Instructional materials bill comes up short among 2005 legislative winners and losers
Published: October 28, 2005
The governor has vetoed a CSBA-sponsored bill that would have given local school boards more options to select instructional materials that best suit the needs of their students. Senate Bill 657 by Martha Escutia, D-Whittier, represented CSBA’s second attempt to enact this much-needed reform.
Under the present system, school boards can only use materials on a list approved by the state Board of Education. The Escutia bill would have given boards the authority to select materials not on the list provided they were based on state standards and that the state board found them educationally sound.
“The governor says he supports local control, yet he continues to deny school boards the latitude to make some crucial decisions,” said Rick Pratt, CSBA Assistant Executive Director for Governmental Relations. In all, the Legislature sent 961 bills to the governor’s desk during the 2005 legislative session. Of those, he signed 729 and vetoed 232. Pratt said this was certainly not a banner year for education reform. Public school advocates spent much of their efforts this year unsuccessfully urging the governor to keep his promise to fully fund Proposition 98.
The governor did, however, sign a number of important CSBA-supported measures, including bills promoting better student nutrition, career technical education and resolution of adult education audit claims. Exemptions for special education students from the high school exit exam, increased funding for supplemental materials for English language learners, and school transportation did not fare as well.
CSBA’s sponsored bills got a mixed reception: Of the four bills that survived the legislative process, two were signed and two were vetoed. The governor signed Escutia’s SB 12, which establishes nutritional standards for foods sold at school and Assembly Bill 682 by Betty Karnette, D-Long Beach, which changes the funding allocation for the Professional Development Block Grant established by last year’s AB 825 (by Marco Firebaugh, D-E. Los Angeles). In addition to the Escutia instructional materials bill, the governor also vetoed SB 970 by Don Perata, D-Alameda, which would have helped declining enrollment districts that are impacted by charter schools.
Related link: