Education finance.

(1) Existing law establishes the English Language Acquisition Program, which is designed for pupils enrolled in grades 4 to 8, inclusive, and requires local educational agencies, as defined, participating in the program to conduct assessments, to provide an instructional program, to provide supplemental instructional support, and to coordinate available services and funding. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to allocate annually to each participating local educational agency $100 for each pupil participating in the program and a one-time $100 allocation for pupils in kindergarten or grades 1 to 12, inclusive, who are reclassified to English-fluent status. This bill would repeal the program and would require the Superintendent to increase the amount of economic impact aid received by a school district by the amount the district received from the English Language Acquisition Program for the 2009–10 fiscal year. The bill would continue in existence the English Language Development Professional Institutes and would authorize a local educational agency to use economic impact aid funds for those purposes. (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 2009–10 fiscal year by a deficit factor of 18.250%. This bill would maintain the deficit factor for each county superintendent of schools for the 2010–11 fiscal year at 18.621%. (3) The Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Education, provides that children up to 13 years of age are eligible, with certain requirements, for child care and development services. Existing law provides for child care alternative payment programs, the purpose of which is to provide for parental choice in child care. Existing law requires reimbursement for alternative payment programs to include the cost of child care, plus administrative and support services. Under existing law, the total cost for administrative and support services is not permitted to exceed 19% of the total contract amount. This bill would instead provide that the administrative and support services costs would not be permitted to exceed 17.5% of the total contract amount. (4) Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to administer child care and development programs that offer a full range of services for eligible children from infancy to 13 years of age. Existing law, until January 1, 2011, authorizes the City and County of San Francisco, as a pilot project, to develop and implement an individualized county child care subsidy plan, and provides for the repeal of those provisions on January 1, 2013. This bill would authorize the City and County of San Francisco to implement an individualized county child care subsidy plan until July 1, 2013, and would require the city and county to phase out the plan and implement the state's requirements for child care subsidies as of July 1, 2015. The bill would require the city and county, on or before June 30, 2013, to submit a final report to the Legislature and other specified entities that summarizes the impact of the plan. The bill would make those provisions inoperative on July 1, 2015, and would repeal those provisions on January 1, 2016. (5) Existing law requires the cost of state-funded child care services to be governed by regional market rates and requires a regional market rate ceiling to be established at the 85th percentile of the 2005 regional market rate survey for that region. This bill would set the reimbursement rate for license-exempt providers at 80% of the regional market rate ceiling. (6) Existing law encourages all child development contractors to develop and maintain a reserve within the child development fund, derived from earned but unexpended funds. Existing law allows child development contractors to retain all earned funds, as defined. Existing law requires that earned but unexpended funds remain in the contractor's reserve account within the child development fund and be expended only by direct service child development programs that are funded under contract with the State Department of Education. This bill, commencing July 1, 2011, would allow a child development contractor operating a direct service child development program to retain a reserve fund balance equal to 5% of the sum of the maximum reimbursable amounts of all contracts to which the contractor is a party, or $2,000, whichever is greater. (7) Existing law requires the Controller to draw warrants on the State Treasury in each month of each year in specified amounts for purposes of funding school districts, county superintendents of schools, and community college districts. Existing law defers the drawing of those warrants, as specified. This bill would defer additional specified amounts of the warrants for school districts and county superintendents of schools for April and May to July. The bill would allow up to $100,000 of the amount of the warrants for the principal apportionments for June that are deferred until July to be drawn instead in June for a charter school or school district that will be unable to meet its financial obligation for June if specified criteria are met. The bill would authorize additional payments for school districts and county superintendents of schools of up to $300,000,000 if sufficient cash is available. The bill also would authorize the Controller to issue warrants for a community college district that include the full amount of deferred apportionments if the president of the district certifies to the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges and the Director of Finance that the deferral of warrants will result in the district being unable to meet its expenditure obligations, as specified. (8) Existing law limits the amount of specified revenue limit apportionments that counts towards the