BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Alan Lowenthal, Chair
2011-12 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 958
AUTHOR: Rubio
AMENDED: April 18, 2012
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 25, 2012
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Beth Graybill
SUBJECT : Schools: Well-equipped classrooms.
SUMMARY
This bill requires the State Board of Education to develop
and adopt guidelines for well-equipped classrooms and
requires the guidelines to be posted on the California
Department of Education Web site.
BACKGROUND
Existing law requires the governing board of a school
district to determine whether each pupil in each school in
the district has sufficient textbooks or instructional
materials, or both, that are aligned to the content standards
adopted by the State Board of Education (SBE). (Education
Code � 60119)
Existing law, established by Proposition 98 as approved by
the voters in 1988, requires school districts to adopt a
School Accountability Report Card (SARC) for each school.
The Legislature has extended the purpose of Proposition 98
several times such that school districts are required to
report variety of information related to students and staff
at a school as well the sufficiency of instructional
materials, and the condition of school facilities and
accountability information.
(EC � 33126 - � 33126.2)
Current law establishes the Academic Content Standards
Commission and requires the Commission to develop academic
content standards in language arts and mathematics and
requires 85 percent of these standards to be common core
academic standards (CCS). Further, current law calls for the
SBE to adopt revised curriculum frameworks and evaluation
criteria that are aligned to the common core standards for
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mathematics and English language arts no later than May 30,
2013 and May 30, 2014 respectively. (EC � 60207 and �
60605.8)
In August 2004, then Governor Schwarzenegger announced the
settlement of Williams v. California, a lawsuit filed on
behalf of thousands of California public school students on
the basis they were denied equal educational opportunity. As
a result of the settlement, existing law requires California
public schools to provide at least the basic necessities of
educational opportunity: textbooks and instructional
materials, clean and safe school facilities, and qualified
teachers. County Offices of Education are responsible for
monitoring the progress schools make toward meeting the
Williams standards.
ANALYSIS
This bill requires the State Board of Education (SBE) to
adopt by grade level, and subject, guidelines for
well-equipped classrooms to reflect the materials and
environment required for a classroom to be in alignment with
the common core standards and requires the guidelines to be
posted on the California Department of Education (CDE) Web
site.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill : According to the author's office,
teachers spend on average, more than $350 per year of
their own money buying supplies for their classrooms.
Additionally, many districts distribute "wish lists" to
parents at the beginning of the school year in which
they solicit donations to help stock classrooms with
supplies such as paper, markers, and rulers. The author
maintains these voluntary approaches create inequities
because districts in low-income areas cannot depend on
the school community to contribute. The stated intent
of this bill is for the SBE to determine the supplies
and environment necessary to teach the Common Core
Standards for each grade level and subject in
Kindergarten through grade twelve.
Opponents argue that the problem of ill-equipped classrooms
is not that school districts choose not to provide the
necessary goods, but that they are insufficiently
resourced to maintain school sites and classrooms or
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purchase materials and equipment. Although guidelines
for model classrooms could provide parents with helpful
information about what their child's classroom should
look like, the state's current fiscal constraints
suggest that schools may not be able to stock their
classrooms in accordance with those guidelines until
revenues return to normal levels and school districts do
not have to choose between staffing or supplying a
classroom.
2) Common core standards . The State is currently in the
process of transitioning to the Common Core State
Standards. The SBE adopted the Common Core State
Standards (CCSS) for English language arts and
mathematics on August 2, 2010 and is in the process of
developing curriculum frameworks for those standards.
The state is participating in the Smarter Balanced
Consortium to implement the assessment component of the
Common Core Standards program. This online assessment
system could require concerted effort by local
educational agencies to prioritize funding to ensure
they have the right technology systems to support the
assessments. It is unclear how these priorities would
be reflected in the proposed guidelines.
3) Equal educational opportunity . The Williams lawsuit
argued that the state and its agencies were denying
thousands of California students their fundamental right
to an education by failing to provide them with the
basic tools for that education. By establishing
guidelines for the well-equipped classroom, could this
bill have the effect of expanding what might be
considered "basic tools for education," potentially
increasing liability for classrooms that are out of
alignment with the guidelines? Staff recommends the
bill be amended to require the guidelines to include a
statement that informs the public that maintaining and
equipping classrooms is a reflection of local needs and
priorities within available state and local resources.
4) Fiscal impact . This bill potentially imposes minor
absorbable costs for the SBE to develop and adopt the
guidelines and creates potential cost pressure for
schools to equip their classrooms according to the
guidelines and it is unclear how schools would
prioritize classroom needs in light of transitioning to
a new assessment system. Further, it is unclear whether
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the guidelines proposed by this bill will solve the
problem of ill-equipped classrooms. School districts,
school administrators, and teachers know what materials
and equipment are needed to support student learning.
SUPPORT
None received.
OPPOSITION
California Association of School Business Officers
California School Boards Association
Riverside County School Superintendents' Association