AB 2

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) Existing law requires the county superintendent of schools of each county, among other specified duties, to make annual visits to each school in his or her county to observe its operation and to learn of its problems. Existing law requires that the priority objective of those visits be the determination of whether each school has sufficient textbooks, as defined. Existing law states for the 2008–09 and 2009–10 fiscal years the intent of the Legislature that each pupil be provided with the same state-adopted standards-aligned textbook or instructional material as is provided to every other pupil enrolled in the same grade and same course offered by the local educational agency. This bill would extend the definition of "sufficient textbooks" to the 2012–13 fiscal year and would modify the statement of legislative intent. The bill would clarify that a local educational agency is not required to purchase all of the instructional materials included in an adoption if the materials that are purchased are made available to all the pupils for whom they are intended in all of the schools within the local educational agency. (2) Existing law requires a revenue limit to be calculated for each county superintendent of schools, adjusted for various factors, and reduced, as specified. Existing law reduces the revenue limit for each county superintendent of schools for the 2008–09 fiscal year by a deficit factor of 7.839% and for the 2009–10 fiscal year by a deficit factor of 13.360%. This bill would increase the deficit factor for each county superintendent of schools for the 2009–10 fiscal year to 18.621%. (3) Existing law makes child development appropriations, with the exception of funds appropriated for the After School Learning and Safe Neighborhoods Partnerships Program and for CalWORKs child care, available for expenditure for 3 years, except that funds remaining unencumbered at the end of the first fiscal year are required to revert to the General Fund. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish criteria and procedures for the reallocation of unearned contract funds in the 2nd and 3rd years of availability, in accordance with specified priorities. This bill would repeal these provisions. (4) Existing law appropriates funds to the County of Los Angeles to address the retention of qualified child care employees in state-subsidized child care centers and to licensed child care programs that serve a majority of children who receive subsidized child care services, including family day care homes. To qualify for use in licensed child care programs that serve a majority of children who receive subsidized child care services, the funds are required to meet specified requirements, including that they be appropriated in specified schedules of an item in specified Budget Acts. This bill would change this requirement by instead requiring that the funds be appropriated in the annual Budget Act. (5) Existing law requires the cost of state-funded child care services to be governed by regional market rates. Beginning March 1, 2009, the regional market rate ceilings are required to be established at the 85th percentile of the 2007 regional market rate survey for that region, and for the 2008–09 and 2009–10 fiscal years, the 85th percentile ceilings of the 2007 regional market rate survey for that region are required to remain in effect. This bill would instead set the regional market rate ceiling at the 85th percentile of the 2005 regional market rate survey for that region and delete the ceilings set for the 2008–09 and 2009–10 fiscal years. The bill would restrict to specified circumstances reimbursements to child care providers that are based upon a daily rate. (6) Existing law requires the Department of Finance, by March 1 of each year, to provide to the State Department of Education the state median income amount for a 4-person household in California based on the best available data. The State Department of Education is required to adjust its fee schedule for child care providers to reflect this updated state median income. This bill would prohibit changes from being implemented midyear. (7) Existing law establishes the School Age Community Child Care Services Program for the provision of extended day care services. This bill would make this program inoperative on September 1, 2009, or on the effective date of this bill, whichever is later, and would repeal it as of January 1, 2010. (8) The Leroy F. Greene School Facilities Act of 1998 requires the State Allocation Board to require school districts applying for funds under that act to deposit, into a specified account for ongoing and major maintenance of school buildings, an amount equal to or greater than 3% of the total general fund expenditures of the applicant school district. Existing law, for the 2008–09 to the 2012–13 fiscal years, inclusive, reduces that deposit requirement to an amount equal to or greater than 1% of the total general fund expenditures of the applicant school district. This bill would exempt a school district that maintains its facilities in good repair, as defined, from this 1% requirement. (9) Existing law requires that the proceeds from the sale of surplus school real property be used for capital outlay or for prescribed costs of maintenance of school district property. This bill, until January 1, 2012, would authorize a school district to deposit the proceeds from the sale of surplus school property, together with any personal property located on that property, purchased entirely with local funds, into the general fund of the school district and to use those proceeds for any one-time general fund