Bill Text: CA AB791 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Oakland Unified School District: governance.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2009-07-06 - In committee: Set, second hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author. [AB791 Detail]
Download: California-2009-AB791-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 791 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 6, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 14, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Swanson
FEBRUARY 26, 2009
An act to add Section 41329.60 to the Education Code, relating to
the Oakland Unified School District.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 791, as amended, Swanson. The Oakland
Unified School District: governance.
(1) Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction
to assume all the rights, duties, and powers of the governing board
of the Oakland Unified School District and to appoint an
administrator to act on behalf of the Superintendent in exercising
the authority of the Superintendent over the school district. The
authority of the Superintendent and the administrator over the school
district is required to continue until certain enumerated conditions
are met, including the completion of an improvement plan for the
district. Existing law requires the County Office Fiscal Crisis and
Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) to prepare the improvement plan
for the school district, as provided, by July 1, 2003, and requires
the FCMAT to report on the implementation of the
plan, as specified.
This bill would require the Superintendent to return the authority
for each operational area for which the most recent annual
progress report prepared and submitted by FCMAT recommends the
authority be returned to the governing board by
January 4, 2010, according to the recommendation of the most recent
FCMAT progress report July 1 of each year. The bill
would provide that, if FCMAT recommends in its most recent progress
report that authority over any operational area or areas be within
the authority of the state administrator, the Superintendent would be
authorized, in his or her sole discretion, to require that authority
for the operational area or areas be returned to, or retained by,
the state administrator .
(2) Existing law requires the governing board of the Oakland
Unified School District to serve without compensation as an advisory
body during the period that the Superintendent is exercising
authority over the district.
This bill would entitle the members of the governing board to
receive full compensation for services, once authority for one or
more operational areas is returned to the governing board, that they
would have received prior to the transfer of authority to operate the
district to the Superintendent.
(3) This bill would declare that due to the unique circumstances
regarding governance of the school district, a general statute cannot
be made applicable.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Providing a quality education that meets the unique needs of
Oakland public school pupils is a fundamental goal that should not be
jeopardized. On December 5, 2008, the County Office Fiscal Crisis
and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) recommended, in its sixth
progress report on the assessment and recovery plan of the Oakland
Unified School District, that the operational areas of pupil
achievement and financial management be returned to the district.
(b) The Oakland Unified School District has been in state
receivership since 2003. During that time new members, constituting a
majority of the board, were elected to the governing board of the
district.
(c) State receivership is intended to be a process for recovery,
and FCMAT's comprehensive review has demonstrated tangible progress
by the Oakland Unified School District.
(d) The Oakland Unified School District has made notable academic
improvements over the last few years, demonstrated by test score
improvements, an increased number of fully credentialed teachers in
Oakland classrooms, and increased parental and community involvement.
In 2006, the Oakland Unified School District made the largest
improvement in Academic Performance Index (API) test scores among the
33 largest unified school districts in California.
(e) The governing board and the community of the Oakland Unified
School District have the will to continue the key educational reforms
that have benefited Oakland public school pupils in the last three
years and to support difficult decisions in order to immediately
eliminate all further overspending by the district.
(f) The governing board of the Oakland Unified School District has
voluntarily undergone training in the responsibilities and proper
conduct of a school district governing board. The training began in
January 2007 and was completed in June 2007.
(g) In its Sixth Progress Report on the Assessment and Recovery
Plan of the Oakland Unified School District, FCMAT stated as follows:
"In collaboration with the California Department of Education,
FCMAT established the following criteria to measure the district's
progress. When the average score of the subset of standards in an
operational area reaches a level of six and it is considered to be
substantial and sustainable, and no individual standard in the subset
is below a four, FCMAT will recommend to the Superintendent of
Public Instruction (SPI) that this particular condition of SB 39 has
been met and that this operational area could be returned to the
Governing Board."
SEC. 2. It is the intent of the Legislature that the state
administrator appointed pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 4 of
Chapter 14 of the Statutes of 2003 and the governing board of the
Oakland Unified School District begin the process of a structured and
orderly return of authority over the operational areas of pupil
achievement and fiscal control financial
management from the Superintendent of Public Instruction back
to the governing board of the Oakland Unified School District,
pursuant to annual County Office Fiscal Crisis and Management
Assistance Team progress reports and recommendations on any
operational areas that should be returned to the control of the
governing board.
SEC. 3. Section 41329.60 is added to the Education Code, to read:
41329.60. (a) For purposes of this section, "operational areas"
means the operational areas of community relations and governance,
pupil achievement, personnel management, facilities management, and
fiscal control financial management .
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of Chapter 14 of the Statutes of
2003, the Superintendent shall return authority for each operational
area for which the most recent annual progress report prepared and
submitted by FCMAT the County Office Fiscal
Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) recommends the
authority be returned to the governing board by January 4,
2010. on July 1 of each year.
(c) In preparing any progress report of the Oakland Unified School
District for the purposes of evaluating the district's progress
toward repayment of the emergency loan granted pursuant to Chapter 14
of the Statutes of 2003, FCMAT shall use the same standards, scoring
methodology, and evaluative threshold that it used in preparing its
Sixth Progress Report on the Assessment and Recovery Plan of the
Oakland Unified School District.
(d) Notwithstanding any provision of Chapter 14 of the Statutes of
2003, if FCMAT recommends in its most recent progress report that
authority over any one or more operational areas be within the
authority of the state administrator, the Superintendent may, in his
or her sole discretion, require that authority over the operational
area or areas be returned to, or retained by, the state
administrator. The return of any authority to the state administrator
shall occur by July 1 of the year following the year in which the
report is submitted.
(c)
(e) Notwithstanding any provision of Chapter 14 of the
Statutes of 2003, the members of the governing board shall be
entitled to receive the full compensation for services, once
authority for one or more operational areas is returned to the
governing board pursuant to this section, that they would have
received prior to the Superintendent originally assuming authority
for all of the operational areas.
SEC. 4. The Legislature finds and declares that due to the unique
circumstances regarding governance of the Oakland Unified School
District, a general statute cannot be made applicable within the
meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution.
