May 21 Hearing
A CTA-sponsored bill that would strengthen California's student testing program and align it with federal requirements is scheduled for its own test on May 21.
On that date, the Assembly Appropriations Committee is set to take up CTA-sponsored AB 356, by Assembly Member Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley). The bill aims to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of the state-testing program and bring its provisions in line with the requirements of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).
Among its provisions, AB 356 would:
- Retain the California High School Exit Examination (HSEE) as a primary testing element, but eliminate the requirement that students must pass it to graduate from high school. Districts could maintain the requirement at their own option.
- Judge students for graduation purposes against California's high academic content standards through a variety of locally determined measures.
- Allow elementary teachers to focus their energies on helping early grade students meet the state's stringent academic standards by eliminating mandatory testing of second graders. This plan would save $3.2 million in costs for testing second-graders on the STAR exam alone and bring the testing requirement in line with the ESEA.
- Free scarce educational resources to preserve the state's High Priority Schools Grant Program by eliminating the rewards and sanctions provisions in the Public School Accountability Act.
CTA's sponsorship of the measure reflects the bill's power to help the state prioritize its most important education expenditures.
CTA Members:
Tell members of Assembly Appropriations how important this measure is to your students and your classroom. Remind them that in this tight budget year, AB 356 (Hancock) will help local districts use their funds more effectively.
(Below is contact information for Assembly Appropriations.)
Serving on Assembly Appropriations are:
(Note: clicking on the e-mail notation should allow you to e-mail directly to each lawmaker. If the link does not work, you may e-mail each by using the address Assemblymember.name@assembly.ca.gov. For instance, Assemblymember Wyland's e-mail address is Assemblymember.wyland@assembly.ca.gov.)