purpose. The bill would make the district ineligible for hardship funding from the State School Deferred Maintenance Fund for 5 years after the date the proceeds are deposited into the district's general fund. The bill would require the State Allocation Board to reduce an apportionment of hardship assistance awarded to that district, as specified. Before exercising the authority granted by the bill, the governing board of the school district would be required to submit documents containing specified certifications to the State Allocation Board and, at a regularly scheduled meeting of the governing board, present a plan for expending the proceeds of the sale. (10) Existing law, for the 2003–04 and 2004–05 fiscal years, sets the minimum state requirement for a local educational agency's reserve for economic uncertainties at12 of the percentage for a reserve adopted by the State Board of Education as of May 1, 2003, and restores that requirement, for the 2005–06 fiscal year, to the percentage adopted by the state board as of May 1, 2003. This bill would set that requirement for the 2009–10 fiscal year at13 of the percentage for a reserve adopted by the state board as of May 1, 2009, and would require a school district to make progress in the 2010–11 fiscal year to returning to compliance with the specified standards and criteria adopted by the state board. The bill would restore the requirement, for the 2011–12 fiscal year, to the percentage adopted by the state board as of May 1, 2009. (11) Existing law requires the county superintendent of schools to determine a revenue limit for each school district in the county and requires the amount of the revenue limit to be adjusted for various factors. Existing law reduces the revenue limit for each school district for the 2008–09 fiscal year by a deficit factor of 7.844%, and for the 2009–10 fiscal year by a deficit factor of 13.094%. This bill would instead reduce the revenue limit for each school district for the 2009–10 fiscal year by a deficit factor of 18.355%, and would set forth a mechanism by which basic aid school districts would assume categorical funding reductions proportionate to the revenue limit reductions implemented for nonbasic aid school districts. (12) Existing law establishes various categorical education programs and appropriates the funding for those programs in the annual Budget Act. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, for the 2008–09 to 2012–13 fiscal years, inclusive, to apportion from the amount provided in the annual Budget Act for specified categorical education programs an amount based on the same relative proportion that the local educational agency received in the 2008–09 fiscal year for those programs and authorizes school districts, for those fiscal years, to use these funds, with specified exceptions, for any educational purpose, to the extent permitted by federal law. Existing law, for those fiscal years, deems local educational agencies that use these categorical education program funds for any educational purpose to be in compliance with the program and funding requirements of those categorical education programs, including requirements related to average daily attendance accounting. This bill would base the amount to be received from certain categorical education program budget items to be based on the same relative proportion that the recipient received in the 2007–08 fiscal year for those programs, instead of the 2008–09 fiscal year. The bill would require, for the 2008–09 to 2012–13 fiscal years, inclusive, and for certain calculations that use average daily attendance, that the average daily attendance for specified programs be the same amount used in those calculations for the 2007–08 fiscal year. The bill would declare that changes to these calculations in the California State Lottery Act, an initiative measure, further the purposes of that act, and therefore may be made by an act enacted by a 2/3 vote of both houses of the Legislature. The bill would authorize a local educational agency to apply, on behalf of a school that begins operation in the 2008–09 to 2012–13 fiscal years, inclusive, for state categorical education program funding included in the annual Budget Act. Existing law requires a school district that receives funding on behalf of a charter school to continue to distribute those funds to those charter schools based on the amounts distributed in the 2008–09 fiscal year and to adjust those amounts, as specified. This bill would clarify that a school district that receives funding on behalf of a charter school is prohibited from redirecting that funding for another purpose, except as specified, and would require the school district to continue to distribute those funds to those charter schools based on the relative proportion that the school district distributed in the 2007–08 fiscal year. The bill would require the Superintendent to apportion from the amount appropriated for the charter school categorical block grant in accordance with the per pupil methodology prescribed by a specified provision of law. Existing law, as a condition of receiving the categorical education program funds that may be used for any educational purpose, requires school districts and county offices of education, at a regularly scheduled, open, public hearing, to take testimony from the public, discuss, and approve or disapprove the proposed use of funding. Existing law, as a condition of transferring those funds to their general funds, requires school districts and county offices of education, at a regularly scheduled, open, public hearing, to take testimony from the public, discuss, and approve or disapprove each transfer and the