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Gov. Brown signs education legislation

Finances and local control top the list

Published: October 1, 2014

With the ongoing drought crisis center-stage, the water bond (Proposition 1) took precedent over a school construction bond. The much-needed school construction bond failed to make the November ballot. But 2014 proved to be another good budget year for schools, although sticker shock remains over the increases being imposed on employers for retiree costs. Gov. Brown continues to support LCFF and local control, with school board members (not the state) making decisions at the community level. However, pushing for and signing the reserve cap into law sent a conflicting message about school finances and local control. Read more on the recent bills on which Governor Brown acted in September:

AB 420 (Dickinson, D-Sacramento) eliminates “willful defiance” as grounds to suspend students in K-3 or recommend expulsion for students in K-12. This bill intends to encourage districts to use alternative disciplinary methods.
CSBA position: Support.
AB 948 (Olsen, R-Modesto) Expands eligibility for charter school students to participate in the free and reduced-price meal program. This bill also expands eligibility and requires charter schools participating in the Charter School Facility Grant Program (CSFGP) to comply with the audit guide.
CSBA position: Neutral.
AB 1271 (Bonta, D-Alameda) encourages school districts to include in their school safety plans protocols to address the mental health of students who have witnessed a violent act while on school grounds, going to or coming from school or a school-sponsored activity, and during a lunch period on or off campus.
CSBA position: Tracking.
AB 1432 (Gatto, D-Los Angeles) requires annual mandated reporter training for all school districts, county offices of education (COEs), charter schools, and state special schools within the first six weeks of each school year or within six weeks of employment.
CSBA position: No position.
AB 1442 (Gatto, D-Los Angeles) requires a school district that gathers and maintains information about a student from social media to notify students and parents, limit the information that it collects, and destroy the information when no longer needed.
CSBA position: Neutral.
AB 1581 (Buchanan, D-Alamo) sets more specified pre-qualification requirements for school construction projects within lease-leaseback or lease-to-own contracts. This bill builds upon AB 1565 (Fuentes, Chapter 808, Statutes of 2012), which established the initial pre-qualification requirements for these projects.
CSBA position: Disapprove.
AB 1584 (Buchanan, D-Alamo) authorizes Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) to enter into contracts with third parties to provide cloud-based services for the digital storage, management, and retrieval of pupil records. Such third parties can also provide digital educational software on use, ownership, and control of the pupil records, provided that the contract includes specific provisions about security.
CSBA position: Tracking.
AB 1611 (Bonta, D-Alameda) requires public school employers to provide to the exclusive representative to a classified school employee union reasonable written notice of their intent to make any changes to matters within the scope of representation.
CSBA position: Oppose
AB 1643 (Buchanan, D-Alamo) adds a representative of the county district attorney's office and a representative of the county public defender's office to county and local school attendance review boards (SARBs) and makes changes to the provisions governing SARBs. This bill was part of a package of bills on truancy and attendance sponsored by Attorney General Kamala Harris, which include AB 1672, AB 1866, and AB 2141.
CSBA position: No position.
AB 1719 (Weber, D-San Diego) requires the State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to provide the Legislature with a report evaluating all kindergarten programs, including part-day and full-day, by July 1, 2017. The initial version of the bill would have required school districts to implement full-day kindergarten programs.
CSBA position: Disapprove.
AB 1764 (Olsen, R-Modesto) allows a school district to award mathematics credit for completion of a California State University (CSU) and University of California (UC) approved “Category C” computer science course, if the district requires more than two years of mathematics courses for graduation.
CSBA position: Support.
AB 1806 (Bloom, D-Santa Monica) extends policies and procedures for suspension, expulsion, graduation requirement, and completed coursework for students who are homeless or in foster care.
CSBA position: No position.
AB 1840 (Campos, D-San Jose) authorizes that school nurses can perform basic vision screening tests under an agreement with or supervision of an optometrist or ophthalmologist.
CSBA position: No position.
AB 1915 (Nazarian, D-Sherman Oaks) establishes the Armenian Genocide Education Act and requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to consider including the Armenian Genocide into the classroom through oral history, publications, and professional development activities.
CSBA position: Approve.
AB 1930 (Skinner, D-Berkeley) improves CalFresh benefits through expanding exemptions, specifically from federal work requirements, for more eligible and needy college students.
CSBA position: No position.
AB 1979 (Nazarian, D-Sherman Oaks) expands the definition of "project" to include the reimbursement for the costs of acquisition, construction, expansion, remodeling, renovation, improvement, furnishing, or equipping of an educational facility to be financed or refinanced under the California School Finance Authority (CSFA) Act.
CSBA position: No position.
AB 1993 (Fox, D-Palmdale) requires the CDE to develop an online training module regarding bullying for school staff, school administrators, parents, students, and community members.
CSBA position: No position.
AB 2007 (Grove, R-Bakersfield) authorizes a virtual or online charter school to claim independent study average daily attendance (ADA) for students outside of the geographic boundaries in which the school operates.
CSBA position: Oppose.
AB 2016 (Campos, D-San Jose) requires the SBE to consider including age-appropriate content on sexual abuse and sexual assault awareness and prevention in the next health content standards revision.
CSBA position: Approve.
AB 2141 (Hall, D-Compton) requires a state or local agency conducting a truancy-related mediation or prosecuting a pupil or a pupil's parent or legal guardian to provide the outcome of each referral to the agency that made a referral. This bill was part of a package of bills on truancy and attendance sponsored by Attorney General Kamala Harris.
CSBA position: Support if Amended.
AB 2160 (Ting, D-San Francisco) requires school districts to electronically submit GPAs for all high school seniors at public schools to the California Student Aid Commission to streamline and simplify the process of applying for financial aid.
CSBA position: Support.
AB 2217 (Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore) allows public schools to solicit and receive non-state funds to acquire and maintain an automatic external defibrillator (AED) and provides immunity from civil damages to the employee of the school district and to the school district resulting from the use of an AED.
CSBA position: No position.
AB 2276 (Bocanegra, D-Los Angeles) makes changes regarding the transfer of students from juvenile court schools to district schools.
CSBA position: No position.
AB 2706 (Hernandez, D-West Covina) requires public schools to provide an informational item to its enrollment forms to provide the parent or legal guardian information about health care coverage and enrollment assistance.
CSBA position: Support.
SB 173 (Liu, D-La Canada Flintridge) requires the CDE and California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office to jointly develop and issue guidelines to be submitted to the Legislature on improving adult education.
CSBA position: Support if Amended.
SB 267 (Pavley, D-Agoura Hills) extends the implementation date on the use of alternative means for an eligible disabled student to demonstrate academic achievement rather than passing the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE).
CSBA position: Support.
SB 897 (Steinberg, D-Sacramento) requires the Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) to consider whether and how to incorporate specified social studies framework into California’s existing history-social science framework and content standards as a way to expand civic knowledge in students.
CSBA position: Support.
SB 971 (Huff, R-Diamond Bar) repeals or modifies numerous provisions of the Education Code that are considered obsolete or unnecessary in light of the passage of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF).
CSBA position: Co-Sponsor.
SB 1111 (Lara, D-Bell Gardens) requires parental consent for referrals to a county community school by a SARB, school district, or probation department, except for situations where a student is expelled or pursuant to a court order. This bill also establishes the right of a student to reenroll in his/her former school or another school upon completion of the term of involuntary transfer to a county community school.
CSBA position: Neutral.
SB 1165 (Mitchell, D-Los Angeles) requires the IQC to include a section on sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention in the health education framework when it is next revised and permits school districts to provide sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention education.
CSBA position: Support.
SB 1172 (Steinberg, D-Sacramento) deletes existing vision screening requirements and instead, requires, during the kindergarten year or upon first enrollment or entry in a California school district of a pupil at an elementary school, and in grades 2, 5, and 8, the pupil’s vision to be appraised by the school nurse or other authorized person.
CSBA position: No position.
SB 1174 (Lara, D-Bell Gardens) establishes the California Education for a Global Economy Initiative (California EdGE Initiative), which amends and repeals various provisions of Proposition 227 of 1998, including repealing the requirement that all children be taught in English. Because it changes voter approved Proposition 227, this measure needs voter approval and will appear on the November 2016 ballot.
CSBA position: Support.
SB 1177 (Steinberg, D-Sacramento) establishes the Student Online Information Protection Act to restrict the use and disclosure of information about K-12 students.
CSBA position: Approve.
SB 1405 (DeSaulnier, D-Concord) requires a school designee to post on the Internet Web site of a school site an integrated pest management plan if certain pesticides are used, reporting of specified pesticides use at a school site, and requires individuals applying pesticides at school sites to complete annual training.
CSBA position: No position.

