UNder the Dome: CSBA position updates

CSBA’s Legislative Committee, an advisory group that reviews and takes positions consistent with the CSBA Policy Platform on bills in the Legislature, has adopted positions on a number of new bills. Among them:
AB 1772 Charter schools:governing boards
Garcia, R-Cathedral City
CSBA now has a support position on this bill after the author agreed April 16 to amendments addressing CSBA concerns. This bill now would require charter school governing boards to be subject to the same laws governing conflict of interest for traditional public school boards and other publicly funded entities.
Position: Support
Status: Passed Assembly Education Committee 7-0; now pending Assembly Appropriations

AB 2078 Work-based learning
Fuentes, D-Los Angeles
This bill would define work-based learning to mean an educational approach or instructional methodology that uses the workplace to provide pupils with the knowledge and skills that help them connect school experiences to real-life work activities and future career opportunities. This bill would allow credit for work-based learning programs and would allow those strategies to be integrated into all forms of career and technical education courses. The proposed changes would also enable students in work-based learning programs to be covered under current liability insurance that school districts provide for students in other career and technical education programs.
Position: Support
Status: Passed Assembly Education Committee 10-0; now pending Assembly Appropriations

AB 2159 Education finance: Commission for Funding with Accountability, Transparency, and Simplicity
Brownley, D-Santa Monica
This bill would establish the Funding with Accountability Commission for Transparency and Simplicity—FACTS—to develop simple and transparent funding formulas for base district funding, special education and county offices of education. The purpose of this commission would be to provide state policy-makers with a comprehensive plan to reform the current education finance system to leverage and support pupil achievement by making the state’s funding system simpler, more transparent and more effective.
Position: Support
Status: Assembly Appropriations

AB 2302 Teacher credentialing: specialist credential: pupils with autism
Bass, D-Los Angeles
This bill would temporarily authorize a school or other local education agency to assign a teacher who holds a Level 1 Education Specialist credential (which authorizes the holder to provide instruction to students with mild to moderate disabilities) to provide instruction to students with autism if the instructor has already taught these students successfully or has taken at least three semester units of coursework in the subject of autism.
Position: Support
Status: Assembly, Consent Calendar

AB 2759 State preschool programs: reform
Jones, D-Sacramento
This bill would streamline and reform the existing five child-development programs for preschool-age children into the California State Preschool Program. Included would be part-day and full-day State Preschool, part-day and full-day Prekindergarten, and Family Literacy and General Childcare and Development programs. Consolidation would serve children ages 3 to 5 by facilitating program administration by school districts and other providers and directing resources for young children where they are most needed.
Position: Support
Status: Assembly Appropriations

SB 1370 Education: Journalism Teacher Protection Act
Yee, D-San Francisco/San Mateo
This bill would prohibit school districts, community college districts, the California State University and the University of California from dismissing, suspending, disciplining, reassigning, transferring, or otherwise retaliating against an employee for acting to protect a student’s conduct authorized by existing law, or refusing to abridge or infringe upon conduct that is constitutionally protected. CSBA opposes SB 1370 because it goes above and beyond the protection of journalism instructors by providing broad protections for all employees, which could have unintended consequences. Employees could assert their actions, or inactions, were done to protect the students’ “freedom of expression.” Further, in the event of a confrontation between students and district staff, this bill would reduce the flexibility for school administrators to maintain a safe, orderly educational environment.
Position: Oppose
Status: Passed Senate Judiciary Committee 5-0; now pending on Senate Floor

SB 1445 Pupil attendance: city of La Palma
Harman, R-Orange
This bill would have made the city of La Palma an open enrollment city, allowing students who live there to attend any of the five school districts that serve the city. This bill would set a dangerous precedent allowing other communities to circumvent reorganization provisions in current law, which is a local process. At the local level, open enrollment would create administrative difficulties for districts that seek to ensure all children are being served appropriately. There are also matters related to compulsory education and special education laws that place requirements on districts of residence, which would impact the five districts. This could greatly affect districts’ planning for the school year, because they may not know how many students would attend a school in their district.
Position: Oppose
Status: Failed passage in Senate Education Committee April 16; however, reconsideration granted

SB 1524 The California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System: Asian Pacific Islander pupils
Romero, D-Los Angeles
This bill would require CalPADS to have the ability to disaggregate data related to Asian Pacific Islander pupils in order to provide a more accurate view of the academic achievement of the subgroups of pupils within that category.
Position: Support
Status: Senate Education,
Suspense File

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