Bill Text: CA AB2698 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended

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

---

Bill Title: School accountability: school climate and restorative justice: assessments.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2016-11-30 - From committee without further action. [AB2698 Detail]

Download: California-2015-AB2698-Amended.html

---

BILL NUMBER: AB 2698	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 11, 2016
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 18, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Weber

                        FEBRUARY 19, 2016

   An act to add  and repeal  Chapter 6.5 (commencing with
Section 52080)  to   of  Part 28 of
Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, relating to school
accountability.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2698, as amended, Weber. School accountability: school climate
and restorative justice:  assessments: professional
development.   assessments. 
   (1) Existing law establishes the Public Schools Accountability Act
of 1999 to, among other things, ensure that each child in California
receives a high-quality education consistent with all statewide
content and performance standards, as specified.
   This bill  would, on or before September 1, 2017,
  would  require  low-performing 
 high-need  schools, as  designated by the State
Department of Education,   defined, on or before
September 1, 2017,  to conduct   begin and,
on or before July 1, 2018, to complete  a school climate
assessment, as specified. The bill would require every assessed
school to take steps to ensure that responses to school climate
assessments remain anonymous and that no individual is identified.
The bill would require these schools to publish the results of the
assessment on their Internet Web sites, provided that personally
identifiable information or information that can reasonably lead a
reader to identify an individual is not shared. The bill would
require the outcomes resulting from a school climate assessment to be
shared through meaningful engagement and collaboration with pupils,
parents,  faculty,   teachers,  and
 staff   school personnel  to develop
corrective action recommendations that address the assessment
outcomes and would require the recommendations to be incorporated and
implemented by the school  district  no later than one year
after completion of the assessment, except as provided. By imposing
additional duties on school officials, the bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.  The bill would require the
Legislative Analyst, on or before January 1, 2022, to compile data of
changes in pupil academic achievement levels at low-performing
schools, including a breakdown by pupil ethnicity, and provide a
report to the department, the Governor, and the appropriate
legislative budget and policy committees.  
   (2) Existing law establishes various professional development and
training programs for certificated employees of local educational
agencies.  
   This bill would require the State Department of Education to
oversee the establishment of specific professional development
activities and workshops that result in professional development
support programs and a network of trainers to expand restorative
justice programs, pupil social and emotional support, trauma-informed
practices, and cultural competency in regions of the state with
identified low-performing schools, as specified. The bill would
require the department to convene an advisory committee comprised of
stakeholders and professionals who have participated in the
development and expansion of these programs to assist in the
professional development planning and implementation. The bill would
require low-performing schools designated by the department to
provide identified professional development programs on or before
September 1, 2018. By imposing additional duties on school officials,
the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would
require the Legislative Analyst, on or before January 1, 2022, to
compile data of the chronic absenteeism, suspension, expulsion, and
dropout rates of the targeted schools and provide a report to the
department, the Governor, and the appropriate legislative budget and
policy committees, as specified.  
   The bill would require the State Department of Education to
develop and post to an easily accessible page on the department's
Internet Web site a listing of available school climate assessment
instruments and organizations. The bill would require the department
to convene an advisory committee comprised of stakeholders and
professionals who have participated in the development and expansion
of alternative discipline programs, such as restorative justice and
positive behavioral interventions and supports, to make
recommendations to the department. The bill would require the
Legislative Analyst's Office, on or before January 1, 2023, to
compile data of the changes in pupil academic achievement at targeted
high-need schools, including a breakdown by pupil ethnicity, and
chronic absenteeism, suspension, expulsion, and dropout rates of the
targeted schools and provide a report to the department, the
Governor, and the appropriate legislative budget and policy
committees, as specified.  
   The bill would repeal these provisions on July 1, 2023. 

   (3) This bill would provide that its provisions shall not be
implemented unless funding is provided for its purposes in the annual
Budget Act or another enacted statute. The bill would also make
legislative findings and declarations relating to its provisions.
 
