SB 463: State Capitol Park: California Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Civil Rights Monument.

Session Year: 2017-2018
House: Senate

Version:

Existing law prescribes various duties for the Department of General Services in connection with the development and maintenance of the park around the State Capitol Building. Existing law also authorizes the construction of various memorial monuments in the Capitol Historic Region.

This bill would authorize the California Legislative LGBT Caucus Foundation, in consultation with the California Legislative LGBT Caucus and the department, to plan and undertake construction of a monument honoring Californias LGBT movements civil rights history within the State Capitol Park. The bill would require the California Legislative LGBT Caucus Foundation and the California Legislative LGBT Caucus, if they undertake responsibility to construct a monument pursuant to these provisions, to establish a schedule for the design, construction, and dedication of the monument. The bill would require the department to meet specified goals. The bill would also require the planning, construction, and maintenance of the monument to be funded exclusively through private donations.

Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to review existing tests that assess the English language development of pupils whose primary language is a language other than English, and requires that the tests include, but not be limited to, an assessment of the achievement of these pupils in English reading, speaking, and written skills, in accordance with specified criteria. Existing law requires each school district that has one or more pupils who are English learners, and, to the extent required by federal law, a county office of education and a charter school, to assess the English language development of each of those pupils in order to determine their level of proficiency. Existing law requires the State Department of Education, with the approval of the State Board of Education, to establish procedures for conducting that assessment and for the reclassification of a pupil from English learner to English proficient. This bill would delete the provision requiring the department to establish procedures for the reclassification of a pupil from English learner to English proficient and would instead require, commencing with the 201819 school year, a local educational agency, as defined, that has one or more pupils who are English learners in any of grades 3 to 12, inclusive, and who do not have an individualized education program that specifies the pupil requires assistance due to language proficiency issues, to determine whether to reclassify such a pupil as English proficient according to specified factors. The bill would authorize, commencing with the 201819 school year, a local educational agency to determine whether to reclassify such a pupil in kindergarten, grade 1, or grade 2 according to similar specified factors. The bill would require, on or before January 1, 2019, the department, with the approval of the state board, to develop guidance for local educational agencies to implement those provisions. The bill would require, on or before September 1, 2018, the department, in consultation with the state board, to develop and submit recommendations to the Legislature regarding the appropriate reclassification criteria for English learners with individualized education programs that specify the pupil requires assistance due to language proficiency issues. The bill would require, on or before January 1, 2019, the state board, in consultation with the department, to determine minimum scores on specified assessments for reclassification of a pupil as English proficient, and would provide that an English learner is immediately eligible for reclassification if the pupil attains those minimum scores on the assessments, unless the local educational agency determines there is academic-related evidence the pupil will not be successful in a mainstream curriculum. The bill would require the department to develop a rubric to measure academic-related evidence. The bill would require a local educational agency that has a numerically significant pupil subgroup of English learners or that includes specific goals and actions for that pupil subgroup in its local control and accountability plan to complete specified actions for purposes of reclassifying pupils as English proficient. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would also delete obsolete provisions relating to the reclassification of a pupil from English learner to English proficient.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 the statutory provisions noted above.

Discussed in Hearing