PROGRAMS
Schools as Centers of Neighborhood Vitality
Legislative Summary
Joint-use Facilities and Collaborative Planning
As of March 15, 2003
AB 1550 (Goldberg/Alpert), Sponsor: Joint Committee to Develop
a Master Plan for Education. Requires: A) an inventory of educational
facilities, B) development of a plan for higher education facilities,
and C) abolishes “Concept 6” schools. Concept 6 schools
are on a 3-track year-round schedule. These 3 track schools only
have 163 school days, versus the normal 180 days. Studies (Oakes,
UCLA) have shown that students on multi-track year-round schedules
do not perform as well, all other variables being equal. Multi-track
year-round schools tend to be more common in poor and minority
neighborhoods.
AB 225 (Frommer). Sponsors: MALDEF, (CASH supports points B
and C)
This school facilities bill is made-up of three elements: A)
Existing commercial buildings, not built to Field Act code, but
built recently and considered safe for students, could serve
as classroom space. B) Removal of the statute that denies schools
districts from applying for modernization grant funding more
than once per lifetime. This bill would enable the many school
districts with facilities that are more that 25 years old to
apply for modernization grant funding. C) Schools that have physical
site improvements along with education program enhancements could
apply for funding for both types of improvements. This would
increase the amount of money flowing to schools with physical
site needs such as improved sewers and sidewalks.
AB 545 (Montanez). "The Educational Empowerment Zone Bill." Sponsor:
MALDEF. Currently, cities, counties and schools compete for limited
sites when planning public facilities. This bill gives priority
funding to joint-use projects that address over-crowded schools
and another critical use. The funding for these projects is the
$50 million set-aside from AB 16.
AB 1382 (Firebaugh). This bill aims to set up one-stop-shop
to streamline the approval process for critically over-crowded
schools.
AB 1244 (Chu). Sponsor: MALDEF. Spot bill to be used if there
is a need to extend the deadline for accessing the set-aside
funding for critically over-crowded schools as part of the school
bond. The rules for applying for the funds rest with the State
Allocation Board, which has not issued the application rules
as of early March 2003. The deadline for applying for funds is
May 1, 2003. Changing the deadline from May 1, 2003 requires
2/3 vote from the legislature, which is unlikely. Thus, this
bill is unlikely to go forward. The set-aside funds not accessed
by the critically over-crowded schools would go back into the
larger fund.
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