minimum funding obligation for the following fiscal year to $1,101,655,000. This bill would increase that amount by $500,000,000. (9) Existing law requires the governing board of a school district maintaining any of grades 2 to 9, inclusive, to offer programs of direct, systematic, and intensive supplemental instruction to pupils enrolled in grades 2 to 9, inclusive, who have been recommended for retention or who have been retained at their grade for the next year. This bill would make this requirement inoperative from the date this bill is enacted until July 1, 2013, during which time school districts would be relieved from performing any activities under this provision that are deemed to be reimbursable state mandates. (10) Existing law requires, for the 1990–91 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, that moneys to be applied by the state for the support of school districts, community college districts, and direct elementary and secondary level instructional services provided by the state be distributed in accordance with certain calculations governing the proration of those moneys among the 3 segments of public education. Existing law makes that provision inapplicable to the fiscal years between 1992–93 and 2009–10, inclusive. This bill would make that provision inapplicable to the 2010–11 fiscal year. (11) Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution imposes on the state annual minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts. The bill would appropriate $210,100,000 from the General Fund to the Controller for allocation to school districts and community college districts for the purpose of offsetting the 2009–10 outstanding balance of the state minimum funding obligation. The bill would require this appropriation to be distributed to school districts in a manner that reflects the proportion of regular average daily attendance in school districts and to community college districts based on enrolled full-time equivalent students. The bill would apply the appropriation to the outstanding balance of the minimum funding obligation to school districts and community college districts for the 2009–10 fiscal year, and deem the appropriations to be made and allocated in that fiscal year in which the deficiencies resulting in the outstanding balance were incurred. The bill would require funding received by school districts and community college districts pursuant to this appropriation to first be deemed to be paid in satisfaction of any outstanding claims for reimbursement of state-mandated local costs for any fiscal year and would authorize funds received in excess of amounts offsetting mandate claims to be used for any other one-time purpose, as determined by the governing board of the school district or community college district. (12) 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 2009–10 fiscal year by a deficit factor of 18.355%. This bill would maintain the deficit factor for each school district for the 2010–11 fiscal year at 17.963%. (13) Existing law specifies the courses a pupil is required to complete in order to receive a diploma of graduation from high school. This bill would require that costs related to the salaries and benefits of teachers incurred by a school district or county office of education to provide those courses be offset by specified state funding and would require the proportion of the school district's current expense of education that is required to be expended for payment of the salaries of classroom teachers to first be allocated to fund the teacher salary costs incurred to provide the courses required by the state. (14) Existing law authorizes a local educational agency, including a direct-funded charter school, to apply for any state categorical program funding included in the annual Budget Act on behalf of a school that begins operation in the 2008–09 to the 2012–13 fiscal years, inclusive. This bill would require the Superintendent to allocate a supplemental categorical block grant for the 2010–11 fiscal year to a charter school that begins operation in the 2008–09, 2009–10, or 2010–11 fiscal year and would authorize the charter school to use the block grant funds to be used for any educational purpose. (15) Existing law makes a teacher who attains certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and meets other specified criteria eligible for an award. Existing law requires a school district that receives an application for an award to certify the applicant's employment and that the applicant meets the criteria and to submit the application to the State Department of Education for its review and approval. This bill would eliminate the school district's obligations under this program. (16) Existing law establishes the Charter School Facility Grant Program to provide assistance with facilities rent and lease costs for pupils in charter schools and requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to allocate annually the facilities grants to eligible charter schools no later than October 1 of each fiscal year. Existing law requires 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. This bill would require the grants to be allocated, instead, for the current school year rent and lease costs, but would require the department to first use the funding appropriated for the program to reimburse eligible charter schools for unreimbursed rent or lease costs for the prior school year. (17) Existing law requires a school district to notify a pupil's parent or guardian, by first-class mail or other reasonable means, when the pupil is initially classified as a truant. This bill would require the notification instead to be made using the most cost-effective method possible and would specify that this may include electronic mail or a