BILL NUMBER: SB 19INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Simitian DECEMBER 1, 2008 An act relating to education data. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 19, as introduced, Simitian. Education data. Existing law states the intent of the Legislature to make complete, current, and reliable information relating to education available to the Legislature and to all public educational agencies in California at maximum efficiency and economy through statewide compatibility in the development and application of information systems and electronic data-processing techniques insofar as they relate to data required in reports to the State Department of Education. This bill would further state the intent of the Legislature to amend the Education Code to enact legislation that would create in state government the Statewide Education Data Governing Board, the purpose of which would be to facilitate the linking of education data from disparate education and noneducation sources. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. 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) Several recent attempts to analyze and improve the state of education in California, such as the "Getting Down to Facts," "Closing the Achievement Gap," and "Students First" reports, have concluded that the dearth of high-quality, comprehensive, and longitudinal education data is significantly impeding the state's capacity to assess, and therefore improve, education policy and investment decisions. (b) This information scarcity is particularly acute in areas where more and better data could help the state address its greatest education challenges, such as the achievement gap, preschool quality, and workforce and college preparation. (c) In addition to addressing these specific policy problems, better education data systems are a necessary precondition for continued learning at the institutional level and in the classroom. (d) Under California's decentralized education system, there is no entity charged with ensuring that high-quality, comprehensive, and longitudinal data exists, and no entity accountable for its absence. (e) It is therefore the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation amending the Education Code that would create in state government the Statewide Education Data Governing Board, the purpose of which is to facilitate the linking of education data from disparate education and noneducation sources, to ensure the quality of state education data, and to provide appropriate access to that data for educational purposes.