BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 646
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   January 23, 2014

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                   AB 646 (Cooley) - As Amended:  January 16, 2014 

          Policy Committee:                              EducationVote:6-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires the State Department of Education (SDE) to  
          study best practices of state and regional P-20 councils in  
          California and across the nation. Specifically, this bill: 

          1)Requires the SDE to work in consultation with several state  
            departments and agencies to identify statewide policies and  
            goals for P-20 councils.

          2)Requires the SDE to submit findings and recommendations to the  
            Legislature on or before July 1, 2015.

          3)Makes the study contingent upon an appropriation of funds in  
            the annual budget act or another statute.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)One-time GF administrative costs of approximately $250,000 for  
            SDE to conduct the study, as specified.  

          2)This bill is contingent upon an appropriation in the budget  
            act or another statute.  The Governor's January Budget  
            proposal does not include funds for this purpose. It is  
            unclear whether funds will be allocated for this purpose.   

           COMMENTS

          1)Background.   According to the Education Commission of the  
            States, P-16 councils were first established in the 1990s to  
            convene state leaders representing early learning ("P")  
            through the first four years of college ("16"). More recently,  
            states have extended the intended scope of such councils' work  








                                                                  AB 646
                                                                  Page  2

            to P-20, to reach doctoral and professional schools.  The goal  
            of these councils is to develop a seamless system of education  
            with aligned expectations from the earliest years of a child's  
            development, through the K-12 system, and into and through  
            postsecondary education.  As of 2008, 38 states have  
            established state or regional P-16 or P-20 councils.  

           2)Existing studies on P-16 councils  .  In 2008, Education Week  
            and the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center  
            reported on the evolution and efforts of P-16 councils.  The  
            report found that simply creating a P-16 or P-20 council does  
            not guarantee progress in aligning high school and college  
            expectations, curricula, assessments, and financing. The  
            report suggests that for such councils to be effective, they  
            need to focus on a few, high-leverage priorities; meet  
            regularly; dedicate adequate money and staff time; and set  
            performance goals and publicly report on their progress. 

            In 2005, Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) Jack  
            O'Connell established a statewide P-16 council to identify  
            ways and make recommendations to eliminate the achievement  
            gap.  That council completed their work and issued a report in  
            January 2008.  

           3)Recent education initiatives and CDE workload  .  The SDE has  
            experienced ongoing reductions to state operations since  
            2008-09 in response to the state fiscal crisis.  At the same  
            time, the state is in the midst of implementing three major  
            education initiatives: the Common Core State Standards, the  
            Smarter Balanced assessment and the Local Control Funding  
            Formula.  Increased workload should be carefully considered  
            given the implementation of these massive policy reforms and  
            the strain on existing SDE state operations. 


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081