SECTIONS 58900-58901 - California Statutes

EDUCATION CODE

SECTION 58900-58901

58900. There is hereby established a Demonstration of Restructuring
in Public Education.

58901. (a) The Legislature finds that as the state's population of
schoolage children continues to change and grow more diverse in its
racial, ethnic, linguistic, and socioeconomic background, and that as
no group's characteristics, experience, or background represents the
majority experience of California's pupil population, efforts to
restructure public education in California must fundamentally enable
schools and educators to better meet the needs of, and ensure
educational equity for, a diverse pupil population.
(b) It is, therefore, the intent of the Legislature to support and
encourage restructuring in California public education in order to
improve pupil learning.
(c) The Legislature further finds and declares that pupils learn
best when school personnel and school structure are responsive to
their individual characteristics and strengths, and when the school
establishes an atmosphere of high expectations for all pupils,
regardless of sex, racial, ethnic, linguistic, or socioeconomic
background. All advice and communication to pupils and their parents
should be designed and delivered to communicate these attitudes.
(d) The Legislature finds that education restructuring involves
shifting from the current system of accountability, which is based
upon rules, to a system of accountability based upon performance.
Education restructuring therefore involves a revision in school
governance and management procedures in order to enable professional
educators to respond appropriately to pupil requirements, with the
central goal of improving learning for all California public school
pupils.
(e) It is the intent of the Legislature to initiate a
demonstration of education restructuring in participating elementary,
high school, and unified school districts, to the end that school
districts will do all of the following for schools included in the
application:
(1) Specify achievement outcomes for all pupils in core
competencies including, but not limited to, communication skills and
knowledge, problem solving techniques, abstract reasoning, teamwork,
and entry level, job-related skills and, in particular, for pupils
performing below their potential, strive to accelerate their
achievement beyond the overall rates of pupil improvement and
achievement.
(2) Work with local schools to reach an agreed upon definition of
educational quality.
(3) Set clear goals for achieving educational quality.
(4) Provide schools with the flexibility to meet those goals.
(5) Offer high quality technical assistance and support to local
schools consistent with agreed upon goals.
(6) Hold local schools accountable for pupil and staff performance
based, at a minimum, upon measurable pupil behaviors and knowledge.
(f) The Legislature further finds that increased decisionmaking
authority for educators at local schools corresponds with increased
accountability for results, particularly for pupil achievement.
(g) It is the intent of the Legislature that the demonstration of
education restructuring test the feasibility of fundamental changes
in the governance and management of public schooling over a five-year
period, by allowing school districts and schools to develop and
adapt instructional strategies that prove to be highly successful in
improving both pupil achievement and pupil, parent, and staff
satisfaction with schooling.
(h) The Legislature intends to foster, by the Demonstration of
Restructuring in Public Education, improved education for California'
s pupils by assisting educators to do all of the following:
(1) Foster self-esteem and a sense of belonging in all pupils by
assisting every pupil to meet rigorous academic standards and
relating the educational process and instructional strategies to
diverse pupil needs in today's complex society.
(2) Motivate and inspire California's pupils to become capable,
responsible citizens in a multicultural democracy.
(3) Be sensitive to the diversity of pupil needs, learning styles,
talents, and levels of development.
(i) The Legislature encourages the business community to become a
full partner in the efforts to restructure California's public
education and to offer its resources, including time, expertise and
skills, leadership and financial assistance to further this
demonstration of restructuring in public education.
(j) The Legislature finds that existing laws and regulations
governing public schools often serve as a hindrance to meaningful,
long-lasting educational reform. It is the intent of the Legislature
to create a demonstration program that does not result in rules and
regulations governing school programs or in paperwork and reports for
school and school district personnel. It is the further intent of
the Legislature that participating school districts retain maximum
flexibility and freedom from state regulation in designing and
implementing the demonstration program. The Legislature encourages
program participants to utilize their ability to seek waivers of the
Education Code and state regulations to allow them to design the most
effective demonstration of restructuring.