BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 2380
AUTHOR: Weber
AMENDED: May 23, 2014
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 25, 2014
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Lenin Del Castillo
SUBJECT : Parent advisory committees.
SUMMARY
This bill adds various requirements for school districts that
elect to prepare a single plan for pupil achievement, including
the requirement for a school district to ensure in its
consolidated application that a schoolsite council has
developed and approved a single plan for pupil achievement for
schools participating in programs funded through the Local
Control Funding Formula (LCFF).
BACKGROUND
Current law requires the governing board of every school
district and county office of education to adopt a local
control and accountability plan (LCAP), by July 1, 2014, that
must include: a description of the annual goals for all
students and each subgroup, to be achieved for each of the
state priorities and for any additional local priorities; and a
description of the specific actions that will be taken to
achieve the goals. Specifically, current law also establishes
the following as state priorities:
1) The degree to which teachers are appropriately assigned
and fully credentialed, every student has sufficient
access to standards-aligned instructional materials, and
school facilities are maintained in good repair.
2) Implementation of the academic content and performance
standards, including how English learners will be served,
as specified.
3) Parental involvement, as specified.
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4) Student achievement, as specified.
5) Student engagement, as specified.
6) School climate, as measured by all of the following, as
applicable: student suspension rates, student expulsion
rates, and other local measures, including surveys of
students, parents, and teachers on the sense of safety and
school connectedness.
7) The extent to which students have access to, and are
enrolled in, a broad course of study, as specified.
8) Student outcomes, as specified.
Current law also establishes the following as state priorities
for county offices of education, in addition to the state
priorities described above: how the county superintendent will
coordinate instruction of students who have been expelled; and
how the county superintendent will coordinate services for
foster children, as specified.
Current law:
1) Authorizes school districts to use a single
consolidated application to apply for certain state and
federal categorical program funds;
2) Requires school districts to elect to use the
consolidated application process to include in that
application a single plan for pupil achievement;
3) Requires the single plan for pupil achievement to do
the following:
a) Be developed and approved by a schoolsite
council.
b) Be aligned with school goals for improving
pupil achievement.
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c) Address how funds provided to the school will
be used to improve the academic performance of all
pupils to target levels.
d) Identify the school's means of evaluating
progress toward accomplishing those goals and how
state and federal law governing the consolidated
programs will be implemented.
1) Requires each school with more than 20 pupils of
limited English proficiency to establish a school level
advisory committee on which parents and guardians of such
pupils constitute membership in at least the same
percentage as their children represent of the total number
of pupils in the school.
2) Requires the English learner advisory committee to
advise the principal and staff in the development of a
detailed master plan for bilingual education for the
school and the submittal of the plan to the governing
board for consideration for inclusion in the district
master plan; and to assist in the development of the
school needs assessment, language census, and ways to make
parents aware of the importance of regular school
attendance.
ANALYSIS
This bill :
1) Requires a school district to ensure in its consolidated
application that schoolsite councils have developed and
approved a single plan for pupil achievement for schools
participating in programs funded through the Local Control
Funding Formula (LCFF).
2) Specifies English learner advisory committees as
applicable school advisory committees that may review,
certify, and provide advice on a school district's single
plan for pupil achievement or consolidated application, as
specified.
3) Requires the State Department of Education, if it makes
materials or information available to school districts to
assist them in the development of their single plan for
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pupil achievement, to ensure that all materials and
information emphasize that the plan be consistent with
and, to the extent possible, support the goals and
outcomes specified in the school district's local control
and accountability plan (LCAP).
4) Requires participating school districts to develop their
LCAPs and annual updates in consultation with schoolsite
level advisory groups and ensure that the LCAP and its
specific actions are consistent with, and reflective of,
the goals and plans of the schoolsite.
5) Requires single plans for pupil achievement to be aligned
with the district's goals for English learners, pupils
eligible for free and reduced price meals, and foster
youth in specified performance areas.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . According to the author's office,
"parent decision making committees-schoolsite councils,
district advisory councils, and English learner advisory
committees currently have school accountability roles,
rights, and responsibilities for developing, monitoring,
and updating school site plans for the use of federal and
state categorical funds. It makes sense to align these
parent input and decision making committees with the new
local control accountability plan (LCAP) processes that
districts are using to develop comprehensive priorities,
goals, and actions for individual schools and the school
districts."
The bill seeks to integrate the existing parental
committee processes, such as school site councils, with
the parental input processes required by the newly
implemented Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). This
would help avoid duplication of effort with the existing
federal requirement that a school district's comprehensive
school site instructional plan be developed in
coordination with parent input. These efforts could help
promote greater transparency regarding the expenditure of
LCFF funds at the school site level by engaging parents,
especially at a time when school districts are
transitioning to a new funding formula that affords them
significant flexibility.
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2) Consolidated application process . The consolidated
application process was intended to give school districts
flexibility over the use of funds received for various
state and federal categorical programs. A majority of the
funding for the state programs that were part of the
consolidated application have now been rolled into the
LCFF. However, it can still be used for certain a few
state programs, such as the Economic Impact Aid program,
and federal categorical programs. School districts that
choose to utilize the consolidated application process are
required to have schoolsite councils and involve them in
the development and approval of the single plan for pupil
achievement. The requirements of this bill would only
apply to those school districts electing to use the
consolidated application process.
3) Schoolsite councils . Current law authorizes the
School-Based Program Coordination Act, which prior to the
implementation of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF)
in 2013, gave school districts flexibility over the use of
specified school-based coordinated categorical program
funds in exchange for meeting specified requirements. As
part of these requirements, participating school districts
were required to establish a schoolsite council. The
schoolsite councils were required, among other things, to
develop a plan made up of specific criteria including,
curricula, instructional strategies, and materials that
address the individual needs and learning styles of each
pupil, instructional and auxiliary services to meet the
special needs of certain pupil populations, a staff
development program for teachers, other school personnel,
paraprofessionals, and volunteers, and the proposed
expenditures of funds available to the school, as
specified.
4) Related legislation . AB 2384 (Bradford) would impose
new requirements regarding the establishment of schoolsite
councils, such as the requirement for school districts to
provide training for schoolsite council members. This bill
is pending on the Senate Floor.
SUPPORT
American Civil Liberties Union of California
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Association of California School Administrators
California Association for Bilingual Education
Californians Together
Education Trust-West
Families in Schools
PICO California
Public Advocates (sponsor)
OPPOSITION
None on file.