Governor Brown also vetoed the following education bills:

AB 913 (Chau, D-Arcadia) would have required charter schools to comply with the Brown Act, , Public Records Act, Political Reform Act, and Government Code Section 1090. You can find Governor Brown’s veto message here.
CSBA position: Co-Sponsor.
AB 1431 (Campos, D-San Jose) would have prohibited school or community college district administrators from soliciting campaign contributions for board members and board candidates. You can find Governor Brown’s veto message here.
CSBA position: Tracking.
AB 1444 (Buchanan, D-Alamo) would have made kindergarten mandatory for all school districts in California. You can find Governor Brown’s veto message here.
CSBA position: Approve.
AB 1550 (Rendon, D-Lakewood) would have amended impasse procedures under the Education Employment Relations Act (EERA). You can find Governor Brown’s veto message here.
CSBA position: Oppose.
AB 1672 (Holden, D-Pasadena) would have required the governing board of each school district with an established local SARB to adopt rules and regulations to gather and post specified information on its web site. This bill was part of a package of bills on truancy and attendance sponsored by Attorney General Kamala Harris. You can find Governor Brown’s veto message here.
CSBA position: Tracking.
AB 1866 (Bocanegra, D-Los Angeles) would have added new data elements concerning pupil attendance data through the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS), subject to an appropriation. This bill was part of a package of bills on truancy and attendance sponsored by Attorney General Kamala Harris. You can find Governor Brown’s veto message here.
CSBA position: Support.
AB 2126 (Bonta, D-Alameda) would have amended bargaining impasse and mediation procedures between local agencies and labor unions within the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA). You can find Governor Brown’s veto message here.
CSBA position: Oppose.
AB 2380 (Weber, D-San Diego) would have required that specific actions within school districts’ Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs) are consistent with goals and plans established by each school site council. You can find Governor Brown’s veto message here.
CSBA position: No position.
AB 2408 (Allen, D-Huntington Beach) would have expanded membership of the California Collaborative for Education Excellence (CCEE) to include a charter school member. You can find Governor Brown’s veto message here.
CSBA position: Oppose.
AB 2512 (Bonilla, D-Concord) would have authorized LEAs to include federal Title IX requirements as a component of school climate in the LCAPs. You can find Governor Brown’s veto message here.
CSBA position: Support.
SB 924 (Beall, D-San Jose) would have changed the statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse cases. You can find Governor Brown’s veto message here.
CSBA position: Oppose.
SB 1263 (Pavley, D-Agoura Hills) would have authorized a charter school to locate outside the jurisdiction of the chartering school district with written approval from the school district within the jurisdiction of which the charter school chooses to operate. You can find Governor Brown’s veto message here.
CSBA position: Support.