BILL NUMBER: SB 201INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Liu FEBRUARY 7, 2013 An act to add Section 60211 to the Education Code, relating to instructional materials. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 201, as introduced, Liu. Instructional materials: academic content standards: language arts and English language development. Existing law requires the State Board of Education to adopt basic instructional materials for use in kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, for governing boards, as specified. Existing law also requires the state board to adopt and approve academic content standards for language arts and for English language development for pupils whose primary language is a language other than English. This bill would authorize the state board to adopt basic instructional materials for kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, that are aligned to those standards for language arts and English language development by no later than November 30, 2015. The bill would, among other things, require the State Department of Education, before conducting an adoption of basic instructional materials for language arts and English language development, to provide notice, as specified, to all publishers or manufacturers that each publisher or manufacturer is required to pay a fee, as specified, to offset the cost of conducting the adoption process. 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. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this act, to continue the implementation of the common core academic content standards by ensuring the adoption of instructional materials that are aligned to the common core academic content standards for language arts and by providing local educational agencies flexibility in their use of instructional materials. (b) It is further the intent of the Legislature that this adoption of instructional materials will meet the needs of English learners by requiring alignment of the materials to the English language development standards adopted pursuant to Section 60811 of the Education Code. (c) It is further the intent of the Legislature to ensure that school districts have access to as many high-quality standards-aligned instructional material options as possible, so that educators may have as many rigorous options in choosing the best instructional materials that meet the needs of all pupils, including English learners and pupils with disabilities, and that ensure that their pupils are able to master the academic content standards adopted by the State Board of Education pursuant to Section 60605.8 of the Education Code. SEC. 2. Section 60211 is added to the Education Code, to read: 60211. (a) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 60200 and Section 60200.7, the state board may adopt basic instructional materials for kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, that are aligned to the language arts content standards adopted pursuant to Section 60605.8 and the English language development standards adopted pursuant to Section 60811 by no later than November 30, 2015. (b) For purposes of conducting an adoption of basic instructional materials pursuant to subdivision (a), all of the following shall apply: (1) (A) The department shall provide notice, pursuant to subparagraph (B), to all publishers or manufacturers known to produce basic instructional materials in language arts and English language development, post an appropriate notice on its Internet Web site, and take other reasonable measures to ensure that appropriate notice is widely circulated to potentially interested publishers and manufacturers. (B) The notice provided pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall specify that each publisher or manufacturer choosing to participate in the adoption shall be assessed a fee based on the number of programs the publisher or manufacturer indicates will be submitted for review and the number of grade levels proposed to be covered by each program. (2) The department, before incurring substantial costs for the adoption, shall require that a publisher or manufacturer that wishes to participate in the adoption first declare the intent to submit one or more specific programs for adoption and specify the specific grade levels to be covered by each program. (3) After a publisher or manufacturer has declared the intent to submit one or more programs and the grade levels to be covered by each program, the department shall assess a fee that shall be payable by the publisher or manufacturer even if the publisher or manufacturer subsequently chooses to withdraw a program or reduce the number of grade levels covered. (4) The fee assessed pursuant to paragraph (3) shall be in an amount that does not exceed the reasonable costs to the department in conducting the adoption process. The department shall take reasonable steps to limit costs of the adoption and to keep the fee modest. (5) A submission by a publisher or manufacturer shall not be reviewed for purposes of adoption until the fee assessed pursuant to paragraph (3) has been paid in full. (6) (A) Upon the request of a small publisher or small manufacturer, the state board may reduce the fee for participation in the adoption. (B) For purposes of this section, "small publisher" and "small manufacturer" mean an independently owned or operated publisher or manufacturer that is not dominant in its field of operation and that, together with its affiliates, has 100 or fewer employees, and has average annual gross receipts of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) or less over the previous three years. (7) If the department determines that there is little or no interest in participating in an adoption by publishers and manufacturers, the department shall recommend to the state board whether or not the adoption shall be conducted, and the state board may choose not to conduct the adoption. (8) Revenue derived from fees assessed pursuant to paragraph (3) shall be budgeted as reimbursements and subject to review through the annual budget process, and may be used to pay for costs associated with any adoption and for any costs associated with the review of instructional materials, including reimbursement of substitute costs for teacher reviewers and may be used to cover stipends for content review experts.