BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
SB 958 (Rubio) - Guidelines for Well-Equipped Classrooms.
Amended: May 2, 2012 Policy Vote: Education 7-1
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 21, 2012 Consultant: Jacqueline
Wong-Hernandez
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 958 requires the California Department of
Education (CDE) to develop, and the state board of education
(SBE) to adopt, guidelines for a well-equipped classroom. This
bill requires guidelines for each grade level and subject, as
specified, and for the CDE to post those guidelines on its
website.
Fiscal Impact:
Guidelines: CDE costs to develop well-equipped classroom
guidelines for each grade and subject will likely be in
excess of $150,000, and could cost as much at $300,000
General Fund.
Cost Pressure: Significant local cost pressure to provide
materials included in the guidelines.
Background: In August 2004, Williams v. California, a lawsuit
filed on behalf of thousands of California public school
students on the basis they were denied equal educational
opportunity, was settled. As a result of the settlement,
existing law requires 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. This is an on-going process.
California is currently in the process of transitioning to the
Common Core State Standards. The SBE adopted the Common Core
Standards for English language arts and mathematics on August 2,
SB 958 (Rubio)
Page 1
2010 and is in the process of developing curriculum frameworks
for those standards.
Proposed Law: This bill requires the 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 to
include a statement that maintaining and equipping classrooms
also reflects local needs and priorities within available
resources. This bill provides that the guidelines will be
developed by the CDE, and requires the guidelines to be posted
its website.
Staff Comments: This bill requires the CDE to develop guidelines
for a well-equipped classroom, by grade and subject, which would
potentially require more than 50 different sets of guidelines.
The bill specifies that there be guidelines for each subject,
taught at each grade level. While Kindergarten would likely have
one set of guidelines, grades 9-12 would each likely have at
least 4 sets of subject-specific guidelines for core subjects,
and more for elective subjects; it is not clear if there would
be subject-specific sets of guidelines for self-contained
classrooms in elementary grades. The CDE estimates that this
project, which would necessarily involve staff from 6 divisions
of the department, would cost $150,000 - $300,000 to complete.
The most significant fiscal issues, however, are likely to occur
after the guidelines are developed and posted. This bill will
likely create cost pressure for schools to equip their
classrooms according to the guidelines for fear that they will
be sued if they do not. School administrators and teachers know
what materials and equipment are needed to support student
learning. The required posting serves as an alert to parents and
school visitors as to how classrooms would ideally be equipped
in each grade and subject, and creates cost pressure on schools
to meet those guidelines. Additionally, the required statement
on the notice that "maintaining and equipping classrooms also
reflects local needs and priorities within available state and
local resources" specifically creates cost pressure for local
priorities and for additional funding in the current fiscal
crisis.
SB 958 (Rubio)
Page 2