   (4) 
    (2)  The California Constitution requires the state to
reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs
mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for
making that reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


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

  SECTION 1.  (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to improve
pupil academic outcomes at  low-performing  
high-need, low-achieving  schools by improving school climates
to provide a strong foundation for academic improvement efforts.
   (b) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following
relating to school climate:
   (1) A school's climate is a social justice issue, as the state
loses generations of pupils from poor and underserved communities
with few options but to enroll in  low-performing 
 high-need, low-achieving  schools.
   (2) Over 20 years of research has confirmed that a positive school
climate is directly related to pupil academic achievement and that
school climate is the single most dominant predictor we now have of
pupil academic achievement levels.
   (3) The United States Department of Education recommends school
climate reform as an evidence-based strategy to prevent school
violence.
   (4) The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
recommends school climate reform as a scientifically sound strategy
that promotes healthy relationships, school connectedness, and pupil
retention.
   (5) The federal Institute of Education Sciences includes school
climate as a strategy for dropout prevention.
   (6) Perceptions about school climate impact teacher morale and
pupil achievement. A positive school climate benefits pupils,
teachers, school administrators, school personnel, and parents;
teachers are motivated to teach and pupils are motivated to learn.
   (7) Without school climate assessments,  educators
  teachers  and education leaders lack a
comprehensive understanding of the tools and steps needed to address
low pupil achievement levels, pupil dropout rates, pupil suspensions,
and pupil chronic absenteeism.
   (8)  School   The use of school  climate
assessments  are   is  an effective
data-driven strategy that  engage   engages
 pupils, teachers, school administrators, school personnel, and
parents working together to create safe, supportive, engaging, and
successful schools.
   (9) Positive school climates are stable over time absent any
systematic effort to change climate components.
   (10) The meaningful input and perspectives of pupils, commonly
absent in school decisionmaking, are essential components of school
climate assessments to improve pupil emotional and social well-being.

   (11) No instances of successful turnaround schools, which are
schools that transformed  low-performing, high-poverty
  from high-need, low-achieving  schools into
high-performing schools, have been found that did not address school
climate.
   (12) Factors affecting a school's climate that recognize the
social, emotional, and academic aspects of K-12 pupil learning can be
accurately measured and assessed.
   (c) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following
regarding  alternative discipline programs, such as 
restorative  justice:   justice and positive
behavioral interventions and supports: 
   (1) California K-12 schools issued more than half a million
suspensions in the 2013-14 school year, with pupils of color
disproportionately subjected to out-of-school suspensions.
   (2) African American pupils are three times more likely to be
suspended than all other pupils, and studies show that pupils of
color are disciplined more harshly than other pupils, resulting in
serious, negative educational consequences.
   (3) A recent  UCLA   University of
California, Los Angeles  study concluded that African American
pupils who are expelled from school have a 90-percent likelihood of
being placed in a state correctional institution.
   (4) Exclusionary school removals cause a number of correlated
negative educational, economic, and social problems, including school
avoidance, an increased likelihood of dropping out, and engagement
with the juvenile justice system. This civil rights crisis has come
to be known as the school-to-prison pipeline.
   (5) The American Academy of Pediatrics has found that suspension
can increase stress and may predispose pupils to antisocial behavior
and suicidal ideation.
   (6) Psychologists have found that disciplinary exclusion can
increase pupil shame, alienation, rejection, and the breaking of
healthy adult bonds, thereby exacerbating negative mental health
outcomes for young people.
   (7)  Restorative   Alternative discipline
programs, such as restorative  justice  programs
  and positive behavioral interventions and supports,
 are  a  healing  practice 
 practices  that focus on repairing harm and preventing
 their   its  recurrence.
   (8) Restorative practice, which builds upon restorative justice,
is used to build a sense of school community and restore positive
relationships through the use of restorative circles where pupils and
 educators  teachers  work together to set
academic goals, develop classroom core values, and resolve
conflicts.
   (9) A 2011-14 study prepared for the United States Department for
Education's Office for Civil Rights on restorative justice in the
Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) concluded that (A) the
discipline gap between white and African American pupils decreased
significantly for OUSD pupils who participated in restorative justice
programs, but remained unchanged for pupils who did not participate
in these programs, (B) that there was a 128-percent increase in the
reading levels of 9th grade pupils at OUSD schools with restorative
justice programs, compared to an 11-percent increase in schools
without such programs, and (C) four-year graduation rates increased
by 60 percent at OUSD restorative justice schools compared to 7
percent for nonrestorative justice schools.
  SEC. 2.  Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 52080) is added to
Part 28 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, to read:
      CHAPTER 6.5.  SCHOOL CLIMATE AND  RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
  STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT  ACT


