| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 24, 2007 |
CONTACT: Sarah Phelps
(650) 349-1900 |
|
Sacramento – Assembly Bill 1061, authored by Assemblymember Gene Mullin (D-South San Francisco), and sponsored by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, was unanimously approved by the Assembly Appropriations Committee yesterday.
“This bill will take significant steps toward improving the School Accountability Report Card, or SARC, that is released annually for each public school in the state,” Mullin said. “The goal is to make the SARC more understandable and readable, while at the same time improving the quality of information available about each school. I am pleased to be working with the Governor on this bill.”
Proposition 98 passed in 1988 made provisions for the SARC, which was intended to inform parents on the status and progress of their children's schools. Until September 30, 2000, schools were allowed to create their own SARCs; this caused problems of clarity, and schools complained that extent of the reporting was burdensome. This bill proposes to delete thirteen of the more than thirty data elements currently reported on the SARC.
In addition, the bill clarifies a district's responsibilities and deadlines for either posting the SARC on the internet and/or making hard copies available to the public. The bill also requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to make important changes to the SARC template, including offering internet links to other locations in order to provide more detailed information, and to report back to the Legislature on other alternatives for improving the SARC.
Assembly Bill 1061 will now go to the full Assembly for a vote.