telephone call. (18) Existing law deems a pupil to be an habitual truant if the pupil is reported as a truant 3 or more times per school year unless an appropriate district officer or employee has made a conscientious effort to hold at least one conference with a parent or guardian of the pupil and the pupil himself, after the filing of specified required reports. This bill would define "conscientious effort" for purposes of this provision. (19) Existing law appropriates specified amounts for various fiscal years for allocation by the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges for purposes of improving and expanding career technical education in public secondary education and lower division public higher education. This bill, in addition, would appropriate specified amounts for the 2009–10 and 2010–11 fiscal years for allocation by the Superintendent and the chancellor for those purposes. (20) Existing law provides for the administration and operation of public schools in juvenile halls, juvenile homes, day centers, juvenile ranches, juvenile camps, regional youth educational facilities, or Orange County youth correctional centers, as specified. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to compute an inflation-adjusted revenue limit for juvenile court school programs operated by a county superintendent of schools. This bill would make a county juvenile court school eligible to receive economic impact aid funding commencing with the 2010–11 fiscal year. (21) Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop, and the State Board of Education to adopt, regulations governing the use of behavioral interventions with individuals with exceptional needs receiving special education and related services. This bill would specify that this provision and its implementing regulations are declaratory of federal law and are intended to provide the clarity, definition, and specificity necessary for local educational agencies to comply with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The bill would provide that this provision and the implementing state regulations shall not exceed the requirements of federal law, create new or separate state requirements, or result in a level of state service beyond that needed to comply with federal law and regulations. The bill would require local educational agencies to agree to adhere to implementing federal and state regulations as a condition of choosing to receive funding from the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The bill would authorize the Superintendent to monitor the compliance of local educational agencies and take appropriate action, including fiscal repercussions, if a local educational agency fails to comply or fails to implement the decision of a due process hearing officer based on noncompliance, as specified. (22) Existing law, known as the Donahoe Higher Education Act, provides for a public postsecondary education system in this state. The University of California, which is administered by the Regents of the University of California, and the California State University, which is administered by the Trustees of the California State University, are 2 of the segments of the public postsecondary education system in this state. The provisions of the Donahoe Higher Education Act apply to the University of California only to the extent that the Regents of the University of California act by resolution to make them applicable. Existing law authorizes the Trustees of the California State University to require that fees, among other charges, be paid by students at that institution. Existing provisions of the California Constitution require the Regents of the University of California to have all powers necessary or convenient for the effective administration of the university. This bill would prohibit the Trustees of the California State University from allocating, and would request the Regents of the University of California to not allocate, any fees that are proposed by a student body organization, as defined, and imposed pursuant to a vote of the students registered at a campus, branch, or location of the respective institution, for purposes of supporting intercollegiate athletics programs for any purpose or in any amount not approved by the vote of the students. The bill would require the trustees, and request the regents, at the end of an academic year, to refund to each feepaying student a pro rata share of any portion of the fee that is not allocated for the authorized purposes during that academic year. (23) Existing law, for the 2009–10 to 2012–13 fiscal years, inclusive, authorizes a community college district to use funds apportioned to the district for specified categorical programs, including career technical education, for purposes of a prescribed list of programs. This bill would exclude funds apportioned for career technical education from the funds a community college district is authorized to use for other purposes. (24) Existing law requires the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges to adopt regulations for the payment of apportionments to community college districts. Existing law, notwithstanding the board of governors' authority in this respect, makes various adjustments to the payment of these apportionments. This bill, commencing January 1, 2011, would revise the manner in which these apportionments are made according to specified criteria. The bill would appropriate $832,000,000 from the General Fund to the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges for apportionments to community college districts, to be expended in accordance with a specified schedule. The bill would appropriate $25,000,000 from the General Fund to the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges for the economic