Under the Dome: Brown acts on education bills
Published: November 1, 2011
With the final stroke of his pen on Oct. 9, Gov. Jerry Brown dispensed with the last of nearly 900 bills sent to him in the waning days of this year’s legislative session, including these bills on which CSBA was lobbying.
AB 165 Student fees
Lara, D-South Gate
AB 165 would have established an administrative process for filing and remedying complaints when students or parents believe they had been unlawfully charged a fee; it would also have created a reporting mechanism to use when complaints were filed, and it would have included such fees in annual audits. The process was modeled after the Williams legal settlement.
Status: Vetoed by the governor
CSBA position: Neutral
AB 203 Parent empowerment: school intervention
Brownley, D-Santa Monica
AB 203 would have made modifications to the Parent Empowerment Act by clarifying and expanding several requirements, including the content and signatures of the petitions, the petition review process and public meeting agenda requirements.
Status: Vetoed by the governor
CSBA position: Support
AB 1034 Charter schools
Gatto, D-Burbank
When more applications for school admission were received than could be accommodated, AB 1034 would have required a preference in admissions for siblings of students already attending a charter school and children of the school’s employees. The bill would have also deleted certain requirements from a charter petition.
Status: Vetoed by the governor
CSBA position: Support
AB 1330 Graduation requirements: career and technical education
Furutani, D-Long Beach
AB 1330 will broaden study options for which students can receive credit towards graduation, adding career and technical education instruction as an alternative to the requirement that a pupil complete a course in the visual and performing arts or foreign language.
Status: Signed by the governor
CSBA position: Support
SB 293 Payment bonds: laborers
Padilla, D-Pacoima
SB 293 limits the retention on public works projects to no more than 5 percent of the contract price. CSBA opposed the measure because contract retention ensures that public projects are delivered on time according to project specifications, and there are sufficient funds to correct defective work if a contractor fails to do so.
Status: Signed by the governor
CSBA position: Oppose
SB 547 Public school performance accountability
Steinberg, D-Sacramento
SB 547 would have sunsetted the current Academic Performance Index provisions and instead established the Education Quality Index, a multiple-measures system of public school accountability. The EQI would have been developed by the state superintendent of public instruction and the Public Schools Accountability Act Advisory Committee for adoption by the State Board of Education.
Status: Vetoed by the governor
CSBA position: Support
SB 857 Public employment: unlawful strike damages
Lieu, D-Torrance
SB 857 eliminates the authority of the Public Employment Relations Board to award strike-preparation expenses as damages, or to award damages for costs, expenses or revenue losses incurred as a consequence of an unlawful strike. SB 857 will accommodate illegal activity by eliminating PERB’s authority to penalize a union for a strike deemed unlawful; it contradicts most provisions of law requiring those who commit an illegal act to pay for the damages, and it strains the ability of public schools to fulfill their obligations to students.
Status: Signed by the governor
CSBA position: Oppose
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