proposed use of funding, and to report to the State Department of Education, in the existing annual Standardized Accounting System reporting process, the amounts transferred by using the appropriate program code for which the funds were expended. The department is required to collect and provide this information to the appropriate legislative policy and budget committees and the Department of Finance by February 28, 2010. This bill would delete the meeting requirement that is a condition of transferring categorical education program funds to the general fund of a school district or county office of education. The bill would add to the requirement that is a condition of the receipt of categorical education program funds that may be used for any educational purpose, that the governing board make explicit the purposes for which the funds would be used. The bill would require a local educational agency to report expenditures by using the appropriate function codes of the Standardized Accounting System reporting process to indicate the activities for which these funds were expended. The bill would require the department to collect and provide this information to the appropriate legislative policy and budget committees and the Department of Finance by April 15, 2010, and annually thereafter, until 2014. (13) Existing law sets forth the minimum requirements for the professional clear multiple or single subject teacher credential. Among those requirements is the completion of a program of beginning teacher induction. This requirement is contingent on the availability of funds in the annual Budget Act to provide statewide access to eligible beginning teachers. This bill would remove the contingency of this requirement on the availability of funds. (14) Existing law prescribes the minimum length of time for the instructional school year and the minimum number of instructional minutes per schoolday. Existing law imposes fiscal penalties on school districts and county offices of education that fail to maintain those minimum instructional times per school year or schoolday. This bill, commencing with the 2009–10 school year and continuing through the 2012–13 school year, would authorize a school district, county office of education, and charter school to reduce the equivalent of up to 5 days of instruction or the equivalent number of instructional minutes without incurring the fiscal penalties. (15) Existing law establishes the Charter School Facility Grant Program to provide assistance with facilities rent and lease costs for pupils in charter schools by reimbursing charter schools for those expenses. This bill, commencing with the 2009–10 fiscal year, would instead require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to annually allocate the facilities grants to eligible charter schools no later than October 1 of each fiscal year but would require that funding appropriated for this program in the 2009–10 fiscal year be used first to reimburse eligible charter schools for rent or lease costs for the 2008–09 fiscal year. (16) Existing law requires the categorical block grant for charter schools for the 2007–08 school year to be $500 per unit of charter school average daily attendance, as determined at the 2nd principal apportionment for the 2007–08 fiscal year, to be adjusted for cost of living each fiscal year thereafter, and to be supplemented, as specified, for economic impact aid-eligible pupils. Existing law states the intent of the Legislature to fully fund the categorical block grant for charter schools and sets forth a mechanism to appropriate additional funding if needed for unanticipated increases in average daily attendance and counts of economic impact aid-eligible pupils. This bill would strictly limit funding deficiencies to unanticipated increases in average daily attendance and counts of economic impact aid-eligible pupils and would prohibit additional funding from being provided to restore certain reductions made to categorical programs pursuant the annual Budget Act. (17) The federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires a local educational agency to identify an elementary or secondary school that fails, for 2 consecutive years, to make adequate yearly progress, as defined by the state, for program improvement. The act requires a school that continues to fail to make adequate yearly progress after being identified for program improvement to take additional corrective action or meet specified restructuring requirements. The Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999 requires the State Department of Education to identify local educational agencies that are in danger of being identified for program improvement pursuant to the No Child Left Behind Act, and to notify those local educational agencies, in writing, of that status. The department also is required to provide those agencies with research-based criteria to conduct a voluntary self-assessment. This bill would prohibit the State Department of Education and the State Board of Education from prohibiting a school, school district, county office of education, or charter school that has been identified for program improvement or corrective action under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 from utilizing certain categorical program flexibility provisions of law and from identifying the fund with which sanctions or corrective actions are to be implemented. (18) The Quality Education Investment Act of 2006 (QEIA) requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to identify and invite school districts and chartering authorities that have eligible schools to participate in the QEIA program and receive funds for agreeing to