Legislative update: New bills introduced in 2016
Published: February 24, 2016
Friday, Feb. 19, was the final day for legislators to introduce new bills for 2016 session. CSBA is currently tracking more than 340 separate pieces of legislation, including bills held over from the 2015 session that remain active.
A key bill introduced before the deadline is Senate Bill 1434 (Glazer, D-Orinda), which would expand the powers of the State Board of Education over charter school issues and create a new state-level grievance process. CSBA has not adopted an official position on the bill as of this writing; however, CSBA does have very serious concerns about the potential impact of this bill on the local governing authority of school boards and county offices of education.
One of the more lively conversations that has been raised by the Legislature involves the voting age for school district elections. CSBA is tracking
Assembly Constitutional Amendment 7 (Gonzalez, D-San Diego), which proposes a constitutional amendment to lower the voting age to 16 only for school board and community college governing board elections. CSBA supports students being provided with opportunities to become more civically engaged and involved in the democratic process. However, there are several issues that would need to be addressed, such as the possible impact of school board elections being determined by a different electorate than any other position in government.
CSBA has not taken a position on ACA 7 but is closely monitoring this bill as well as
AB 2517, a similar bill introduced by Assembly Member Tony Thurmond (D-Richmond) that would permit a city or county to propose amending its charter to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in school district elections. This would apply to school districts that fall within the boundaries of or include a charter city or county. Approximately one-fourth of California cities are charter cities and there are 14 charter counties.
CSBA’s Legislative Committee recently approved official positions on the following bills:
AB 1660 (Cooper, D-Elk Grove) – Interscholastic athletics: California Interscholastic Federation: report – This bill establishes a regular cycle for the CIF to submit reports to the Legislature on its activities. The current requirements for CIF reporting sunset on January 1, 2017. This bill would eliminate that sunset date and sets a regular reporting requirement. CSBA Position: Support.
AB 1679 (Weber, D-San Diego) – Child care: state preschool programs: eligibility: military families – This bill would exclude the amount of the basic allowance for housing provided to active duty military families from the definition of income for purposed of determining eligibility for state preschool services. Assembly Member Weber made a similar request last year with AB 427, which did not pass, for all child care programs. This bill narrows the request only to preschool. CSBA Position: Support.
AB 1689 (Low, D-Silicon Valley) – School curriculum: coursework for high school graduation: service learning – Beginning with the high school class of 2020-21, this bill would require at least one of the social studies classes required for graduation to include a service-learning component. CSBA strongly supports service learning; however, inclusion of a graduation requirement creates a costly mandate. CSBA Position: Support if Amended.
AB 1719 (Rodriguez, D-Pomona) – Pupil instruction; cardiopulmonary resuscitation – Where existing law authorizes school districts and county offices to provide education programs in first aid and CPR, AB 1719 would require governing boards to provide CPR training and establish a graduation requirement. The enormous value of CPR training is abundantly clear; however, establishing an additional graduation requirement places a financial burden on districts. Removal of the graduation requirement will allow CSBA to support the measure. CSBA Position: Support if Amended.
AB 1783 (Dodd, D-Napa) – School facilities; nonstructural earthquake hazards; annual assessment – Would require school districts and county offices to develop an annual earthquake inspection plan to evaluate hazards and develop corrective actions for the contents in each school building. While the bill provides a clear benefit to student safety in the classroom by providing important safety upgrades, the ultimate costs of compliance could be exorbitantly high, due to the fairly wide definition of “contents,” which would create an unfunded mandate for districts and county offices. CSBA Position: Oppose Unless Amended.
SB 871 (Liu, D-La Cañada Flintridge) – California Collaborative for Educational Excellence; professional development training; pilot program – This bill would require the CCEE to establish a statewide infrastructure to provide professional development training to local education agencies for the purpose of successfully implementing the LCFF evaluation rubrics. It would also require the collaborative during 2016-17 and 2017-18 to implement a pilot program that will inform its long-term efforts to advise and assist LEAs in improving student achievement. The Legislature identified a lack of training as contributing to some of the problems LEAs experienced in the first year of LCAP implementation, and is seeking a stronger rollout with the new rubrics. CSBA Position: Support.
SB 911 (Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys) – California American Indian education centers – Existing law, which expires on January 1, 2017, allows any tribal group or incorporated American Indian association to establish an American Indian education center and provides administration of grant funding. This bill repeals the expiration dates and indefinitely extends the existing provisions. CSBA Position: Support.
SB 915 (Liu, D-La Cañada Flintridge) – Teacher recruitment: California Center on Teaching Careers – This bill seeks to address California’s rapidly emerging teacher shortage by bolstering recruitment efforts through reestablishment of the CalTeach center. The author intends to secure funding for the program through the state budget. CSBA Position: Support.
The Legislature is also seeking to address the teacher shortage through CSBA-supported SB 62 (Pavley), which expands the Assumption Program of Loans for Education (APLE) program, and SB 933 (Allen, D-Santa Monica), which would provide grants to develop teacher residency programs to improve retention. CSBA has not yet taken a position on SB 933.
SJR 20 (Hall) – Gun violence research – This Senate Joint Resolution urges Congress to address the gun violence epidemic by lifting its existing prohibition against scientific research on the causes of gun violence and its effects on public health, and to appropriate funds for the research. CSBA Position: Support.