BILL NUMBER: SB 1298 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 23, 2008
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 9, 2008
INTRODUCED BY Senators Simitian and Steinberg
FEBRUARY 20, 2008
An act to add Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 10800) to Part 7
of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, relating to
education.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1298, as amended, Simitian. California Education
Information. education information.
Under existing law, the State Department of Education maintains
the California Education Information System for the purposes of
establishing and maintaining a basic, integrated, statewide
information system for education.
This bill would establish the Statewide Education Data Governing
Board, to be composed of 19 members, as specified. The board would
have the authority to establish a state education data repository and
to integrate data from other state, federal, and local agencies with
existing education data. The board would be required to adopt
regulations to implement its authority to grant or deny access to the
state education data repository. The bill would require the board to
oversee the creation of a longitudinal education information system
to link specified data, and would require the board, by January 1,
2010, as its first goal, to develop a strategic
plan and feasibility study report for connecting longitudinal records
from prekindergarten through higher education and into the
workforce. The bill would require the board to perform various duties
relating to the collection and preservation of education data and
systems.
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. Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 10800) is added to
Part 7 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, to read:
CHAPTER 8. EDUCATION DATA AND INFORMATION ACT OF 2008
10800. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the
Education Data and Information Act of 2008.
10801. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Several recent attempts to assiduously 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 our capacity to
assess, and therefore improve, education policy and investment
decisions.
(b) We suffer significant information scarcity in areas where more
and better data could help us address challenges such as the
achievement gap, the high school dropout problem, and workforce and
college preparation.
(c) In addition to addressing these targeted policy problems,
better education data systems are a necessary precondition for
continuous learning at the institutional level, which in California,
where the population is large and diverse, and education delivery
remains somewhat decentralized, is exceptionally difficult to capture
and manage.
(d) While an information system is only the foundation for a
continuous learning education system, it is an indispensable first
step, and is vitally important to the greater goal of securing truly
systemic solutions that couple smart reforms with the resources our
schools need.
(e) It is the intent of the Legislature that the design and
implementation of a high-quality, comprehensive, and longitudinal
education data system for California will do the following:
(1) Support a system of continuous learning by delivering timely,
reliable, user-friendly, and relevant information to school district
leaders, teachers, policymakers, researchers, parents, pupils, and
the public at large.
(2) Provide educators with the tools, reports, and assistance
needed to inform instruction and learning.
(3) Integrate education data from disparate sources, beginning
with our kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and higher
education systems, and add information from our prekindergarten
education systems when data is available.
(4) Anticipate and provide the technological capacity for the
integration of noneducation data from other state sources such as
health, welfare, juvenile justice, corrections, and employment, the
analysis of which may be necessary to fully understand critical
education policy and education finance questions.
(5) Remain flexible, adjusting to changing demands over time, and
respond to evolving uses and needs.
(6) Include adequate support and funding.
(f) It is further the intent of the Legislature to ensure that the
following priorities will be addressed:
(1) A formal governance and oversight structure that seamlessly
connects disparate sources of information while ensuring
accessibility, information security, and individual privacy.
(2) A system that treats personally identifiable information as
confidential, and meets all requirements pertaining to
confidentiality and restricted release without creating unnecessary
barriers.
10802. (a) There is hereby created in the state government the
Statewide Education Data Governing Board.
(b) The board shall be composed of 19 members as follows:
(1) The Governor shall appoint 10 members, one of whom shall be
the State Chief Information Officer.
(2) The Speaker of the Assembly shall appoint four members.
(3) The Senate Committee on Rules shall appoint four members.
(4) The Superintendent shall be a member of the board.
(c) Appointing authorities shall work together to ensure that the
appointments reflect a broad representation of education data
stakeholders.
(d) The Governor shall designate the State Chief Information
Officer or another member to serve as chairperson for a two-year
term. No member, other than the State Chief Information Officer, may
serve more than two, two-year terms as chairperson. All appointments
shall be for four-year terms. No member shall serve more than two,
four-year terms.
10803. As used in this chapter, the following definitions apply:
(a) "Board" means the Statewide Education Data Governing Board.
(b) "Education data" means pupil-level information from early
education through higher education; information on staff, facilities,
and expenditures; and program information for special education,
career and technical education, and adult education.
10804. (a) The board shall meet at least once every two months,
or more often, if necessary, to fulfill its duties, and shall not
convene on days that conflict with regularly scheduled meetings of
the State Board of Education.
