UndertheDome: CSBA legislative updates
Published: July 1, 2008
In light of the current budget crisis, many Assembly and state Senate bills have died in appropriations committees or failed to pass out of their house of origin. The following is an update of active, noteworthy bills as of mid-June:
AB 2517 Teacher credentialing (Portantino, D-Pasadena) This bill would allow the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to authorize school districts, county offices of education and community-based or nongovernmental organizations to provide teacher preparation or education programs. These programs would be required to meet standards established by the CTC.
Position: Support
Status: Passed Assembly floor 72-2; now pending in the Senate
SB 1660 Teachers: compensation (Romero, D-Los Angeles): This bill would authorize local education agencies and representatives of credentialed employees to mutually agree to pay new and existing math and science teachers a higher salary in schools ranking in deciles 1, 2 or 3 of the Academic Performance Index, in a manner outside uniform salary schedules. Specified education program funds received by the district from the state could be used to compensate those teachers under this bill.
Position: Support
Status: Passed Senate floor 28-1; now pending in the Assembly Education Committee
SB 1672 Energy: Renewable Energy, Climate Change, Career Technical Education, and Clean Technology Job Creation Bond Act of 2010 (Steinberg, D-Sacramento): This bill would authorize the Renewable Energy, Climate Change, Career Technical Education, and Clean Technology Job Creation Bond Act to be submitted to the state’s voters in 2010. If approved by the voters, the act would authorize the issuance of $2.25 billion in general obligation bonds and revolving loan funds to develop renewable energy and clean technology businesses, jobs, and educational and worker training programs.
Position: Support
Status: Passed Senate floor 27-11; now pending in the Assembly Education Committee
SB 1425 Pupil data (Steinberg, D-Sacramento): 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 Systems, and would authorize the establishment of a review team within CDE to review research requests and assure protection of privacy and individual rights.
Position: Support if amended to strengthen the references to specific state and federal laws regarding privacy, to include greater specification regarding the types of researchers that may have access to the data, and to define “individual pupil data”
Status: Passed Senate floor 23-15; now pending in the Assembly Education Committee
AB 2783 Special education: foster children: assessment and individualized education program (Plescia, R-San Diego): This bill would require a local education agency, within 30 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.
CSBA opposes this bill because it 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.
Position: Oppose
Status: Passed Assembly floor 73-0; now pending in the Senate Education Committee
Related link:
Find updates on CSBA’s positions on current legislation @ www.csba.org/LegislationAndLegal.aspx.