LAO Recommends Extending ‘Districts of Choice’ Law

The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) recently released its evaluation of the State’s School District of Choice (DOC) program and recommended the Legislature and Governor extend the program for five years. The DOC law was enacted in 1993 and allows a school district to declare itself a “District of Choice” and enroll students that live in […]

President Obama signs Every Student Succeeds Act

Calling a bipartisan bill signing a “Christmas miracle,” President Barack Obama wasted no time signing the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, titled the Every Student Succeeds Act, which the Senate had overwhelming approved less than 24 hours earlier.

Governor Signs the Other CAHSEE Exemption Bill

It is worth noting that the Governor signed SB 172 (Liu), suspending the administration of the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) for the next three school years. Specifically, the bill: Suspends passing the CAHSEE as a graduation requirement for the 2015-16, 2016-17, and 2017-18 school years Requires the governing body of a school district, […]

Anti-Vaxxers Fail to Force Issue on 2016 Ballot (so far…)

The Secretary of State’s office reports that an effort led by a group supporting a referendum of SB 277 (Pan/Allen) has failed to submit the minimum number of required signatures by the required date to place the measure on the November 2016 ballot. SB 277 was signed by Governor Brown in June and removes the […]

Appropriations Committees Pass Education Bills

Yesterday, the Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees acted on over 500 bills, including a large number of education measures. All of the bills acted upon contained significant costs to the state, so their passage signals strong institutional support. The bills that passed out of committee now head to the Senate and Assembly floors for consideration […]

Capitol Politics: Return of the Legislature: Final Month of Session

The Legislature returns from summer break today for a final month of work before they head home to their districts, not to reconvene until January. The Legislature is slated to wrap-up for the year on Friday, September 11. Below we have summarized some of the major issues and compiled a summary analysis of some key […]

Bill calls for a time out on the high school exit exam

The California High School Exit Exam would be suspended for several years and its role would be re-examined under a bill introduced last week by the chair of the Senate Education Committee. (external source: edsource.org)

Senate Education Committee: School Bond and CTE are Big Priorities

Last week’s Senate Education Committee was interesting for one main reason, Senators voted to advance legislation directly in conflict with the Governor’s priorities related to two major education issues: a 2016 state school facilities bond and career technical education (CTE). School Bond Bill Advances – Democrats on the committee voted to advance the chair’s 2016 […]

First Assembly Education Committee Hearing of 2015

This past Wednesday (March 25) was the first Assembly Education Committee hearing for the new chair, Assembly Member Patrick O’Donnell (D-Long Beach). The committee continues to be smaller than in the past with only seven members (five Democrats, two Republicans). In prior years there have been up to 13 members. While the hearing was substantive, […]

School Finance Legislation March 2015

Below is a complete list of school finance legislation. The bill titles are hyperlinked to the full text of the bill.  Many of these bills remain in “spot bill form,” meaning they lack substance at this point. We expect most of them to be amended significantly in the next few weeks (bills must be in […]