Bill Text: CA AB122 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Tribal gaming: compact ratification.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2010-02-09 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 3, Statutes of 2010. [AB122 Detail]

Download: California-2009-AB122-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 122	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 1, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 14, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 24, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 17, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Coto

                        JANUARY 15, 2009

   An act to add and repeal Chapter 3.2 (commencing with Section
58530) of Part 31 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code,
relating to small schools.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 122, as amended, Coto. Small schools.
   Existing law grants authority to school districts to establish and
operate public schools within their boundaries.
   This bill would authorize a school district to establish a small
school, subject to specified conditions, including, among others, a
requirement to develop a school plan, as specified, and a requirement
to adopt regulations that include the small school as part of an
academic reform strategy focused on the positive outcomes small
schools are intended to produce. The bill would require the small
school to have  a governing   an advisory 
body that consists of members elected by specified groups  ,
and would specify that the small school have autonomy over specified
matters including budget, hiring decisions, and, subject to
negotiated collective bargaining agreements, working conditions
 . The bill would require a school district that establishes
a small school to  fund   allocate funds to
 the small school  pursuant to specified provisions
  , as specified  .  The bill would
encourage school districts that establish one or more small schools
pursuant to this authority to apply for new construction grants for
unhoused pupils as a vehicle for establishing small schools on,
adjacent to, or separate from existing campuses; use modernization
funding to modernize and reconfigure existing campuses into small
schools, either as part of a comprehensive school complex or as a
cluster of small schools; and establish the small school in order to
provide the small school with the flexibility of a charter school
while allowing it to be located within the district.  The
bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2017.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.   (a)    The
Legislature finds and declares all of the following: 
   (1) 
    (a)  Research has shown that school size is an important
predictor of pupil success, second only to socioeconomic status. The
research literature clearly indicates the superiority of
high-quality small schools as learning environments. In small
schools, all of the following occur: 
   (A) 
    (1)  Dropout and truancy rates dramatically decrease and
graduation rates and postsecondary education enrollment rates
increase. 
   (B) 
    (2)  Parents and guardians are much more likely to be
involved in the school and to have greater participation in
decisionmaking. 
   (C) 
    (3)  Pupils experience a greater sense of belonging and
are more satisfied with their schools. 
   (D) 
   (4)  Fewer discipline problems occur. 
   (E) 
    (5)  Crime, violence, and gang participation decrease.

   (F) 
    (6)  Incidences of alcohol and tobacco abuse decrease.

   (G) 
    (7)  Pupil attendance increases. 
   (H) 
    (8)  Ample evidence exists that well-planned and
well-implemented small schools can result in astonishing growth in
pupil achievement and a significant narrowing of the achievement gap.

   (2) 
    (b)  A recent study of large and small schools in four
states has shown that smaller schools reduce the damaging effects of
poverty and help pupils narrow the achievement gap between them and
pupils from more affluent communities. 
   (3) 
    (c)  Reducing school size has also been shown to
significantly increase the likelihood of success of school reform
efforts. Small schools are more effective at staff development and in
implementing new curriculum and instructional strategies. 
   (4) 
    (d)  Based upon the research on the benefits of small
schools, the United States Department of Education has created the
Smaller Learning Communities Program and is currently providing a
small number of planning and implementation grants to school
districts across the country to support the development of small
schools and small learning communities. 
   (5) 
    (e)  Other states have recognized the value of small
schools and have developed state policy to encourage small schools
development. In Florida, for example, all schools built after 2003
will be small schools. 
   (6) 
    (f)  Many parent groups and school districts in the
state, including groups and districts in Los Angeles, Oakland,
Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, and San Jose, have initiated
efforts to create small schools. These efforts include the creation
of new small schools on new sites as well as the reconfiguration of
existing schools into small schools and small learning communities.

   (7) 
    (g)  The trend in California, over the last few decades,
has been to build larger and larger schools. For example, in 2000,
more than 73 percent of California high schools had more than 1,000
pupils and more than 57 percent of middle schools had more than 800
pupils. 
   (8) 
    (h)  The trend to build large schools has been driven by
California's rapidly growing population and by the assumption that
large schools are more cost effective. 
   (9) 
    (i)  Research, however, has also shown that small
schools, due to lower dropout rates and factors such as reduced
school violence and increased daily school attendance, can be more
cost effective in total per-pupil spending than large schools.

