BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
SB 1248 (Lara) - California Collaborative for Educational
Excellence
Amended: May 1, 2014 Policy Vote: Education 8-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 23, 2014 Consultant: Jacqueline
Wong-Hernandez
SUSPENSE FILE.
Bill Summary: SB 1248 expands the purposes of the California
Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE) to include the
ongoing provision of recommendations to the state board of
education (SBE) on school districts closing achievement gaps,
best practices in implementing the Local Control Funding Formula
(LCFF), and best practices in data collection and analysis.
Fiscal Impact:
Significant state costs / cost pressures (General Fund), to
expand the data collection, analysis, and recommendations
duties of the CCEE when it is created. See staff comments.
Background: Chapter 47, Statutes of 2013 (AB 97, Committee on
Budget), and subsequent legislation created the LCFF, which
consolidated most of the state's categorical programs with
discretionary revenue limit funding to create a new student
formula to be phased in over eight years. A primary principle
behind the LCFF is the idea that English learners and low-income
students require more attention and resources in the classroom
than students who do not have the same challenges in order to
succeed academically.
In addition to the new LCFF, AB 97 also established a new system
for school accountability. Under the new system, school
districts, county offices of education (COEs), 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
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include: 1) student achievement; 2) student engagement; 3)
other student outcomes; 4) school climate; 5) implementation of
the Common Core state standards; 6) course access; 7) basic
services; and, 8) parental involvement.
The plans must include both district wide goals and goals for
specific student 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
its LCAP to the COE for review. The COE can suggest amendments
to the district's LCAP, which the district must consider (but is
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
can intervene in prescribed ways.
The new funding formula also created a new system of school
district support and intervention. The CCEE was created in order
to provide assistance to low-performing school districts. If a
school district does not meet performance expectations in the 8
state priority areas previously noted, it will be subject to
intervention by its COE or the CCEE. If a district continually
fails to meet performance standards, it will be subject to
intervention by the SBE and State Superintendent of Public
Instruction (SPI).
The 2013 Budget Act appropriated $10 million (General Fund) to
establish this new system of support through the CCEE. The
California Department of Education (CDE) expects to have a
fiscal agent in place in spring 2014 and have the CCEE fully
operational by spring 2015. The Administration is proposing to
extend the use of these funds until June 30th, 2015, because
establishing a functioning CCEE will not be completed before the
end of the 2013-14 fiscal year. The Governor's Proposed 2014
Budget does not currently include ongoing funding for the CCEE.
Proposed Law: This bill expands the purposes of the 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 LCFF.
This bill requires the CCEE, in addition to advising and
assisting local educational agencies in achieving goals of local
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control and accountability plans, to:
1) Provide ongoing recommendations to the SBE regarding how
and if school districts are making progress in closing the
achievement gap in their schools.
2) Provide recommendations on best practices being used by
school districts to close the achievement gap relative to
pupils who are low-income, ELs, or foster youth.
3) Provide recommendations to the SBE on the collection and
analysis of data that can provide comparisons of LCAPS and
pupil achievement data for school districts, county
superintendents of schools, and charter schools, and
comparisons of schools of comparable size, type, and pupil
demographics.
Staff Comments: The creation of the CCEE was authorized last
year, as a complement to the new LCAP requirement, and the 2013
Budget Act appropriated $10 million for its establishment. The
CCEE is supposed be run by a fiscal agent selected by the
Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), and governed by a
5-member board. Its envisioned purpose is to advise and assist
school districts that are struggling to meet their LCAP
requirements and goals. The SPI has not yet formally selected a
fiscal agent, and the CCEE has not been created. The CDE
believes it will have a contract in place soon, and is seeking
approval to have the $10 million re-appropriated in the current
Budget Act to begin the CCEE's work.
This bill expands the responsibilities of the CCEE to include
providing recommendations to the SBE on closing the achievement
gap, including: the collection and analysis of data,
comparisons, and best practices of school districts regarding
their efforts to close the achievement gap. The expanded
responsibilities will drive significant new workload for the
CCEE, and may require additional staff.
Staff notes, however that it is unclear why the exact amount of
$10 million was appropriated to establish the CCEE, and whether
$10 million is insufficient, sufficient, or excessive amount to
meet its statutory role. Thus, it is unclear whether the initial
workload dictated by this bill could be completed within the $10
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million appropriation, creating cost pressure on the funds, or
whether it would require actual additional resources. Staff
further notes that the $10 million is one-time funding, and both
the existing statutory requirements and this bill's expansion
create cost pressure to continue to fund the CCEE.