(b) Meetings of the board are subject to the Bagley-Keene Open
Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1
of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).
10805. The board has the following powers:
(a) Authority to establish a state education data repository as
the functional entity necessary to carry out the duties and
responsibilities of the board.
(b) Authority to expend funds, hire staff, enter into contracts,
sue and be sued, and issue regulations in furtherance of its duties.
(c) Authority to grant or deny access to the state education data
repository. The board shall adopt regulations for purposes of
implementing the authority conferred upon it by this subdivision.
(d) Although local educational agencies shall have unfettered
access to their own data housed in a state education data repository,
the board has the authority to identify and authorize the names or
positions of local educational agency personnel who may have access
to education data from other local educational agencies for specified
purposes and in accordance with the board's security protocols, such
as a guidance counselor who needs a pupil's academic record in order
to facilitate a pupil transfer.
(e) Authority to request information or data sets from other
state, federal, and local agencies, and to integrate that data with
the existing education data, as specified and limited by state law.
10806. The board has the following duties and responsibilities,
with the board's primary emphasis being placed on creating a system
and processes to improve policy decisions and provide the state,
school districts, schools, and teachers with the information and
analysis they need to improve instruction and learning at their
respective points within the state education system:
(a) Oversee the creation of a high-quality, comprehensive, and
longitudinal education information system capable of linking
pupil-level data from early education through higher education that
can link pupil-level data with noneducation data sets as provided by
state law.
(1) By January 1, 2010, the board shall develop a strategic plan
and feasibility study report for connecting longitudinal records from
prekindergarten through higher education and into the workforce.
(2) To ensure access to appropriate services and to be able to
better serve individual pupils, it is the intent of the Legislature
that school districts, schools, and teachers have immediate access to
longitudinal records for the pupils they serve.
(3) It is the intent of the Legislature that the board consult
regularly with teachers to obtain direct input on the information and
format teachers need from education data systems.
(b) Ensure that California's state education data systems provide
relevant and timely information about the performance of the state's
public schools and the efficacy of the education provided to
California pupils by doing at least the following:
(1) Periodic review of data items collected and opportunity for
public input about revision of items collected.
(2) Provide electronic public access to periodic data reports on
issues of concern to the public, including, but not limited to, pupil
achievement and graduation rates.
(3) Develop recommendations for reports that may be useful to
local educational agencies.
(c) Protect the privacy and security of information about
California residents that is included in state education data systems
by doing at least the following:
(1) Establish and periodically review the administrative and
technological procedures necessary to protect education data and data
systems from breach or misuse.
(2) Develop privacy and security guidelines for local educational
agencies to follow in the collection, management, and use of
education data.
(3) Conduct privacy impact assessments when recommending the
addition or deletion of data or fields in state education data
systems, or when combining information from education and other data
systems that is appropriate for the type and sensitivity of data
requested.
(4) Require researchers who request state education data to
document the steps they will take to secure the information that is
appropriate for the type and sensitivity of data requested, both
during and after the data use life.
(5) Provide an opt-out process to allow prior staff and pupils to
request that their individual records not be released.
(d) Protect the integrity , and ensure the
quality of , state education data by doing at
least the following:
(1) Provide counsel and technical assistance to local educational
agencies on the technological standards and protocols necessary for
interfacing with state education data systems.
(2) Educate vendors to maximize their ability to provide seamless
solutions that maximize the value of the state system to local
schools and school districts.
(3) Provide a clearinghouse for best practices in the use of data
by local educational agencies.
(4) Periodically audit data in state education data systems to
ensure accuracy.
(e) Provide information on data requests and research resulting
from data accessed to the public, local educational agencies, and
state policymakers through routine and specialized reports.
(f) Ensure transparency and accountability in the board's
decisionmaking processes, and include the public in those processes.
(g) Recommend to state lawmakers common definitions and formats,
as well as the addition or removal of data sets or fields from state
education data systems.
(h) Ensure proper functioning and efficacy of state education data
systems by recommending necessary statutory, regulatory, and
operational changes to the Legislature and the Governor.
10807. The first goal of the board shall be to conduct activities
related to the creation of the strategic plan and feasibility study
report pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 10806.
Funds for other duties and responsibilities shall be contingent upon
completion of the strategic plan and feasibility study report.