   (b) It is therefore the intent of the Legislature to reenact and
revise provisions in state law that have been repealed to create an
incentive for school districts to establish small schools with the
assistance of funding for new construction, modernization, and
reconfiguration of existing schoolsites. 
  SEC. 2.  Chapter 3.2 (commencing with Section 58530) is added to
Part 31 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, to read:
      CHAPTER 3.2.  SMALL SCHOOLS


   58530.  A school district may establish a small school pursuant to
this chapter, subject to all of the following conditions:
   (a) If the school provides instruction in kindergarten and grades
1 to 5, inclusive, the number of pupils enrolled in the school for
those grades shall not be fewer than 80 pupils and not more than 250
pupils. If the school provides instruction in kindergarten and grades
1 to 8, inclusive, the number of pupils enrolled in the school for
those grades shall not be fewer than 80 pupils and not more than 450
pupils. If the school provides instruction in grades 6 to 12,
inclusive, the number of pupils enrolled in the school for those
grades shall not be fewer than 80 pupils and not more than 400
pupils.
   (b) The school shall be staffed by school district employees who
volunteer to be assigned to the school.
   (c) The facilities that house the pupils enrolled in the school
shall be located in proximity to one another.
   (d) Enrollment in the school shall be open to all pupils who have
at least one parent or guardian who is a resident in the attendance
area of the school district.
   (e) Admission to the school shall not be determined by pupil
achievement. The school shall have a heterogenous pupil population in
terms of pupil achievement that reflects the diversity of the pupils
in that school district. The small school shall develop an
objective, transparent process to ensure the school has a
heterogeneous pupil population.
   (f) The school shall have  a governing   an
advisory  body consisting of school staff, parents, guardians,
and pupils. Members of those groups shall be elected to the 
governing   advisory  body by their peers.
   (g) A school district that establishes a small school shall
allocate funds to the small school in a manner that results in the
small school receiving the amount of funds that each pupil would
generate at the pupil's prior school or the school that the pupil
would otherwise attend.  Funds shall be subtracted for
contracted or required school district services as set forth in the
school plan or the memorandum of understanding between the governing
body of the small school and the governing board of the school
district. School staff and the governing body of the small school
shall have flexibility on how funds allocated to the school district
are spent.  
   (h) The small school shall have autonomy over budget, hiring
decisions, curriculum, instructional practices, and, subject to
negotiated collective bargaining agreements, working conditions.
  The   advisory body, in consultation with
schoolsite staff of the small school, shall work with the school
district to determine how funds allocated to the small school are
spent.  
   (i) 
    (h)  A school district that establishes one or more
small schools pursuant to this chapter shall develop, with
collaboration from representatives of community groups, bargaining
units representing the employees of the school district, and parents
of pupils of the school, a school plan for each small school that
includes all of the following:
   (1) Goals for pupil achievement.
   (2) Teaching and learning philosophy.
   (3) Curricular focus of the school.
   (4) Goals for school culture and practices.
   (5) Leadership goals.
   (6) Tentative budget.
   (7) Decisionmaking process, including the role of the governing
body of the small school.
   (8) An evaluation plan based on multiple measures. The school's
own evaluation that includes the results of assessments required by
the state shall be submitted to the department, the Assembly
Committee on Education, and the Senate Committee on Education at the
beginning of the second year of the school's operation. 
   (j) 
    (i)  A school district that establishes a small school
pursuant to this chapter shall develop a process for interested
stakeholders to submit proposals for the establishment of a small
school. The proposal shall include all of the factors set forth in
subdivision  (i)   (h)  . 
   (k) 
    (j)  A school district that establishes one or more
small schools pursuant to this chapter shall adopt regulations that
include the small school or schools as part of an academic reform
strategy focused on the positive outcomes small schools are intended
to produce. The positive outcomes resulting from the adopted academic
reform strategy shall include, but are not limited to, any of the
following:
   (1) A clearly defined mission and goals.
   (2) High standards and expectations for pupils and staff.
   (3) Personalization.
   (4) Individual respect.
   (5) Universal involvement in decisionmaking.
   (6) Integrated learning.
   (7) Multiple measures of pupil achievement.
   (8) Antiracist and relevant curriculum.
   (9) Differentiated instruction.
   (10) Project-oriented learning.
   (11) Heterogeneous pupil grouping.
   (12) Pupil-centered classrooms.
   (13) Connectedness with stakeholders.
   (14) Diversity.
   (15) A safe environment.
   (16) A high-quality learning environment.
   (17) Alignment of resources with goals.
   (18) Maximizing community resources and partnerships.
   (19) Lifelong professional development.
   (20) A plan for continuous improvement, including data analysis.

   (l) 
    (k)  A small school may be located within an existing
elementary, middle, or comprehensive high school and may be newly
constructed, located on a single site, or located with other small
schools or learning communities.  The total enrollment of a
small school site shall not exceed the recommendation of the
department.  
   58531.  A school district that establishes one or more small
schools pursuant to this chapter is encouraged to do any or all of
the following:
   (a) Apply for new construction grants for unhoused pupils as a
vehicle for establishing small schools on, adjacent to, or separate
from existing campuses.
   (b) Use modernization funding to modernize and reconfigure
existing campuses into small schools, either as part of a
comprehensive school complex or as a cluster of small schools.
   (c) Establish the small school in order to provide the small
school with the flexibility of a charter school while allowing it to
be located within the district. 
    58532.   58531.   This chapter shall
remain in effect only until January 1, 2017, and as of that date is
repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before
January 1, 2017, deletes or extends that date.