comply with specified program requirements. The program requires that for each of the 2008–09 to 2013–14 fiscal years, inclusive, $450,000,000 per fiscal year, be allocated, with $48,000,000 for allocation by the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to community colleges and $402,000,000 for allocation by the Superintendent. This bill would extend that allocation to the 2014–15 fiscal year and, commencing with the 2010–11 fiscal year, payments of that allocation would be required to be made on or after October 8 of each fiscal year. For each fiscal year, commencing with the 2010–11 fiscal year to the 2014–15 fiscal year, inclusive, the $48,000,000 allocated to the community colleges would be required to be used for the purpose of providing funding to the community colleges to improve and expand career technical education in public secondary education and lower division public higher education, including the hiring of additional faculty to expand the number of career technical education programs and course offerings. The bill would appropriate, in lieu of the statutorily required appropriation, $402,000,000 from the General Fund to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for the 2009–10 fiscal year to be allocated to schoolsites participating in the QEIA program and would reduce the amount of its revenue limit funding, or general purpose entitlement, as applicable, for the 2009–10 fiscal year by the amount allocated pursuant to this appropriation. A school district that participated in the program in the 2009–10 fiscal year would be authorized to apply for specified grants provided to the state pursuant to specified federal statutes. (19) Existing law establishes the Class Size Reduction Program under which a participating school district or county office of education reduces class size to 20 pupils per class in kindergarten and grades 1 to 3, inclusive. Existing law provides that a local educational agency is eligible to receive program funding only if it was participating in the program as of December 10, 2008 and only for the grade level or levels for which it had applied to receive funding as of that date. This bill would provide instead that, for the 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11 and 2011–12 fiscal years, that a local educational agency is eligible to receive program funding for the same number of classes for which it had applied to receive program funding as of January 1, 2009, and only for the number of classes reported on the 2008–09 operations application. (20) Existing law requires the State Board of Education to adopt basic instructional materials for use in kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, and requires the state board to adopt procedures for the submission of basic instructional materials, including the review of the curriculum frameworks. This bill would prohibit the state board from adopting instructional materials and procedures for their submission until the 2013–14 fiscal year. (21) Existing law establishes the Instructional Materials Funding Realignment Program that requires the State Department of Education to apportion funds to school districts and requires the governing board of a school district to use that funding to ensure that each pupil is provided with a standards-aligned textbook or basic instructional materials by the beginning of the first school term that commences no later than 24-months after those materials were adopted by the State Board of Education, except as specified. Existing law exempts, until July 1, 2010, school districts from the 24-month requirement. This bill would extend that exemption until July 1, 2013, but state that this exemption does not does not relieve school districts of their obligations to provide every pupil with textbooks or instructional materials as provided under specified law. (22) Existing law requires each pupil completing grade 12 to successfully pass the exit examination as a condition of receiving a diploma of graduation or a condition of graduation from high school. Existing law requires that each pupil take the high school exit examination in grade 10 and allows each pupil to take the examination during each subsequent administration until each section of the examination has been passed. Existing law, commencing January 1, 2011, authorizes an eligible pupil with a disability to participate in alternative means of demonstrating the level of academic achievement in the content standards required for passage of the high school exit examination. This bill, commencing with the 2009–10 school year, would exempt an eligible pupil with a disability from the requirement to pass the high school exit examination as a condition of receiving a diploma of graduation or a condition of graduation from high school. This exemption would last until the State Board of Education makes a determination that alternative means by which eligible pupils with disabilities may demonstrate that they have achieved the same level of academic achievement in the portions of, or those content standards required for passage of the high school exit examination are not feasible or that the alternative means are implemented. Pupils with exceptional needs would be required to take the high school exit examination in grade 10 for purposes of fulfilling the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. (23) Existing law establishes community college districts under the administration of community college governing boards and authorizes these districts to provide instruction at community college campuses throughout the state. Existing law requires the governing board of each community college district to charge each