UndertheDome: CSBA legislative updates

Aug. 15 is the deadline for legislation to pass out of the fiscal committee of the second house. Bills that do not make it out of their respective fiscal committee are considered dead for the year. The following are active bills of importance to school board members:

AB 2167 Public school employees: personnel records

De Leon, D-Los Angeles

This bill would prohibit any information that is false or unsubstantiated from being placed in the personnel record of a classified employee of a school district. A classified employee would have the right to challenge and have removed a statement or document that is false or unsubstantiated. The process for challenging and removing false or unsubstantiated information from the personnel record would be the grievance procedure established by a collective bargaining agreement. Managers would be required to strike allegedly false or unsubstantiated information from evaluations before placing these documents in an employee’s personnel record.

Position: Oppose. This bill would establish a process for disputing every report of misconduct and undermine management’s need for information to take justifiable disciplinary actions. Existing law already balances an employee’s right to review his or her personnel file and management’s need to maintain comprehensive records.

Status: Senate Appropriations

AB 2717 Special education: due process hearing: burden of proof

Lieber, D-Mountain View

This bill would counteract the ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court by transferring the burden of proof in due process hearings to the school district. This has the potential to drastically increase costs for the district.

Position: Oppose

Status: Senate Appropriations

AB 2783 Special education: foster children: assessment and individualized education program

Plescia, R-San Diego

This bill would require a local education agency, within 20 working days of receipt of a special education assessment plan that is prepared for a pupil in foster care placed in a rate classification level 12, 13 or 14 group home or community treatment facility, to determine whether the pupil is eligible for special education services and to complete an Individual Education Plan for the pupil.

Position: Oppose. This bill would require LEAs to provide a higher level of service by performing duties in a shorter time frame than is required by existing law and would thus impose a state-mandated local program.

Status: Senate Appropriations

SB 1298 California education information

Simitian, D-Palo Alto

This bill would require the California Department of Education to establish a process by which local educational agencies would issue, maintain, and report information for child development and education programs using the unique pupil identifiers established pursuant to the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System. The Legislative Analyst's Office would be required to make recommendations relating to the governance of education data, while the state chief information officer would be required to convene a group to create a strategic plan that provides an overall structural design for the education data system.

Position: Support if amended to ensure the inclusion of appropriate K-12 education representatives

Status: Assembly Appropriations, Suspense File

SB 1425 Pupil data

Steinberg, D-Sacramento and Simitian, D-Palo Alto

This bill would allow the California Department of Education to assume the responsibilities of local education agencies with regard to the release of data on individual pupils that is included in the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System, and would authorize the establishment of a review team within CDE to review research requests and assure protection of privacy and individual rights. The Legislative Analyst's Office would be required to make recommendations related to the ability of the state to collect, transfer, and use pupil record information and other educational data.

Position: Support

Status: Assembly Appropriations, Suspense File

SB 1592 Education data: standing committee

Perata, D-Oakland

This bill would require the superintendent of public instruction to establish the Data Review and Consolidation Committee. The committee would meet at least quarterly to: (1) establish privacy and access protocols; (2) provide general guidance to the SPI; (3) make recommendations relative to data elements; (4) review and approve requests made by CDE to local educational agencies for data and reporting pursuant to state law; and (5) consolidate and reduce duplication of those requests and of data and reporting requests made pursuant to federal law. Further, the committee would inform LEAs that, under the bill, LEAs are not required to comply with requests for data and reporting pursuant to state law unless the requests are approved by the committee.

Position: Support

Status: Assembly Appropriations, Suspense File

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Find updates on CSBA’s positions on current legislation @ www.csba.org/LegislationAndLegal.aspx.