Amended in Assembly August 21, 2014

Amended in Assembly August 18, 2014

Amended in Assembly August 4, 2014

Amended in Senate April 23, 2014

Senate Bill No. 1174

Introduced by Senator Lara

(Coauthors: Senators Block, Hancock, and Monning)

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Gonzalez and Skinner)

February 20, 2014

An act to amend Sections 300, 305, 306, 310, 320, and 335 of, and to repeal Section 311 of, the Education Code, relating to English language education.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 1174, as amended, Lara. English language education.

(1) Existing law, as added by Proposition 227, a measure approved by the voters at the June 2, 1998, statewide primary election, requires, among other things, that all children in California public schools be taught English by being taught in English. Proposition 227 specifies that English learner pupils, as defined, be educated through sheltered English immersion, as defined, during a temporary transition period not normally intended to exceed one year. Proposition 227 further provides that its requirements relating to sheltered English immersion instruction may be waived with the prior written consent of a pupil’s parent or legal guardian, as specified. Proposition 227 also encourages family members and others to provide personal English language tutoring to English learner pupils.

This bill would amend and repeal various provisions of Proposition 227. The bill would, among other things, delete the sheltered English immersion requirement and waiver provisions, and would instead provide that school districts and county offices of education shall, at a minimum, provide English learners with a structured English immersion program. The bill would authorize parents or legal guardians of pupils enroled in the school to choose a language acquisition program that best suits their child, as provided.

(2) Existing law requires, on or before July 1, 2014, the governing board of each school district and each county board of education to adopt a local control and accountability plan and requires the governing board of each school district and each county board of education to update its plan on or before July 1 of each year. As part of the process for developing the local control and accountability plan, existing law requires the superintendent of the school district or the county superintendent of schools to both present the plan or annual update to the plan to a parent advisory committee and an English learner parent advisory committee for review and comment, and to respond, in writing, to comments received from the committees. Existing law also requires the superintendent of the school district and the county superintendent of schools to notify members of the public of the opportunity to submit written comments regarding the specific actions and expenditures proposed to be included in the local control and accountability plan or annual update to the plan.

This bill would, as part of the parent and community engagement process required for the development of a local control and accountability plan, require school districts and county offices of education to solicit input on, and provide to pupils, effective and appropriate instructional methods, including, but not limited to, establishing language acquisition programs, as defined.

(3) Proposition 227 also specifies that a pupil’s parent or legal guardian has standing to sue for enforcement of its provisions and, if successful, to receive normal and customary attorney’s fees and actual damages, but not punitive or consequential damages. Proposition 227 further provides that school board members, other elected officials, and public school teachers or administrators who willfully and repeatedly refuse to implement its provisions may be held personally liable for fees and actual damages by a pupil’s parent or legal guardian.

This bill would delete begin delete that provision. end delete begin insert those provisions. end insert

(4) Proposition 227 provides that its provisions may be amended by a statute to further its purpose passed by a 2⁄3 vote of each house of the Legislature and signed by the Governor.

This bill would delete the requirement that the amendment further the purpose of Proposition 227, and would revise the vote threshold to a majority vote in each house of the Legislature.

(5) This bill would make these provisions operative on July 1, 2017.

(6) The California Constitution authorizes the Legislature to amend or repeal an initiative statute by another statute that becomes effective when approved by the electors.

This bill would provide that it would become effective only upon approval of the voters, and would require the Secretary of State to submit this measure to the voters for approval at the November 2016 statewide general election.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

This measure shall be known, and may be cited,
as the “California Ed.G.E. Initiative” or “California Education for
a Global Economy Initiative.”

SEC. 2.  

Section 300 of the Education Code is amended to read:

300.  

The people of California find and declare as follows:

(a) Whereas, The English language is the national public
language of the United States of America and of the State of
California, is spoken by the vast majority of California residents,
and is also the leading world language for science and technology,
thereby being an important language of economic opportunity;
and

(b) Whereas, All parents are eager to have their children master
the English language and obtain a high-quality education, thereby
preparing them to fully participate in the American Dream of
economic and social advancement; and

(c) Whereas, California is home to thousands of multinational
businesses that must communicate daily with associates around
the world; and

(d) Whereas, California employers across all sectors, both public
and private, are actively recruiting multilingual employees because
of their ability to forge stronger bonds with customers, clients, and
business partners; and

(e) Whereas, Multilingual skills are necessary for our country’s
national security and essential to conducting diplomacy and
international programs; and

(f) Whereas, California has a natural reserve of the world’s
largest languages, including English, Mandarin, and Spanish, which
are critical to the state’s economic trade and diplomatic efforts;
and

(g) Whereas, California has the unique opportunity to provide
all parents with the choice to have their children educated to high
standards in English and one or more additional languages,
including Native American languages, thereby increasing pupils’
access to higher education and careers of their choice; and

(h) Whereas, The government and the public schools of
California have a moral obligation and a constitutional duty to
provide all of California’s children, regardless of their ethnicity
or national origin, with the skills necessary to become productive
members of our society, and of these skills, literacy in the English
language is among the most important; and

(i) Whereas, The California Legislature approved, and the
Governor signed, a historic school funding reform that restructured
public education funding in a more equitable manner, directs
increased resources to improve English language acquisition, and
provides local control to school districts, county offices of
education, and schools on how to spend funding through the local
control funding formula and local control and accountability plans;
and

(j) Whereas, Parents now have the opportunity to participate in
building innovative new programs that will offer pupils greater
opportunities to acquire 21st century skills, such as
multilingualism; and

(k) Whereas, All parents will have a choice and voice to demand
the best education for their children, including access to language
programs that will improve their children’s preparation for college
and careers, and allow them to be more competitive in a global
economy; and

(l) Whereas, Existing law places constraints on teachers and
schools, which have deprived many pupils of opportunities to
develop multilingual skills; and

(m) Whereas, A large body of research has demonstrated the
cognitive, economic, and long-term academic benefits of
multilingualism and multiliteracy.

