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AB-791 Oakland Unified School District: governance.(2009-2010)

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Amended  IN  Assembly  May 06, 2009
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 14, 2009

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2009–2010 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 791

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   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.