BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1346
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Date of Hearing: June 25, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
SB 1346 (Wyland) - As Amended: April 21, 2014
SENATE VOTE : 31-0
SUBJECT : Schools: accountability: local control and
accountability plans
SUMMARY : Adds new requirements to Local Control Accountability
Plans (LCAPs) related to serving the academic needs of English
learner (EL) pupils. Specifically, this bill :
1) Requires each local educational agency's (LEA) fiscal
audit to determine whether Local Control Funding Formula
(LCFF) expenditures were in compliance with State Board of
Education (SBE) adopted regulations regarding supplemental
and concentration funds. Further requires county offices
of education (COEs), as part of their review of an LEA's
adopted budget, to determine whether LCFF expenditures were
in compliance with SBE adopted regulations.
2) Deletes the authorization that, under specified
circumstances, charter schools may use supplemental grant
and concentration factor funds for charter-wide purposes.
3) Adds reclassified ELs to the subgroups of pupils whose
academic achievement must be measured by the API for
accountability purposes and provides that the inclusion of
reclassified ELs in the API shall, at a minimum, be
consistent with the manner in which reclassified ELs are
included in the determination of adequate yearly progress,
as required by federal law.
4) Adds, beginning in 2015-16, the following elements to
the LCAPs that each LEA is required to adopt:
a. A listing and description of the expenditures
for the initial fiscal year implementing the specific
actions included in the LCAP; and
b. A listing and description of the expenditures
for the initial fiscal that will serve EL pupils,
low-income pupils, foster youth, and reclassified ELs.
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5) Specifies that "pupil achievement" (which is one of
eight state priorities that the LCAP must address) includes
the achievement for each pupil subgroup that the LCAP must
address.
6) Adds the extent to which teachers, administrators, and
staff receive professional development or participate in
induction programs, including the type and subject areas of
the professional development provided, to the list of
priorities that the LCAP must address.
7) Clarifies that the EL parent advisory committee shall be
a district EL parent advisory committee and makes its
establishment a condition of receipt of LCFF supplemental
grant funds.
8) Requires the districtwide EL parent advisory committee
to advise the governing board on at least the following:
a. Establishing school district goals and
objectives for programs and services for EL pupils to
ensure that the academic and language proficiency
needs of ELs, including long-term ELs and ELs at-risk
of becoming long-term ELs are being met;
b. Administering the home language survey; and
c. School district reclassification procedures.
9) Requires the SBE, by March 31, 2015, to adopt LCAP
templates that do the following:
a. Ensure that each school district, county
superintendent of schools, or charter school that
receives supplemental and concentration funds for
unduplicated pupils include information on the
instructional programs and services provided to
unduplicated pupils for the purpose of increasing
their academic achievement in its LCAP; and
b. Ensure that school districts, county
superintendents of schools, or charter schools include
information on the types of English language
development instructional programs provided to English
learners, and how those programs support the core
instructional program, including, but not limited to,
the types of instructional materials provided to
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pupils and the professional development provided to
schoolsite staff.
10) Requires LEAs to expend Economic Impact Aid program
funds only for purposes authorized in statute and
regulations as they read on June 30, 2013.
EXISTING LAW requires school districts to adopt a Local Control
and Accountability Plan (LCAP) on or before July 1, 2014, using
a template adopted by the State Board of Education. The LCAPs
must:
1)Be updated every year and renewed every three years.
2)Be developed in consultation with teachers, principals,
administrators, other school personnel, parents, and pupils.
3)Include annual achievement goals for all pupils, including
specified pupil subgroups, and a description of actions that
will be taken to achieve those goals.
4)Address the following eight state priorities:
a) Requirements related to the Williams v. State of
California settlement agreement related to fully
credentialed teachers, instructional materials, and school
facilities;
b) Implementation of academic and performance standards,
including English language development standards;
c) Parental involvement;
d) Pupil achievement, as measured by statewide assessments;
e) Pupil engagement, as measured by attendance, dropout and
graduation rates, and expulsions/suspensions;
f) School climate, as measured by suspension rates,
expulsion rates, and other local measures, such as surveys;
g) The extent to which pupils have access to and are
enrolled in a broad course of study; and
h) Pupil outcomes, if available, for non-state-assessed
courses of study.
5)Be aligned with the district's budget and describe how the
district will "increase or improve services for unduplicated
pupils in proportion to its increase in funds apportioned on
the basis of the number and concentration of unduplicated
pupils in the district."
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FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee:
1) Significant costs to LEAs which, if deemed by the
Commission on State Mandates to be reimbursable, will have
substantial aggregated costs. The state will likely
reimburse millions of dollars annually for LEAs to make
required changes to their LCAPs and to complete the related
plan implementation work. There is also a potentially
significant reimbursable mandate on COEs to review the
changes and new criteria required of the LCAPs.
2) Up to $500,000 in workload costs to the California
Department of Education (CDE) to add a ninth state priority
to the LCAPs and draft conforming regulations for adoption
by the SBE and for the SBE to adopt revised LCAP templates.
