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Summary of the Williams Settlement
The Williams Settlement, and subsequent legislation, focused
on three major areas: Instructional Materials, Facilities and Teacher
Certification. Additional requirements are the responsibility of
school districts and county superintendents; what is provided here are the
requirements directly related to the individual schools. Priority is placed on
schools that fall into Deciles 1, 2 and 3 of the Academic Performance Index for base year 2003-04. New
data elements will also be incorporated into the School Accountability Report
Card (SARC) for these three areas. The role of the county superintendent during
the implementation of the settlement is to facilitate understanding of the
requirements of the settlement and monitor Decile 1-3 schools in the three
areas. The Santa Clara County Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Colleen Wilcox,
is committed to helping districts and schools implement settlement requirements as
easily and practicably as possible. Schools should view the information they are
required to supply as they would a "self-study," with the county simply
verifying the accuracy of what is reported.
Provisions for the implementation for 2004-05 declare the
legislative intent that local education agencies (LEAs) and state agencies begin implementation as
soon as practical and with due diligence. However, the state recognizes that
due to the late enactment of the measure full implementation of some of the
provisions for school terms beginning in 2004-05 may be impractical.
Package of Legislation Passed and Signed by the Governor
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SB 550 & AB 2727 - Establishes minimum thresholds
regarding school facilities, teacher quality, and instructional materials
and an accountability structure to enforce these thresholds.
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AB 1550 - Eliminates all Concept 6 schools by July 1, 2012.
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AB 3001 - Ensures placement of qualified teachers in low
performing schools and enhances an existing oversight mechanism to ensure
teachers are appropriately qualified to teach the subject matter to which
they have been assigned. Additionally, streamlines the process for highly
qualified teachers from out-of-state to obtain jobs in California's schools.
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SB 6 - Provides up to $800 million beginning with the
2005-06 fiscal year for Decile 1, 2, or 3 districts according to 2003 API
to address emergency facility repair projects. Additionally, provides
approximately $25 million to assess the condition of school facilities in
the bottom three deciles, commencing in 2004-05.
Required Instructional Materials
The school must ensure that all pupils, including English
learners, have sufficient textbooks and instructional materials to use in class
and to take home to complete homework assignments. This does not mean two
textbooks. Sufficient textbooks or instructional materials do not include
photocopied sheets from only a portion of a textbook or instructional material
to address shortages. Sufficient textbooks or instructional materials must meet
the district’s standards for textbooks in the four core subjects of English
language arts, mathematics, history/social studies and science. In addition,
there must be textbooks for foreign language and health, and, in grades 9-12,
science laboratory equipment.
In instances where there are insufficient textbooks, the CDE
will purchase the textbooks for the district. If the CDE must purchase
instructional materials for a district, the State Board shall issue a public
statement indicating the district superintendent and the governing board failed
to provide pupils with sufficient textbooks as required by law.
Facility Maintenance
The school must ensure that its facilities are clean, safe
and in good repair, and that all unforeseeable emergency facilities needs are
being addressed. Unforeseeable emergency needs are defined as gas leaks,
nonfunctioning heating/air conditioning or ventilation systems, power failures,
major sewer line stoppages, pest infestations, broken windows, doors or gates
that will not lock, hazardous materials abatement or unforeseen structural
damage creating hazardous or uninhabitable conditions. The settlement requires
all school districts to include data on these topics in the SARC.
Teacher Misassignments and Vacancies
The county, under current law, monitors schools for teacher
assignments and now must also give priority to monitoring Decile 1-3 schools
and investigate district and school efforts to ensure that any credentialed
teacher in an assignment requiring Crosscultural Language and Academic Development (CLAD),
Bilingual CLAD (BCLAD) or SB 1969/395 training has
completed the necessary requirements or is otherwise authorized by law to have
that assignment. The annual report to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC)
shall also be submitted to the CDE, and shall include information on any classes
in Decile 1-3 schools in which 20% or more of the students are English learners
and the assigned teacher does not possess the credentials required by law. The
CDE will prepare a report for the legislature concerning misassignments.
Other Significant Requirements of the Settlement
a. Ordering of Textbooks and Instructional Materials.
To the extent practicable, districts shall ensure that instructional materials
are ordered before the school year begins. If there is an insufficiency of
materials, the board shall take action to ensure each student has sufficient
textbooks or instructional materials within two months from the beginning of the
school year
b. Complaint System. Districts must adopt a complaint
system (or modify an existing complaint system) to include complaints regarding
instructional materials, teacher misassignments/vacancies and facilities. A
public notice shall be posted in each classroom outlining parent and guardian
complaint rights. Complaints shall be filed with the principal (or designee) of
the school, and the principal shall forward certain complaints to the district
superintendent (or designee). The school official shall make reasonable efforts
to investigate and shall remedy problems within 30 working days. The school
official shall report the resolution of the matter to the complainant within 45
working days. Complainants not satisfied may complain directly to the board at
the next regular meeting. Quarterly, districts shall provide summaries of
complaints and resolutions to the board and county superintendent, which shall
be reported at a regular board meeting. Complaints and responses shall be public
records.
A notice shall be posted in each classroom that sets forth
the textbook sufficiency standard and the facility standards (clean, safe and
maintained in good repair). A copy of the Williams notice may be found
at http://www.cde.ca.gov/eo/ce/wc/wmsucp.asp.
More information on pre-Williams Uniform Complaint Procedures may be found at http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/cp/uc/.
Complaint forms should be made available in school offices as
well as the district office.
c. Amendments to the School Accountability Report Card. The
SARC shall be amended to add the number of teacher misassignments and vacancies
to the existing assessment of teachers. The field related to "safety,
cleanliness and adequacy of school facilities" includes information regarding
emergency or urgent school facilities conditions that pose a threat to the
health or safety of students.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/sa/
The Santa Clara County Office of Education is currently developing training
materials and a Williams Implementation Guidebook. Portions of the Guidebook
will be posted on this website at a later date.
Date last updated: January 27, 2005
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For more information on the Williams Settlement please contact:
