BILL NUMBER: AB 2089INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Coto FEBRUARY 18, 2010 An act relating to public education. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2089, as introduced, Coto. Education Governance Commission. Existing law establishes various state and local governmental agencies to govern the operation of the public elementary and secondary school system, and prescribes the powers and duties of those agencies. This bill would establish the Education Governance Commission, composed of 12 members to be appointed as specified, and require the commission to convene on February 1, 2011, and meet until October 1, 2011, in order to create a plan for the governance of the state's public elementary and secondary school system. The bill would require the commission to complete and present its plan to the Legislature in time for legislative action during the 2nd year of the 2011-12 Regular Session of the Legislature. 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) California's public elementary and secondary education governance structure has frequently been described as fragmented, and has evolved without clear roles and responsibilities. From the state level to the local level, there are numerous offices and entities involved in education governance. The lines of accountability are often unclear. (b) In 2002, the Legislature established the Joint Committee to Develop a Master Plan for Education that includes working groups and resulted in more than 40 recommendations for education reform. (c) In November 2007 the Governor's Committee on Educational Excellence, composed of statewide education, business, and community leaders, issued its recommendations to reform education governance in this state. (d) "Getting Down to Facts," an independent research project requested by the Governor, the President pro Tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the Assembly, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and conducted by the Institute for Research on Education Policy and Practice at Stanford University, found a fragmented state education governance system and recommended realigning the system to better define roles and responsibilities. (e) As part of the ongoing effort to reform the governance, budgetary, and finance systems of this state, this act seeks a path to statutory change in the state's public elementary and secondary education governance structure. SEC. 2. (a) The Education Governance Commission is hereby established. The commission shall be composed of 12 members to be appointed as follows: (1) Six members appointed by the Governor. (2) Three members appointed by a concurrent resolution adopted by the Legislature. (3) Three members appointed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. (b) (1) The commission shall convene on February 1, 2011, and meet until October 1, 2011, in order to create a plan for the governance of the state's public elementary and secondary school system. The commission shall complete its plan, and present the plan to the Legislature in time for legislative action during the second year of the 2011-12 Regular Session of the Legislature. (2) The plan shall replace the study on educational governance completed by the Institute for Research on Education Policy and Practice in November 2006 as the basis for policy decisions regarding education governance in this state. (3) The plan shall include a comprehensive organizational chart of the proposed governance structure and clear definitions of the roles, responsibilities, and scope of authority of each office or entity. The plan also may include the elimination of offices and roles, the consolidation of offices and roles, and intervention strategies as necessary.