content requirements.
Follow up adoptions occur after a primary adoption of
instructional materials has taken place for a specific subject
and a follow up adoption can be conducted at any time within the
specified six- or eight-year adoption cycles established by law.
It can be said that follow up adoptions give publishers an
additional opportunity to submit instructional materials to the
SBE for review and adoption after the primary adoption has taken
place and this adoptions can result in adding programs to the
list of state-adopted instructional materials for use in K-8.
Background on budget action relative to instructional materials :
AB 2 X4 Chapter 2, Statutes of 2009-10, Fourth Extraordinary
Session suspends the requirement for the SBE to adopt
instructional materials for use in K-8 through the 2012-13
fiscal year, and for the 2008-09 to the 2012-13 fiscal years,
inclusive, local educational agencies (LEAs) are not required to
purchase newly adopted instructional materials within 24 months
of adoption by the SBE. Additionally, LEAs are allowed to use
funds from about 39 categorical programs, including
instructional material funds "for any educational purpose"
through the 2012-13 fiscal year. According to information on
the CDE website, if a LEA purchases instructional materials for
grades K-8 using funds from these 39 categorical programs, it
may only purchase SBE-adopted instructional materials, and for
grades 9 to 12, inclusive, districts can only purchase materials
AB 339
Page 5
that are aligned with the state standards. In consideration of
budget actions suspending the adoption of instructional
materials, this Committee may wish to consider whether it is
prudent and timely to reinstate the provisions relative to
follow up adoptions.
Is there a need for follow-up adoptions of instructional
materials? The Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) released a
report in 2007 titled, Reforming California's Instructional
Material Adoption Process, which concludes that the process for
adopting K-8 instructional materials in California is a "complex
maze of activities" and a "highly prescriptive process that can
be linked to less competition among publishers, more limited
district choice, higher cost, questionable quality and little
useful information."
The LAO points out that California's separate six-year adoption
cycles for seven academic subjects requires the state to conduct
review activities every year and results in school districts
having to buy new instructional materials in at least one
subject virtually every year. This process frustrates districts,
and the LAO points out, "They �districts] were frustrated they
sometimes had to purchase new instructional materials for
higher-cost core subjects in consecutive years. They also were
frustrated that the frequency of the process meant they had to
purchase 'new' materials just as their professional development
efforts seemed to be coming to fruition and teachers were
becoming expert in using the 'old' materials." To address these
shortcomings, the LAO made several recommendations to the
Legislature to reform this complex process and lower cost of
instructional materials, expand choices for districts, and
enhance the effectiveness of the process.
This bill adds yet another element in the already complex
instructional materials adoption process, and it can be argued
that this is contrary to the LAO recommendations to streamline
the process. Assuming the instructional materials adoption
process resumes in the same form it operated before the process
was suspended, districts would be required to purchase adopted
instructional materials within 24 months of adoption by the SBE,
and if the follow up adoption were to occur two or more years
after a primary adoption, it is unclear as to whether districts
would have a real opportunity to purchase instructional
materials from the follow up adoption, given that by the time
the follow up adoption is complete, districts would most likely
AB 339
Page 6
have already purchased materials from the primary adoption.
Additionally, the fact that there is a need for follow up
adoptions, suggests that the current process for primary
adoptions does not yield enough options for districts. While
this bill may provide a means to add to the state-adopted
instructional materials list, there appears to be a more
fundamental problem with the process that needs to be addressed.
Considering that the process for adopting instructional
materials has been suspended and that the need for follow up
adoptions is questionable, staff recommends an amendment to
delete Section 2 of the bill relative to follow up adoptions and
to make conforming changes to Section 1 of the bill to remove
references to follow up adoptions.
The author states, "Without AB 339, the California Department of
Education will not be able to charge fees to support the follow
up process necessary to conduct review of instructional
materials. Therefore, local districts will have to conduct
their own review of instructional materials for out-of-cycle
social content. This result places a burden on those local
districts and allows the possibility of inconsistencies in
social content reviews from district to district."
Arguments in support : The State Superintendent of Public
Instruction, the sponsor of the bill writes, "AB 339 reinstates
California Education Code Section 60050 relating to social
content reviews of instructional materials which inadvertently
sunset on January 1, 2011. The California Department of
Education (CDE) has provided this valuable service, fully funded
by fees, to ensure the quality of materials. The CDE conducts
social content reviews at the request of publishers. Social
content reviews ensure that non-adopted instructional materials
used in California's classrooms accurately portray cultural
diversity, constructively demonstrate the contribution of
minority groups, and make certain that the materials do not
contain inappropriate references to commercial brand names,
products, and corporate or company logos."
Previous Legislation : Senate Bill 1058 (Torlakson) Chapter 806,
Statutes of 2003 established CDE's ability to charge fees to
cover the costs of follow up adoptions. These provisions were
repealed on January 1, 2007.
AB 339
Page 7
SB 734 (Torlakson) Chapter 476, Statutes of 2007 reenacted the
requirements to conduct follow up adoptions, added the social
content review provisions for out-of-cycle adoptions, and
repealed both provisions on January 1, 2011.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
State Superintendent of Public Instruction (Sponsor)
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Avi�a / ED. / (916) 319-2087