BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1200
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 8, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 1200 (Hancock) - As Amended: August 6, 2012
Policy Committee: Education Vote:7-4
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires the State Board of Education (SBE), based on
the Superintendent of Public Instruction's (SPI)
recommendations, to adopt the college and career readiness
anchor standards developed by the Common Core (CC) Standards
consortium. Further authorizes the SBE, based on the SPI's
recommendation, to approve modifications to the CC Standards in
English language arts (ELA) and mathematics. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Authorizes the SBE to take action to resolve any technical
issues in the CC Standards in ELA and mathematics. Further
requires the SPI to consult a group of experts in ELA and
mathematics for the purpose of developing recommendations, as
specified.
2)Requires the SPI, on or before March 30, 2013, to recommend
modifications to the CC Standards in mathematics. Requires
the SBE, on or before this date, to adopt, reject, or modify
the recommendations.
3)Requires the SPI, on or before July 30, 2013, to recommend
modifications to the CC Standards in ELA. Requires the SBE,
on or before this date, to adopt, reject, or modify the
recommendations.
4)Requires the recommended modifications to the CC Standards in
ELA and mathematics and any approved modifications made by SBE
to ensure specified requirements including the following: (a)
there is one set of standards adopted at each grade level and
(b) the standards for algebra I are based on the CC Standards
in mathematics.
SB 1200
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FISCAL EFFECT
GF administrative costs, likely between $50,000 and $150,000, to
SDE to complete the requirements of this bill. Actual costs
will depend on the amount of revisions to the CC Standards in
ELA and mathematics the SPI recommends to the SBE. While
problems with the CC Standards in mathematics have been well
known, particularly in eighth grade, it is unclear what the
issues are with ELA. Should the SPI decide to make significant
recommendations to both CC Standards, administrative costs will
likely increase.
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. As part of
California's RTT application, SB 1 X5 (Steinberg), Chapter 2,
Fifth Extraordinary Session, Statutes of 2010, was enacted to
establish the Academic Content Standards Commission (ACSC),
consisting of 21 members appointed by the governor (11), the
Senate Committee on Rules (5), and the Speaker of the Assembly
(5), to develop academic content standards in language arts
and mathematics. In August 2010, the ACSC made its
recommendations to the SBE and the SBE adopted these
standards.
2)Purpose . SB 1 X5 did not provide SBE with authority to modify
the CC Standards submitted to them by the ACSC in August 2010.
This lack of authority, coupled with the short timeline for
adoption, led to the ELA anchor standards adopted by the CC
Standards consortium being left out of the final adopted CC
Standards in ELA adopted by the SBE.
Likewise, the ACSC engaged in a contentious debate over eighth
grade mathematics standards, specifically whether or not all
pupils in eighth grade should be required to take algebra I.
As a result of this debate, the ACSC adopted two sets of
mathematics standards: (a) CC Standards in eighth grade as put
forth by the consortium and (b) a set of combined elements of
the CC Standards in eight grade and the high school math
standards with California's existing Algebra I standards.
According to the author, "Several implementation issues arise
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by California adopting a different set of �eighth grade] math
standards?For example, instructional materials?would need to
be different than those used by other states �that adopted the
CC Standards]. The unique additional standards may increase
the costs of the materials for local school districts. In
addition, assessment consortia will be developing assessments
�only] aligned to the CC Standards in mathematics not �the two
sets] adopted by California. This may result in issues with
our algebra I standards and curriculum not being aligned with
�the state's] assessment and accountability system."
3)Timeline for CC Standard revision in mathematics specified in
this bill and potential instructional materials (IM) adoption
for CC Standards in mathematics . This bill requires the SBE
to adopt, reject, or modify any recommended revisions to the
CC Standards in mathematics on or before March 30, 2013. AB
1246 (Brownley), pending in the Senate Appropriations
Committee, authorizes the SBE to adopt IM aligned to the CC
Standards in mathematics no later than February 28, 2014. AB
1246 further authorizes the mathematics evaluation criteria,
which is the basis for the development of IM, to be adopted no
later than March 31, 2013.
Both bills are sponsored by the State Department of Education
(SDE) and it is unclear if any revisions to the CC Standards
in mathematics will be incorporated into the evaluation
criteria for the IM adoption in mathematics. While both bills
require these two tasks to be completed nearly on the same
date (March 30 and March 31, 2013, respectively), neither bill
contains a requirement for any revisions to the mathematic
standards to be a incorporated into the mathematics IM
adoption. Without this assurance, school districts may be
purchasing IM that will be obsolete in a few years because the
CC Standards in mathematics will be revised, which is the
basis for the math IM.
Staff recommends this bill be amended to require any revisions
to the CC Standards in mathematics be part of the evaluation
criteria adopted by the SBE for the purpose of the math IM
adoption authorized in AB 1246 (Brownley).
4)Sunset date . Over the last year, the Legislature has passed
and the governor has signed three bills regarding the
implementation of the CC Standards in ELA and mathematics.
Each one of these bills requires SDE to complete work by
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specified dates and sunsets the provisions. In order to be
consistent, staff recommends this bill include a sunset date
of July 1, 2014.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081