BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1719
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 18, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1719 (Fuentes) - As Amended: March 28, 2012
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:10-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill establishes a process for the State Department of
Education (SDE) to conduct a review of supplemental materials
aligned to the state Common Core Standards (CSS) in English
language arts (ELA) and the revised English Language Development
(ELD) Standards. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires SDE to recommend, and the State Board of Education
(SBE) to approve, evaluation criteria to guide the development
and review of supplemental instructional materials (IM).
2)Requires SDE to develop a list, on a one-time basis and on or
before July 1, 2014, of supplemental IM for use in
kindergarten through grade eight that are aligned to the
state's CSS in ELA and the revised ELD Standards. Further
requires the IM to provide a bridge between the CSS in ELA and
the standards-aligned IM currently being used by local
education agencies (LEAs).
3)Requires SDE to recommend, and SBE to approve, content review
experts to review the supplemental IM submitted, as specified.
4)Requires SBE, on or before June 30, 2014, to (a) approve all,
or a portion, of the list of supplemental IM proposed by SDE
or (b) reject all, or a portion of the list of supplemental IM
proposed by SDE, as specified. Further requires the SBE, if
it rejects all or a portion or adds an item to the
supplemental IM list, to provide written reasons for its
actions in a public meeting.
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5)Authorizes LEAs to approve supplemental IM other than those
approved by the SBE, if the LEA determines these materials are
aligned with the CSS in ELA and the revised ELD standards, as
specified.
6)Requires SDE to maintain a list of supplemental IM aligned to
the CSS in ELA and the revised ELD Standards, as approved by
the SBE, on its Internet website. Sunsets the provisions
related to supplemental IM on July 1, 2014.
FISCAL EFFECT
Moderate GF administrative costs to SDE, likely between $150,000
and $250,000, to conduct a supplemental adoption of materials
pursuant to this measure.
COMMENTS
1)Background . As a condition of applying for the federal Race
to the Top (RTT) grant program, states were required to adopt
the CCS in ELA and mathematics by the fall of 2010. In August
2010, the SBE adopted these standards.
In 2011, the Legislature approved and the governor signed the
following bills with the purpose of integrating the newly
adopted CCS in classrooms.
a) AB 124 (Fuentes), Chapter 605, Statutes of 2011,
established the ELD Advisory Committee for the purpose of
aligning the ELD Standards to the CSS in ELA. SDE is
currently beginning the process of implementing Chapter 605
and expects the advisory committee to complete its work in
the summer of 2012, with final SBE adoption of the revised
standards by November 2012.
b) SB 140 (Lowenthal), Chapter 623, Statues of 2011,
required SDE to develop a list of supplemental IM for
grades K-8 aligned with CCS in ELA. The purpose of the
supplemental IM is to provide a bridge between the Common
Core Standards in ELA and the ELA content.
c) AB 250 (Brownley), Chapter 608, Statutes of 2011,
required SDE to develop curriculum frameworks and
professional development modules aligned to the CCS and
prepares the state's assessment system for reauthorization
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and alignment with these new standards.
2)Purpose . Since the adoption of the CCS in August 2010, LEAs
have been anxious to understand how these standards will be
integrated into existing classroom curriculum. Likewise, they
are also concerned with when their pupils and teachers will be
held accountable via the assessment system for teaching the
standards. Given the state's severe fiscal crisis, the SPI,
the SBE, the governor, and the Legislature have been hesitant
to make large scale decisions regarding the implementation of
these standards.
The enactment of SB 140 (Lowenthal) was intended to be a first
step in ensuring teachers and pupils have access to quality IM
to begin the instructional transition from the existing ELA
Standards to the CCS in ELA. These materials are supplemental
because the state has currently placed a moratorium on the
adoption and purchase of state adopted IM.
With the requirement in AB 124 (Fuentes) to revise and align
the existing ELD Standards to the CSS in ELA, there is a need
to ensure that supplemental IM are developed that are aligned
to two sets of standards as well. According to the author,
"SB 140 unintentionally omitted the process of aligning these
supplemental materials to the ELD Standards. This bill
corrects this and simply ensures that districts and teachers
have the best tools available to them to instruct all
children, including ELL pupils, in the CSS in ELA."
3)AB 2 X4 (Evans), Chapter 2, Statutes of 2009 , specified that
LEAs are not required to purchase IM through the 2012-13 FY.
Consistent with the non-purchasing requirement, Chapter 2 also
suspended the requirement for SBE to adopt IM or conduct other
procedures associated with adoption (i.e., adopting curriculum
frameworks) until the 2013-14 school year. SB 70 (Committee on
Budget and Fiscal Review), Chapter 7, Statutes of 2011,
extended this suspension until the 2014-15 FY. This bill does
not require LEAs to purchase IM.
AB 1719
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Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081