BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2319
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 9, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
AB 2319 (Bonilla) - As Amended: March 28, 2014
SUBJECT : School finance: Innovation, Training, and Common
Core Implementation Fund
SUMMARY : Establishes the Innovation, Training, and Common Core
Implementation Fund Act (Act). Specifically, this bill :
1)Establishes the Innovation, Training, and Common Core
Implementation Fund (Fund) and states the intent of the
Legislature that local education agencies (LEAs) use monies
allocated from the Fund to support the integration of common
core academic content standards in instruction for grades
K-12, inclusive, for purposes of establishing quality
instructional programs for all pupils.
2)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to
allocate the funds in the 2014-15 fiscal year to LEAs on the
basis of prior year enrollment.
3)Provides that the allocated funds may be available for
encumbrance through the 2015-16 fiscal year.
4)Requires LEAs to expend the funds for any of the following
purposes:
a) Professional development for teachers, administrators,
and paraprofessional educators that is aligned to the
common core academic content standards;
b) Integration of the common core academic content
standards through technology-based instruction for purposes
of improving the academic performance of pupils, including
but not limited to, administering computer-based
assessments;
c) Infrastructure upgrades to increase Internet bandwidth;
d) Science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics
(STEM) programs;
e) Career technical education; and
f) Instructional materials aligned to the common core
academic content standards.
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5)Requires the governing board or body of an LEA to do the
following as a condition of receiving the funds:
a) Develop and adopt a plan delineating how funds will be
spent and explain the plan in a regularly scheduled public
meeting before adopting it in a subsequent regularly
scheduled public meeting; and
b) Report, on or before January 1, 2016, detailed
expenditure information to the California Department of
Education (CDE) including, but not limited to, specific
purchases made and the number of teachers, administrators,
or paraprofessional educators that received professional
development.
6)Requires the CDE to determine the format of the report and
submit a summary of the information to the appropriate budget
and policy committees of the Legislature on or before July 3,
2016.
7)Makes the requirement for the CDE to submit the report
inoperative on January 1, 2019.
8) Defines "local education agency" to mean a school district,
county office of education, or charter school.
9)Provides that this Act shall not be implemented unless funding
is provided for the Fund in the annual Budget Act or another
statute.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : California adopted the Common Core State Standards
(CCSS) by a vote of the State Board of Education in 2010,
joining 43 other states and the District of Columbia. The
common core is a set of standards in English language arts and
mathematics that outline what pupils should know and be able to
do at the end of each grade level. In California, the CCSS
replace academic content standards that were adopted in 1997.
The STAR testing program was aligned to those standards. The
adoption of the CCSS requires the development of new assessments
that are aligned to the new standards.
California is currently a governing state for the Smarter
Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) , which is a multistate
consortium working to develop a common student assessment system
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aligned with the CCSS for English language arts/literacy and
mathematics. The assessment system includes a computer adaptive
summative test for grades 3-8 and 11 that provides student
performance and growth information to meet state and federal
accountability requirements. The Smarter Balanced assessments
will be pilot tested in the 2013-14 school year and administered
in the 2014-15 school year.
Period of transition. The adoption of the CCSS requires several
"downstream" changes, including the development of new
curricula, new instructional materials, professional development
for teachers, and new assessments-all aligned to the new
standards. In recognition of this, the current year budget
appropriated $1.250 billion (about $209 per pupil) in one-time
money to assist LEAs in implementing the new standards. These
funds may be used for professional development, instructional
materials, and enhancements of technology needed to administer
the new assessments. They were appropriated in an education
budget trailer bill, AB 86 (Budget Committee), Chapter 48,
Statutes of 2013.
This bill goes beyond CCSS-related needs. In addition to
allocating funds for CCSS-related needs, this bill also allows
monies from the Fund to be used for STEM programs and
career-technical education. Staff notes that funding for
career-technical education is included in the new Local Control
Funding Formula (LCFF) in two ways. First, funding for the
former Regional Occupational Centers and Programs (ROC/Ps)
categorical program was rolled into the funding for the LCFF.
ROC/P funding was $384.7 million in 2012-13. LEAs are required
to maintain at least their 2012-13 level of funding for ROC/Ps
though the 2014-15 fiscal year. LEAs may exceed their 2012-13
level of ROC/P funding if they choose, and after 2014-15 they
may fund ROC/Ps at any level they wish. Second, the LCFF
includes an "add-on" to the LCFF base grant for grades 9-12 for
career and college readiness. The add-on is 2.6% of the grade
9-12 base grant of per pupil of $8,289, or $215.51 per pupil.
Because of this, and because the Legislature has already given a
higher priority for the use of one-time funds to CCSS-related
purposes, staff recommends that the bill be amended to strike
STEM and career-tech programs from the list of allowable uses of
monies from the Fund.
Clarifying amendment needed. This bill requires the SPI to
allocate monies from the Fund on the basis of prior year
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enrollment. Staff recommends that the bill be amended to
clarify that the allocation shall be on the basis of an equal
amount per prior year enrollment.
Arguments in support. Supporters point out that the CDE
estimates a statewide cost of $3 billion to prepare for the CCSS
and Smarter Balanced assessments. While the current year
appropriation of $1.25 billion is a good start, more is needed.
Arguments in opposition. Public Advocates oppose the bill
unless it is amended to (1) limit the use of the funds to the
implementation of the CCSS, (2) require LEAs to include their
planning for the use of these funds in their LCAP process, (3)
require LEAs to report their expenditure information to the CDE
"much sooner than the end of the funding period," and (4)
require the CDE to make an annual report to the Legislature on
the local use of the funds.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Association of California School Administrators
Bay Area Council
California School Boards Association
California State University, East Bay
California STEM Learning Network\
CENIC
Children Now
K-12 High Speed Network
San Francisco Unified School District
Small School Districts Association
TechNet
Opposition
Public Advocates
Analysis Prepared by : Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087