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Legislative Analyst's OfficeAnalysis of the 2002-03 Budget Bill |
We recommend that the Legislature (1) use $2.1 million of federal assessment funds to pay for growth and cost-of-living adjustments for the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program and (2) save a corresponding amount of General Fund monies for other education priorities. (Add new Item 6110-113-0890 for $2.1 million and reduce Item 6110-113-0001 by $2.1 million.)
Congress' recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) provides California with $28.9 million for developing and administering state standards-aligned assessments in language arts and mathematics in grades 3 through 8. California is one of nine states whose current assessment system appears to meet the new federal testing requirements.
The 2001-02 Budget Act provided $65.6 million General Fund (Proposition 98) for the STAR program. The Governor's budget proposes to increase funding for the STAR program by $2.1 million (also General Fund) for cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) and growth, bringing total STAR funding to $67.8 million. Federal supplanting restrictions limit the extent to which the state can use the new federal funding to offset existing General Fund spending for STAR. However, these federal funds can be used to cover proposed STAR growth and COLA. Accordingly, we recommend the Legislature (1) use $2.1 million of federal assessment funds to pay for growth and COLA for the STAR program and (2) save a corresponding amount of General Fund monies for other education priorities.
We recommend that the Legislature direct the State Department of Education to seek a federal waiver to reallocate $26.5 million of federal funds provided for grade 3 through 8 assessments to instead support federally required assistance and intervention in Title I schools (programs for disadvantaged pupils).
As mentioned above, because of federal supplanting restrictions, California effectively can use only $2.1 million of the new federal assessment funds to offset STAR program costs. This leaves $26.8 million for other grade 3 through 8 language arts and mathematics assessment costs. One of the new features of the ESEA reauthorization is flexibility to move funds among federal programs, intended to encourage states to move funds into Title I programs for disadvantaged pupils. Unfortunately, the federal assessment funding does not fall under these new flexibility provisions.
In the "Accountability and Low Performing Schools" section of this chapter, we discuss in detail the need for additional resources for assistance and interventions. Because California's assessment system satisfies the federal assessment requirements and our low-performing schools need additional assistance and intervention beyond what is funded in the 2002-03 Governor's Budget, we recommend the Legislature direct the State Department of Education (SDE) to seek a federal waiver to use $26.5 million in federal assessment funding for federally required assistance and intervention in Title I schools. We believe such a waiver would be in harmony with Congressional intent to create flexibility and focus on low-performing schools. Seeking a waiver to use $26.5 million these Title I schools would still leave $300,000 in available federal assessment funds, which we address in the next issue.
We recommend that the Legislature provide $300,000 of federal assessment funds and three positions to the State Department of Education for increased workload in administering the Standardized Testing and Reporting assessment program. (Augment Item 6110-001-0890 by $300,000.)
In a recent budget change proposal, SDE requested additional staff to meet the workload needs of the state assessment system. The budget, however, did not include funds for this request. The STAR program consists of three tests administered in multiple subjects—Stanford-9 (nationally norm referenced test), the California Standards Tests, and the Spanish Assessment of Basic Education. The department's assessment-related workload has increased in recent years for various reasons:
Since SDE is required to conduct this additional workload, and SDE has not received any additional staff to conduct the work, we recommend the Legislature add $300,000 in federal assessment funds and three personnel-years to SDE to better support the STAR program.
We recommend that the Legislature (1) use $2.1 million of federal funds from the English Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement Act to pay for additional district apportionments for the English Language Development Test; and (2) save a corresponding amount of General Fund monies for other education priorities. (Add new Item 6110-113-0890 for $2.1 million and reduce Item 6110-113-0001 by $2.1 million.)
Congress' recent reauthorization of the ESEA consolidated 13 bilingual and immigrant education programs into a state formula program. Under the formula program, California will receive $115.3 million in 2002-03. One of the accountability requirements of the new federal law is that states track the academic progress of their English Language Learners (ELL). The English Languauge Development Test (ELD) test allows Cali fornia to track the progress of ELL pupils over time to monitor their transition to English fluency.
The 2001-02 Budget Act provided $14.5 million in ongoing General Fund (Proposition 98) support and $500,000 in one-time Proposition 98 Reversion Account funds to administer the ELD test. The Governor's budget proposes to increase funding for the ELD by $2.1 million to pay for additional district apportionments, bringing total ELD funding to $17 million. Federal supplanting restrictions limit the extent to which a state can use the new federal funding to offset General Fund spending for ELD. However, these federal funds can be used to cover the additional costs of district apportionments. Accordingly, we recommend the Legislature (1) use $2.1 million of federal funds to pay for the additional costs of district apportionments for the ELD test and (2) save a corresponding amount of General Fund monies for other education priorities.