BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 1248
AUTHOR: Lara
AMENDED: April 21, 2014
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 24, 2014
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Daniel Alvarez
SUBJECT : California Collaborative for Educational Excellence.
SUMMARY
This bill expands the purposes of the California Collaborative
for Educational Excellence to include the collection and
dissemination of specified information on school districts
closing achievement gaps and developing best practices in
implementing the Local Control Funding Formula.
BACKGROUND
Chapter 47, Statutes of 2013 (AB 97, Committee on Budget), and
subsequent legislation created the Local Control Funding
Formula (LCFF), which consolidated most of the state's
categorical programs with the discretionary revenue limit
funding to create a new student formula phased in over eight
years. One of the main principles behind the LCFF is that
English learners and low-income students require more attention
and resources in the classroom than students who do not have
these same challenges. By providing more services (and in
turn, funding) to these student populations, it is widely
believed that this will help to close the achievement gap and
help all students perform better.
In addition to the new LCFF, the 2013 Budget also established a
new system for school accountability. Under the new system,
school districts, county offices of education, and charter
schools are required to complete a Local Control and
Accountability Plan (LCAP). The LCAP must include a district's
annual goals in each of the eight state priority areas, which
include:
Student achievement.
Student engagemen.t
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Other student outcomes.
School climate.
Implementation of the Common Core State Standards.
Course access.
Basic services.
Parental involvement.
The plans must include both district wide goals and goals for
specific subgroups. Districts are required to consult with
stakeholders on their plans and hold at least two public
hearings before adopting or updating their LCAP. Districts
must adopt an LCAP by July 1st 2014, which is to be updated
every year and adopted every three years. A district then must
submit their LCAP to the County Office of Education (COE) for
review. The COE can suggest amendments to the district's LCAP,
which the district must consider (but are not required to
adopt). The COE must approve the district's LCAP by October 8.
If the COE does not approve the LCAP, the state will then
intervene.
The new funding formula also created a new system of school
district support and intervention. The California
Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE) was created in
order to provide assistance to low-performing school districts.
Under the new system, if a school district that does not meet
performance expectations in the eight state priority areas,
they will be subject to intervention by their County Office of
Education or the CCEE. Districts that are continuously not
meeting performance standards will be subject to intervention
by the SBE and State Superintendent of Public Instruction
(SPI).
The 2013 Budget appropriated $10 million to establish this new
system of support through the CCEE. The California Department
of Education (CDE) has not yet started this work. They are
expected to go out to bid for a contractor this spring. The
Administration is proposing to extend the use of these funds
until June 30th, 2015. Because the number of districts that
will need assistance is unknown and the role of the CCEE is
still unclear, the cost of the new support and intervention
system going forward has yet to be determined. The Governor's
Proposed 2014 Budget does not include ongoing funding for the
CCEE, but the Administration will be considering ongoing
funding as the system is further developed.
ANALYSIS
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This bill expands the purposes of the California Collaborative
for Educational Excellence (CCEE) to include the collection and
dissemination of specified information on school districts on
closing pupil achievement gaps and developing best practices in
implementing the Local Control Funding Formula. More
specifically, this bill:
1) Expands the purposes of the CCEE, as specified.
2) Requires the CCEE, in addition to advising and assisting
local educational agencies in achieving goals of local
control and accountability plans, to:
a) Provide ongoing recommendations to the State
Board of Education regarding how and if school
districts are making progress in closing the
achievement gap in their schools.
b) Provide recommendations as to the best
practices being used by school districts to close the
achievement gap relative to pupils who are low
income, English learners, or foster youth.
c) Collect data relevant to monitoring the
implementation of the Local Control Funding Formula,
including Local Control and Accountability Plans and
pupil achievement data.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . In California, the achievement gap is
defined as the disparity between the academic performance
of white students and other ethnic groups as well as that
between English learners and native English speakers;
socio-economically disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged
students; and students with disabilities as compared with
students without disabilities. The achievement gap in
California is a problem with a long history and complex
causes. California is home to 14.5 million Latinos and
2.1 million African Americans; over half of California's
K-12 students are Latino and 23 percent are English
learners. While some districts are doing better in
narrowing the achievement gap, other districts still
struggle to find success. What is clear is that more and
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better information from the state to school districts in
the areas of data sharing, best practices, and continually
improving our approach to implementing the LCFF and Local
Control and Accountability Plans is critical.
2) Independent research reaffirms need to constantly
communicate between school districts and be held
accountable . In 2013, the Education Trust West (ETW)
released information showing results of some districts
that were able to narrow the achievement gap (the
disparity between the academic performance of white
students and other ethnic groups) - and that this closing
of achievement occurred in both low-and-high socio
economic areas - ETW analysis indicated strong district
leadership, sharing data and best practices, investment in
quality instruction that includes deep professional
development and staff collaboration, and engage students
and parents with up-to-date information on students'
academic progress to strengthen home-school connections
and proactively address students' social or academic needs
are essential for success.
3) California Collaborative for Educational Excellence
(CCEE) . In addition, to the information above, current
law:
a) Specifies that the Superintendent of Public
Instruction (SPI), with the approval of the State
Board of Education (SBE), shall contract with a local
educational agency, or consortium of local
educational agencies, to serve as the fiscal agent
for the CCEE, and that the SPI shall apportion funds
appropriated for the CCEE to the fiscal agent.
b) Specifies that the CCEE shall be governed by
a board consisting of the following five members:
(a) the SPI or his/her designee; (b) the President of
the SBE or his/her designee; (c) a superintendent of
a county office of education appointed by the Senate
Rules Committee; (d) a teacher appointed by the
Speaker of the Assembly; and (e) a superintendent of
a school district appointed by the Governor.
c) Specifies that, at the direction of the board
of the CCEE, the fiscal agent shall contract with
individuals, as well as local educational agencies or
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organizations with expertise, experience, and a
record of success to carry out the purposes of LCFF
implementation.
1) New local control endeavors necessitate new ways to assist
schools and the public . As California continues to
implement the new Local Control Funding Formula and with
it the local accountability plans, positive reinforcement,
quality support, and data sharing from the state to local
school entities and the public at large is critical. This
measure will assist not only LEAs, but the community at
large by providing for a single state source of
information to ensure quality instruction occurs and when
that instruction does not result in its intended effect,
then a body of knowledge exists that can be tapped into
for changes. This measure, by expanding the purposes of
the CCEE to assist LEAs in identifying and implementing
best practices for the education success of pupils, while
being a repository of information embraces the new funding
and accountability environment the state is in.
2) Consistent with the measure's approach , staff recommends
clarifying amendments as follows:
a) On page 2, line 12, after "school districts"
insert "county offices of education and charter
schools"
b) On page 2, line 13, after "the" insert:
pupil achievement gaps identified and measured
pursuant to 52060 (d) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)" (and
equivalent code section for county offices of
education, if applicable)
c) On page 2, line 15 after "school districts"
insert "county offices of education and charter
schools"
On page2, strike line 16, and insert: pupil
achievement as measured pursuant to 52060 (d) (4) (5)
(6) (7) (8)" (and equivalent code section for county
offices of education, if applicable)
d) On page 3, strike lines 1 to 3, inclusive and
insert:
(4) Provide recommendations to the state board on the
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collection and analysis of data that can provide
comparison of local control and accountability plans
and pupil achievement data for school districts and
schools of comparable size, type, and pupil
demographics.
SUPPORT
None on this version.
OPPOSITION
None on this version.