BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 509
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 509 (Price)
As Amended September 2, 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 pupils in all of the
neediest schools in the school district, as defined, without
incurring a duty to purchase these materials for pupils in the
schools ranked in deciles 4-10, inclusive. 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
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purchased are made available to all the pupils for whom they
are 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 the pupils in all of
its decile 1-3 schools, without incurring a duty to purchase the
materials for the decile 4-10 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
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undamaged books, clean and safe facilities, and qualified
teachers. In August 2004, the state 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, those in deciles 1-3. 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 and it also does not
prohibit a district from purchasing these materials for pupils
in schools in deciles 4-10. 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.
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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 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: 0002587