student, with specified exceptions, a fee of $20 per unit per semester, effective with the spring term of the 2006–07 academic year. This bill would increase that fee to $26 per unit per semester, effective with the fall term of the 2009–10 academic year. (24) Under existing law, the board of governors is required to develop criteria and standards for the purposes of making the annual budget request for the California Community Colleges to the Governor and the Legislature, pursuant to specified minimum requirements. Among those requirements, existing law requires, except as otherwise provided, that specified categorical programs providing direct services to students be funded separately through the annual Budget Act. This bill would, for the 2009–10 to 2012–13 fiscal years, inclusive, authorize a community college district to use funds apportioned to the district for specified categorical programs for purposes of a prescribed list of programs. The bill would prescribe public hearing and reporting requirements as a condition of receiving these funds. The bill would require the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to annually report these expenditures to the Department of Finance and the Legislature, as specified. (25) Existing law, for the 2008–09 and 2009–10 fiscal years, authorizes the governing board of a school district or county office of education to use up to 100 percent of the balances, as of June 30, 2008, of restricted accounts in its general fund or cafeteria fund with certain exclusion, including, among others restricted reserves committed for capital outlay, and excluding balances in specified categorical education programs, including, among others the Targeted Instructional Improvement Grant Program, the Instructional Materials Program, and the California High School Exit Exam Intensive Intervention Program. Existing law requires a governing board that elects to use balances in restricted accounts to report to the Superintendent regarding the programs and amounts of restricted balances used and requires the Superintendent to report statewide information and information for each school district and county office of education to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee by October 31, 2009. This bill would exclude the use of the ending balance in the cafeteria fund and the balances in the English Learner Acquisition and Development Pilot Program and child development programs, but would authorize the use of balances in the Targeted Instructional Improvement Grant Program, the Instructional Materials Program, and the California High School Exit Exam Intensive Intervention Program, and restricted reserves committed for capital outlay. The bill would change the deadline of the date by which the Superintendent is required to report to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee to April 15, 2010. (26) Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to establish a district deferred maintenance fund for specified maintenance purposes. The State Allocation Board is required to apportion from the State School Deferred Maintenance Fund, to school district an amount equal to $1 for each $1 of local funds up to a specified maximum. To be eligible to receive the state matching funds a school district is required to deposit in its district deferred maintenance fund a specified amount. Existing law authorizes the State Allocation Board to reserve funds in the State School Deferred Maintenance Fund for apportionments to school districts in instances of extreme hardship, as defined. This bill would suspend for the 2008–09 to 2012–13 fiscal years, inclusive, the requirement that a school district deposit the required amount in its district deferred maintenance fund and also suspend the board's authority to reserve funds for apportionments to school districts in instances of extreme hardship. (27) Existing law requires the county superintendent of schools to approve, conditionally approve, or disapprove the adopted budget for each school district and requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to review and certify the budget approved by the county superintendent of schools. Existing law requires the governing board of a school district to certify twice each fiscal year whether the district is able to meet its financial obligations for the remainder of the fiscal year and the subsequent fiscal year. The certification is required to be filed with the county superintendent of schools who is required to submit a qualified or negative certification to the Controller and Superintendent. This bill, for the 2009–10 fiscal year, would prohibit a county superintendent of schools and the Superintendent of Public Instruction from assigning a qualified or negative certification to a local education agency based substantially on a projected loss of federal funds provided through the federal State Fiscal Stabilization Fund of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 in the 2011–12 fiscal year. The bill would authorize the Superintendent to convene a standards and criteria committee to modify the budget and financial review criteria to incorporate this change for the 2009–10 fiscal year. (28) The California Constitution authorizes the Governor to declare a fiscal emergency and to call the Legislature into special session for that purpose. The Governor issued a proclamation declaring a fiscal emergency, and calling a special session for this purpose, on July 1, 2009. This bill would state that it addresses the fiscal emergency declared by the Governor by proclamation issued on July 1, 2009, pursuant to the California Constitution. (29) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.