BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 2512
AUTHOR: Bonilla
AMENDED: April 22, 2014
FISCAL COMM: No HEARING DATE: June 4, 2014
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Lynn Lorber
SUBJECT : Gender equity in athletic programs.
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes, beginning January 1, 2018, school
districts and county offices of education to include
information relative to compliance with Title IX gender
equity in the "school climate" category of local control
and accountability plans.
BACKGROUND
Title IX
Current federal law provides that, in part, "no person in
the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded
from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be
subjected to discrimination under any educational program
of activity receiving Federal financial assistance." In
order to be in compliance with Federal Title IX, a school
must show compliance with one of these three parts. The
federal tests are:
1) Athletic participation of women and girls is
proportionate to enrollment.
2) The school has a history and continuing practice of
program expansion for women or girls.
3) The school is fully meeting female athletes' interests
and abilities in its present athletic program. (Title
IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 to the 1964
Civil Rights Act)
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Current state law establishes standards virtually identical
to those of Federal Title IX, with one modification: in
Test 2, "history" is defined to mean the past two years.
(Education Code � 230)
Each school district and county office of education, or a
local public or private agency that receives funding from
the state or federal government, is required to designate a
person to serve as the Title IX compliance coordinator to
enforce compliance at the local level, including
coordinating any complaints of non-compliance. (Title IX
of the Education Amendments of 1972 to the 1964 Civil
Rights Act; California Code of Regulations, Title 5,
Section 4910)
Title IX applies to all aspects of educational
opportunities, not just athletics. Enforcement of
compliance is initiated upon the filing of a complaint
alleging a violation of Title IX.
Local Control and Accountability Plans
Current law:
1) Requires the governing board of every school district
and county office of education to adopt a local
control and accountability plan, by July 1, 2014, that
must include:
a) 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.
b) A description of the specific actions that
will be taken to achieve the goals. (EC � 52060
and � 52066)
2) Establishes the following as state priorities:
a) The degree to which teachers are
appropriately assigned and fully credentialed,
every student has sufficient access to
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standards-aligned instructional materials, and
school facilities are maintained in good repair.
b) Implementation of the academic content and
performance standards, including how English
learners will be served, as specified.
c) Parental involvement, as specified.
d) Student achievement, as specified.
e) Student engagement, as specified.
f) School climate, as measured by all of the
following, as applicable:
i) Student suspension rates.
ii) Student expulsion rates.
iii) Other local measures, including
surveys of students, parents, and teachers
on the sense of safety and school
connectedness.
g) The extent to which students have access to,
and are enrolled in, a broad course of study, as
specified.
h) Student outcomes, as specified. (EC �
52060)
3) Establishes as state priorities for county offices of
education, in addition to the state priorities
described above:
a) How the county superintendent will
coordinate instruction of students who have been
expelled.
b) How the county superintendent will
coordinate services for foster children, as
specified. (EC � 52066)
ANALYSIS
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This bill authorizes, beginning January 1, 2018, school
districts and county offices of education to include
information relative to compliance with Title IX gender
equity in their local control and accountability plans.
Specifically, this bill:
1) Authorizes, beginning January 1, 2018, governing
boards of school districts and county boards of
education to choose to include additional information
specific to compliance with Title IX in the school
climate component in the district's or county office's
local control and accountability plan.
2) Provides that information includes, but is not limited
to, the total number of students, by gender,
participating in existing after school athletic
programs.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Necessary ? Current law specifically authorizes the
school climate component of local control and
accountability plans to include other local measures,
including surveys of students, parents, and teachers
on the sense of safety and school connectedness. This
bill explicitly authorizes school district governing
boards and county boards of education to include
information specific to compliance with Title IX.
2) Compliance . This bill provides that information
regarding compliance with Title IX that may be
included in local control and accountability plans
(LCAPs) includes, but is not limited to, the total
number of students, by gender, participating in
existing after school athletic programs.
Current law provides that compliance is measured by the
three-pronged test:
a) Proportionality to enrollment.
b) History (past two years) and continuing
practice of program expansion for females.
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c) Fully meeting female athletes' interests and
abilities in its present athletic program.
This bill does not preclude school districts and
county offices of education from including
measurements of the three-pronged test in LCAPs.
While more difficult and costly, should this bill
require information in LCAPs to be linked to the
three-pronged test? Should the Title IX coordinator
provide information for inclusion in the LCAP?
3) Enforcement . Enforcement of compliance is initiated
upon the filing of a complaint alleging a violation of
Title IX. Complaints generally begin at the school
district level and can proceed to the state level, and
ultimately to the federal Office of Civil Rights.
Current law does not require any reporting of measures
of compliance with Title IX by K-12 schools.
In 2003, the RMC Research Corporation's independent report,
required by the Legislature, "Title IX Athletics
Compliance at California's Public High Schools,
Community Colleges, and Universities" revealed that of
the 125 high schools that returned surveys, only 26%
were in compliance with Title IX based on
proportionality, defined as having participation rates
that were within five percentage points of the
enrollment rates for each gender. One of the
recommendations of the report was to require high
schools to report athletics data annually and to
ensure a monitoring process for Title IX.
4) Technical amendments . This bill references
participation in existing after school athletic
programs. Staff recommends an amendment to instead
reference interscholastic athletics for consistency
with existing statutes relative to gender equity.
5) Related legislation . SB 1349 (Jackson) requires all
public schools that offer competitive athletics to
post information on its website relative to the number
of boys and girls that participate in competitive
athletics. SB 1349 is pending referral in the
Assembly.
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AB 1892 (Bocanegra) requires school districts and county
offices of education to include in the LCAP any
specialized programs or services provided to students
redesignated as fluent English proficient in order for
them to maintain proficiency in English, access the
common core academic content standards, and a broad
course of study. AB 1892 is pending referral in the
Senate.
SB 1346 (Wyland) requires, beginning with the 2015-16
fiscal year, district and county office local control
and accountability plans to include a listing and
description of the expenditures used to implement the
specific actions included in the local control and
accountability plan, and specifically funds used to
serve certain subgroups of students. SB 1346 also
adds to state priorities the extent to which teachers,
administrators, and staff receive professional
development or participate in induction programs. SB
1346 is pending referral in the Assembly.
6) Prior legislation . AB 2323 (Jackson, 2004) would have
required the California Department of Education to
develop a Gender Equity Compliance Survey for high
schools. AB 2323 was held in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee.
SUPPORT
California Federation of Teachers
California Interscholastic Federation
John Swett Unified School District
Martinez Unified School District
Pleasanton Unified School District
OPPOSITION
None on file.
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