development program and would defer $25,000,000 of that amount to July 2011. The bill would appropriate $35,000,000 from the General Fund to the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges for specified categorical programs and would defer that amount to July 2011. (25) Existing law expresses the intent of the Legislature that no new General Fund augmentation be made available for contributions to the University of California Retirement Plan. This bill would repeal this provision. (26) Under the California Constitution, whenever the Legislature or a state agency mandates a new program or higher level of service on any local government, the state is required to provide a subvention of funds to reimburse the local government, with specified exceptions. Existing law provides that no local agency or school district is required to implement or give effect to any statute or Executive order, or portion thereof, that imposes a mandate during any fiscal year and for the period immediately following that fiscal year for which the Budget Act has not been enacted for the subsequent fiscal year if specified conditions are met, including that the statute or Executive order, or portion thereof, has been specifically identified by the Legislature in the Budget Act for the fiscal year as being one for which reimbursement is not provided for that fiscal year. Existing law provides that only certain specified mandates are subject to that provision. This bill would specify additional mandates relating to school districts and community college districts to those that are subject to the provision. The bill additionally would request the Department of Finance to file a request with the Commission on State Mandates, on or before December 31, 2010, for the purposes of seeking the adoption of a new test claim to supersede the collective bargaining mandate. The bill would require the Controller to take specified actions regarding the school accountability report card mandate. The bill would require the Legislative Analyst's Office to convene a working group, as specified, to consider the future of school district and community college district mandates and would require the working group to develop recommendations by March 15, 2011, including whether to preserve, modify, or eliminate particular mandates. (27) Existing law appropriates $570,000,000 for class size reduction in kindergarten and grades 1 to 3, inclusive, to be expended consistent with the specified requirements. This bill would reduce that appropriation to $230,044,000 and would identify funds that the State Department of Education would be required to use if the funds appropriated for this program are insufficient. The bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to certify to the Controller the amounts needed for the 2010–11 fiscal year to fund the class size reduction program and set forth a schedule for the transfer of that funding. The bill would require the Controller to transfer that funding from the General Fund to the State School Fund, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would require the Superintendent, before making each certification, to notify the Department of Finance, the Legislative Analyst, and the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature regarding the amounts the Superintendent intends to certify and would require the notification to include the data used in determining the amounts to be certified. (28) Existing law appropriates $903,845,000 from the Federal Trust Fund, pursuant to a specified schedule, to the State Department of Education, the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, the University of California, and the California State University for the 2010–11 fiscal year. This bill would increase that appropriation to $906,845,000. (29) This bill would revert to the General Fund specified amounts from specified office reference items in the Controller's office that would have been applied toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution for the 2009–10 fiscal year and was unallocated, unexpended, or not liquidated as of June 30, 2010, and appropriate $339,956,000 from the General Fund to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for allocation for the 2010–11 fiscal year for special education to satisfy obligations incurred during the 2009–10 fiscal year. This appropriation would be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution for the 2010–11 fiscal year. The bill would reduce 3 prior reversions to the General Fund from specified office reference items in the Controller's office that would have been applied toward the minimum funding requirements and were unallocated, unexpended, or not liquidated as of June 30, 2009. (30) This bill would appropriate $905,700,000 from the General Fund to the State Department of Education for 10 specified programs according to a specified schedule, and would require the department to encumber these funds by July 31, 2011. The bill would provide that, for purposes of satisfying the minimum annual funding obligation for school districts required by the California Constitution, the appropriated funds are General Fund revenues appropriated for school districts and community college districts for the 2011–12 fiscal year. (31) This bill would set the cost-of-living adjustment for specified items in the Budget Act of 2010 at 0% for the 2010–11 fiscal year notwithstanding the cost-of-living adjustment specified in existing statutes. (32) This bill would require funds appropriated pursuant to specified items in the Budget Act of 2009 to be encumbered by July 31, 2011. (33) The funds appropriated by this bill would be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution. (34) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.