3) $50,000 in CDE costs to make programming changes needed
to create the new subgroup. Minor ongoing state costs to
include the subgroup in future accountability reports.
COMMENTS : The LCAP requirement was established to provide for
accountability within the framework of the LCFF. On January 16,
2014 the SBE adopted LCFF emergency regulations that include the
spending regulations and a template. The emergency regulations
became effective on February 6, 2014, when they were approved by
the Office of Administration Law. The board also initiated the
process for adopting permanent regulations, which is expected to
be completed by the fall of 2014.
The emergency regulations require LEAs to describe in their LCAP
the increased or improved services provided to disadvantaged
students beyond the services provided to all students in
proportion to the LEA's increase in supplemental funding. The
regulations include a specified standard methodology for LEAs to
calculate their annual LCFF funding attributed to the
supplemental funds versus base grant funds and also to calculate
the "proportionality percentage" (i.e., amount of supplemental
funds divided by amount of base funds) by which services to
disadvantaged students must be increased or improved beyond
services provided to all pupils.
At the same time, the regulations give LEAs flexibility to spend
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the supplemental funding for school-wide, district-wide,
county-wide, and charter-wide purposes. The LCFF regulations
allow the supplemental funding to be used for district-wide or
school-wide purposes under specified conditions.
According to the author's office, the regulations fall short of
the Legislature's intent that supplemental grant and
concentration factor funds be targeted to programs and services
for the pupils who generate them. Therefore, this bill does the
following:
1) Adds reclassified EL pupils to the list of subgroups
whose performance must be measured by the Academic
Performance Index (API).
2) Adds compliance with regulations governing the
expenditure of supplemental grant and concentration factor
funds to the criteria used in the school district budget
review and approval process.
3) Requires, beginning with the 2015-16 fiscal year, the
LCAP to include a description of the expenditures for
implementing its specific actions and for serving specified
pupil subgroups, including reclassified EL pupils (existing
law requires a description only of the specific actions).
4) Requires LCAPs to address the extent to which teachers,
administrators, and staff receive professional development
or participate in induction programs, including the type
and subject areas of the professional development provided.
5) Requires the districtwide English learner parent
advisory committees to advise the governing board of school
district on (at a minimum) the establishment of goals and
objectives for EL pupils, the administration of the home
language survey, and district reclassification procedures.
6) Requires the SBE to adopt, by March 31, 2015, an LCAP
template that includes information on the instructional
programs and services provided to unduplicated pupils and
the types of English language development programs provided
to EL pupils and how those programs support the core
instructional program.
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7) Requires LEAs to spend unexpended Economic Impact Aid
(EIA) program funds only for the purposes of the EIA
program as authorized in statute and regulation on June 30,
2013.
Arguments in support. Supporters argue that there is a need for
greater visibility in order to realize the LCFF's "vision around
accountability and transparency" and that the ultimate success
of the LCFF depends on effectively balancing district
flexibility with accountability and transparency.
Arguments in opposition. Opponents argue that this bill is
premature and that the recently-enacted LCFF and LCAP
requirements should be given adequate transitional time to be
implemented before any changes occur, unless those changes are
technical.
Related legislation. This bill is nearly identical to SB 344
(Padilla), which was heard by this committee shortly after the
enactment of AB 97 (Committee on the Budget, Chapter 47,
Statutes of 2013), which implemented the LCFF and LCAP. At the
time SB 344 was before this committee, it was presented as a
"follow up" measure to AB 97 to ensure stronger accountability
for EL students. At that time, the SBE had not yet adopted the
implementing regulations. SB 344 passed the Legislature, but
was vetoed by the governor with the following message:
"I am returning Senate Bill 344 without my signature.
This bill interferes with the work of the State Board
of Education as it implements, through an open and
transparent process, the Local Control Funding
Formula. Moreover, it contains provisions contrary to
the July budget agreement.
For these reasons, I am unable to sign this bill."
Regulations adopted. The SBE held a hearing on proposed LCAP
regulations on November 7, 2014 during which testimony was
presented from a large number of stakeholders. Both before and
after the November hearing, the CDE, through a contract with
WestED, held a number of regional meetings to obtain input on
the proposed regulations. After receiving extensive input from
the field, and after another lengthy hearing, the SBE adopted
regulations on January 16, 2014. The initial LCAPs are
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currently being adopted pursuant to those regulations.
Accordingly, while this bill is similar to last year's SB 344,
the context is very different. Since the Governor's veto of SB
344, the CDE convened several regional meetings and the SBE held
two lengthy hearings to receive comments from stakeholders prior
to adopting regulations. LEAs are now preparing their LCAPs
pursuant to those regulations. At this time, there is no
evidence to support the argument that current statutory and
regulatory provisions fail to adequately address the needs of EL
pupils, because they are only now being implemented.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Bay Area Council
Children Now
Ed Voice
Public Advocates
Opposition
California Teachers Association
Analysis Prepared by : Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087