   52080.  This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the
School Climate and  Restorative Justice  
Student Achievement  Act.
   52081.  (a) The Legislature finds that  creating  a
sustainable, positive school climate fosters youth development;
higher pupil achievement; lower dropout, suspension, and absenteeism
rates; decreased incidences of violence; and increased teacher
retention and  includes   results in  the
following  factors   outcomes  that
directly impact K-12 pupils, teachers, school administrators, school
personnel, and parents:
   (1)  Whether pupils, educators,   Pupils,
teachers,  school administrators, school personnel, and parents
are engaged and respected.
   (2)  Whether individuals   Individuals 
feel socially, emotionally, and physically safe  and whether
relations  and relationships with and among youth are
prioritized.
   (3)  Whether pupils, educators,   Pupils,
teachers,  school administrators, school personnel, and parents
work together to develop and contribute to a shared school vision.
   (4)  Whether educators   Teachers  and
school administrators, incorporating the views of pupils, model and
nurture attitudes that emphasize the benefits and satisfaction gained
from learning based on high academic expectations.
   (5)  Whether each   Each  individual
contributes to the operations and climate of the school.
   (6)  Whether disciplinary   Disciplinary
 practices are assessed and an effort is made to utilize
practices that promote positive interventions.
   (7)  Whether collaboration   Collaboration
   and cooperation replace a school climate of
confrontation and mistrust, and inclusiveness becomes the norm.
   (b) The Legislature finds that  restorative justice
  alternative discipline  programs and practices
foster all of the following:
   (1) Positive relationships among pupils,  educators,
  teachers,  school administrators, school
personnel, and parents.
   (2) A school community based on trust, respect, and inclusion.
   (3) A reduction in pupil disciplinary actions, expulsions,
suspensions, and chronic absenteeism and the lowering of stress and
antisocial behavior.
   (4) Improved mental health and pupil academic outcomes.
   52082.  For purposes of this chapter, the following terms have the
following meanings:
   (a) (1)  "Low-performing school" means a low-performing
school, as designated by the department, which shall incorporate
chronic absenteeism rates, suspension rates, expulsion rates, and
dropout rates in making its designations.   "High-need
schools," as also defined by the federal Every Student Succeeds Act
(20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.), means a public elementary or secondary
school that is located in an area in which the percentage of pupils
from   families with incomes below the poverty line is 30
percent or more. 
   (2) A  low-performing  high-need  school
could be a school operated by a school district, a school operated
by a county office of education, or a charter school.
   (b) "School climate" means the quality, culture, and character of
school life, based on the patterns of pupils',  teachers', 
school personnel's, and parents' school life perceptions and
experiences, and reflects a school's norms, goals, values,
expectations for behavior, interpersonal relationships, teaching and
learning practices, safety, and organizational structures. School
climate is a learning environment created through the interaction of
personal relationships, physical setting, and psychological
conditions.
   (c) "School climate assessment" means an evaluation of a school's
 climate   climate, as defined pursuant to
subdivision (b),  to assess existing school  climate and
 culture  and  to  inform school 
 provide information to influence pupil  academic 
outcome  improvements, and that incorporates the use of pupil,
teacher, school administrator, school personnel, and parent
individual and group surveys, interviews, school  data,
  data analysis,  and direct observations.
   (d)  "Restorative justice"   "Alternative
  discipline programs, such as restorative justice and
positive behavioral interventions and supports,"  means a set of
ethical principles and practices grounded in the values of showing
respect, taking responsibility, and strengthening pupil relationships
that prevent, respond to, and repair harmful pupil behaviors,
enabling school personnel to intervene more effectively by increasing
pupil support without compromising accountability.
   52083.  (a) On or before September 1, 2017, 
low-performing   high-need  schools shall
conduct   begin and, on or before July 1, 2018, complete
 a school climate assessment, consistent with the provisions of
this chapter.
   (b) (1) Every assessed school shall take steps to ensure that
responses to school climate assessments remain anonymous and that no
individual is identified. These schools shall publish the results of
the assessment on their Internet Web sites, provided that personally
identifiable information or information that can reasonably lead a
reader to identify an individual shall not be shared.
   (2) Outcomes resulting from a school climate assessment shall be
shared through meaningful engagement and collaboration with pupils,
 parents, faculty,   teachers, school personnel,
 and  staff   parents  to develop
corrective action recommendations  through school district local
control and   accountability plan committees  that
address the assessment outcomes.
   (A) The recommendations shall be incorporated and implemented by
the school  district  no later than one year after
completion of the assessment.
   (B) If the recommendations are not  implemented, 
 implemented within one year of the completion of the
assessment,  the  governing board of the  school
 shall provide a report to the department  
district shall, within 60 days, hold a public meeting 
explaining its reasons for not executing corrective actions. 