(n) Therefore, It is resolved that: amendments to, and the repeal
of, certain provisions of this chapter at the November 2016
statewide general election will advance the goal of voters to ensure
that all children in California public schools shall receive the
highest quality education, master the English language, and access
high-quality, innovative, and research-based language programs
that provide the California Ed.G.E. (California Education for a
Global Economy).

SEC. 3.  

Section 305 of the Education Code is amended to read:

305.  

(a) (1) As part of the parent and community engagement
process required for the development of a local control and
accountability plan pursuant to Article 4.5 (commencing with
Section 52060) of Chapter 6.1 of Part 28 of Division 4 of Title 2,
school districts and county offices of education shall solicit input
on, and shall provide to pupils, effective and appropriate
instructional methods, including, but not limited to, establishing
language acquisition programs, as defined in Section 306. This
requirement is intended to ensure that all pupils, including English
learners and native speakers of English, have access to the core
academic content standards, including the English language
development standards, as applicable, and become proficient in
English pursuant to the state priorities identified in paragraph (2)
of subdivision (d) of Section 52060 and of Section 52066.

(2) School districts and county offices of education shall, at a
minimum, provide English learners with a structured English
immersion program, as specified in Section 306, for purposes of
ensuring that English learners have access to the core academic
content standards, including the English language development
standards, and become proficient in English pursuant to the state
priorities identified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) of Section
52060 and of Section 52066.

(b) When a school district or a county office of education
establishes a language acquisition program pursuant to this section,
the school district or county office of education shall consult with
the proper school personnel, including, but not limited to,
administrators and certificated teachers with the appropriate
authorizations and experience.

(c) School districts and county offices of education are also
encouraged to provide opportunities to pupils who are native
speakers of English to be instructed in another language to a degree
sufficient to produce proficiency in that language. The non-English
language should be at the discretion of the parents, community,
and school, depending upon the linguistic and financial resources
of the school community and other local considerations.

(d) A language acquisition program established pursuant to this
section shall comply with the requirements of Section 310.

SEC. 4.  

Section 306 of the Education Code is amended to read:

306.  

The definitions of the terms used in this article and in
Article 1 (commencing with Section 300) are as follows:

(a) “English learner” means a pupil who is “limited English
proficient” as that term is defined in the federal No Child Left
Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. 7801(25)).

(b) “Native speaker of English” means a pupil who has learned
and used English in his or her home from early childhood and
English has been his or her primary means of concept formation
and communication.

(c) “Language acquisition programs” refers to educational
programs designed to ensure English acquisition as rapidly and as
effectively as possible, and that provide instruction to pupils on
the state-adopted academic content standards, including the English
language development standards. The language acquisition
programs provided to pupils shall be informed by research and
shall lead to grade level proficiency and academic achievement in
both English and another language. Language acquisition programs
may include, but are not limited to, all of the following:

(1) Dual-language immersion programs that provide integrated
language learning and academic instruction for native speakers of
English and native speakers of another language, with the goals
of high academic achievement, first and second language
proficiency, and cross-cultural understanding.

(2) Transitional or developmental programs for English learners
that provide instruction to pupils that utilizes English and a pupil’s
native language for literacy and academic instruction and enables
an English learner to achieve English proficiency and academic
mastery of subject matter content and higher order skills, including
critical thinking, in order to meet state-adopted academic content
standards.

(3) Structured English immersion programs for English learners
in which nearly all classroom instruction is provided in English,
but with curriculum and a presentation designed for pupils who
are learning English.

SEC. 5.  

Section 310 of the Education Code is amended to read:

310.  

(a) Parents or legal guardians of pupils enrolled in the
school may choose a language acquisition program that best suits
their begin delete child. end delete begin insert child pursuant to this section. end insert Schools in which the
parents or legal guardians of 30 pupils or more per school or the
parents or legal guardians of 20 pupils or more in any grade request
a language acquisition program that is designed to provide language
instruction shall be required to offer such a program to the extent
possible, based upon the requirements of Section 305.

(b) If a school district implements a language acquisition
program pursuant to this section, it shall do both of the following:

(1) Comply with the kindergarten and grades 1 to 3, inclusive,
class size requirements specified in Section 42238.02.

(2) Provide, as part of the annual parent notice required pursuant
to Section 48980 or upon enrollment, the parent or legal guardian
of a minor pupil with information on the types of language
programs available to pupils enrolled in the school district,
including, but not limited to, a description of each program.

SEC. 6.  

Section 311 of the Education Code is repealed.

SEC. 7.  

Section 320 of the Education Code is amended to read:

320.  

As detailed in Section 5 of Article 9 of the California
Constitution, and Article 2 (commencing with Section 305) and
Article 3 (commencing with Section 310), respectively, all
California school children have the right to be provided with a free
public education and an English language public education.

SEC. 8.  

Section 335 of the Education Code is amended to read:

335.  

The provisions of this act may be amended by a statute
that becomes effective upon approval by the electorate or by a
statute passed by a majority vote of each house of the Legislature
and signed by the Governor.

SEC. 9.  

Sections 2 to 8, inclusive, of this act shall become
operative on July 1, 2017.

SEC. 10.  

Sections 2 to 9, inclusive, of this act amend or repeal
provisions of Proposition 227, an initiative statute that was
approved by the voters at the June 2, 1998, statewide primary
election, and shall become effective only when submitted to, and
approved by, the voters. The Secretary of State shall submit
Sections 1 to 9, inclusive, of this act for approval by the voters at
the November 2016 statewide general election in accordance with
Section 9040 of the Elections Code.