BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 509
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 509 (Price)
As Amended May 3, 2011
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :38-0
EDUCATION 10-0
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|Ayes:|Brownley, Norby, Ammiano, | | |
| |Buchanan, Butler, Carter, | | |
| |Eng, | | |
| |Beth Gaines, Morrell, | | |
| |Williams | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Authorizes a school district to purchase the newest
adopted instructional materials for the neediest schools in the
school district, as defined, prior to purchasing these materials for
the remaining schools in the district. Specifically, this bill :
1)Defines "neediest schools" as schools ranked in deciles 1 to 3,
inclusive, of the base Academic Performance Index (API) in any one
of the past three school years.
2)Authorizes a school district to establish criteria to define the
"neediest schools" for schools that do not have at least one year
of valid rankings in the base API.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides, for the 2008-09 to 2014-15 fiscal years, that sufficient
textbooks or instructional materials include standards-aligned
textbooks or instructional materials, or both, that were adopted
prior to July 1, 2008.
2)States legislative intent that each local educational agency (LEA)
provide each pupil with standards-aligned textbooks or
instructional materials from the same adoption, specifies that
LEAs are not required to purchase all of the instructional
materials included in an adoption if the materials that are
purchased are made available to all the pupils for whom they are
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intended in all of the schools within the LEA, and repeals these
provisions on July 1, 2015.
3)Defines "sufficient textbooks or instructional materials" to mean
that each pupil, including English learners, has a
standards-aligned textbook or instructional materials, or both, to
use in class and to take home, but does not require two sets of
textbooks or instructional materials to be purchased for each
pupil.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative
Counsel.
COMMENTS : In an attempt to help districts deal with the fiscal
challenges of the recent years, the state has provided temporary
flexibility to school districts in various aspects of the law,
including laws relative to the purchasing of instructional
materials. From the 2008-09 to the 2014-15 fiscal years, school
districts are not required to purchase new instructional materials
within specified timelines, and current law specifically authorizes
districts to purchase standards-aligned instructional materials that
were adopted prior to July 1, 2008 to meet existing requirements
regarding the sufficiency of textbooks. Only one instructional
materials adoption has been conducted after July 1, 2008, which was
the reading/language arts (RLA) adoption. Current law, which
sunsets on July 1, 2015, relieves districts from having to purchase
these new instructional materials, but does not prohibit districts
from purchasing the new materials. However, if districts do
purchase from the most recent adoption, they have to ensure that
each pupil in the district will have access to instructional
materials from the same adoption.
This bill allows a school district to purchase new instructional
materials from the 2008 RLA adoption for its decile 1-3 schools,
prior to purchasing for the other schools in the district.
Williams v. California: In 2000, several civil rights organizations
filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of public school students
against the state, the Eliezer Williams, et al., v. State of
California, et al. (Super. Ct., San Francisco, No. CGC-00-312236)
(Williams) case, arguing that the state had denied students the
fundamental right to an education by failing to provide them basic
educational resources such as current and undamaged books, clean and
safe facilities, and qualified teachers. In August 2004, the state
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entered into a settlement agreement in the Williams case, and
amongst the provisions of the settlement agreement, laws were
enacted to ensure that pupils have access to reasonably current
textbooks and instructional materials, in useable condition, in each
core subject to use in class and to take home. Additionally,
schools ranked in deciles 1-3 on the API are monitored for, among
other things, providing pupils sufficient textbooks or instructional
materials that are aligned to the content standards.
This bill specifically authorizes the purchase of instructional
materials from the most recent adoption for only some of the schools
within the district. Arguments have been made that some
instructional materials currently in use are very outdated and that
this bill would allow at least some students to have more updated
books, particularly students attending some of the lowest performing
schools.
A question can be raised as to whether the provisions of this bill
may create a situation that allows for some pupils within a district
have access to newer and more updated books while pupils in other
schools in the district will have older instructional materials. On
the other hand, some would argue that prioritizing the lowest
performing schools in the district to have the most current
instructional materials, lessens the concerns over creating these
differences amongst students within one district, as this allows for
students in the "neediest schools," as defined in this bill, to have
access to more updated instructional materials. This bill defines
"neediest schools" as school ranked in the deciles 1-3 of the API.
Some may argue that allowing for differences in the instructional
materials that students in different schools of a district have
access to may be of concern, particularly because there may be
pupils in need at other schools in the district. However, others
may argue that ensuring that the "neediest schools" benefit from the
provisions of this bill outweighs any other concerns that the bill
may create. It should also be noted that this bill is permissive
and does not require districts to purchase these new instructional
materials. Additionally, because this bill amends statute enacted
as part of the budget flexibility which sunsets on July 1, 2015, the
provisions of this bill will also sunset on that date.
The author states, "AB 509 would allow school districts to purchase
the most recently adopted materials for the neediest schools without
the financial burden of purchasing for the entire district. School
Districts would be able to utilize the school's decile rating of the
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base Academic Performance Standard for any one of the past three
school years to identify their neediest schools."
Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Avi�a / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN:
0001368