   (c) On or before January 1, 2022, the Legislative Analyst's Office
shall compile data of changes in pupil academic achievement levels
at low-performing schools, including a breakdown by pupil ethnicity,
and provide a report to the department, the Governor, and the
appropriate legislative budget and policy committees. 
   52084.  (a)  (1)    The
department shall  oversee the establishment of specific
professional development activities and workshops that result in
professional development support programs and a network of trainers
to expand restorative justice programs, pupil social and emotional
support, trauma-informed practices, and cultural competency in
regions of the state with identified low-performing schools.
  develop and post to an easily accessible page on the
department's Internet Web site a listing of available school climate
assessment instruments and organizations.  
   (2) 
    (b)  The department shall convene an advisory committee
comprised of stakeholders and professionals who have participated in
the development and expansion of  these programs 
 alternative discipline programs, such as restorative justice and
positive behavioral interventions   and supports,  to
 assist in the professional development planning and
implementation.   make recommendations to the department
that take into account the following:  
   (3) Low-performing schools designated by the department shall
provide identified professional development programs on or before
September 1, 2018.  
   (b) In the development of these programs, the department shall
take into account the following:  
   (1) Linking research-based strategies with local control and
accountability plans and local control funding formula
apportionments, specifically with respect to school climate and
meaningful pupil engagement.  
   (2) Stipends for release time for school personnel attending
identified professional development programs.  
   (1) Improving pupil social and emotional support and expanding
trauma-informed practices and cultural competency in regions of the
state with identified high-need schools.  
   (3) 
    (2)  Collecting best practices of existing districtwide,
countywide,  or   and  charterwide 
alternative discipline  programs and ensuring these best
practices are widely disseminated. 
   (4) 
    (3)  Developing a network of  educators
  teachers  who have effectively implemented these
best practices and can provide training to other schools and school
districts, county offices of education, and charter schools. 

   (5) 
    (4)  Developing evaluation tools to measure the
effectiveness of research-based  alternative discipline 
strategies.
   (c) On or before January 1,  2022,   2023,
 the Legislative Analyst's Office shall compile data of the
changes in pupil academic achievement at targeted high-need schools,
including a breakdown by pupil ethnicity, and  chronic
absenteeism, suspension, expulsion, and dropout rates of the targeted
schools and provide a report to the department, the Governor, and
the appropriate legislative budget and policy committees. The report
shall also compile a list of best practices used to accomplish
improvements in academic outcomes and a reduction in disciplinary
actions.
   52085.  This chapter shall  not be implemented unless
funding is provided for its purposes in the annual Budget Act or
another enacted statute.   remain in effect only until
July 1, 2023, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before July 1, 2023, deletes or extends
that date. 
  SEC. 3.  If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.