Public schools: Race to the Top.

(1) Existing law requires each person between the ages of 6 and 18 years not otherwise exempted to attend the public full-time day school or continuation school or classes in the school district in which his or her parent or guardian is a resident. Existing law authorizes 2 school districts to enter into an agreement that allows pupils to transfer between the 2 districts. This bill would establish the Open Enrollment Act to enable pupils residing in the state to attend public schools in school districts other than their school district of residence, as defined. The bill would authorize the parent or guardian of a pupil enrolled in a low-achieving school, as defined, to submit an application for the pupil to attend a school in a school district of enrollment, as defined. The bill would authorize a school district of enrollment, as defined, to adopt specific, written standards for acceptance and rejection of applications for enrollment, subject to specified conditions and a specified priority scheme for applicants. Within 60 days of receiving an application for enrollment, the bill would require a school district of enrollment to notify the applicant parent or guardian and the school district of residence, as defined, in writing whether the application has been accepted or rejected and, if an application is rejected, state in the notification the reasons for the rejection. The bill would require the State Board of Education to adopt emergency regulations to implement these provisions. The bill would require the Superintendent to contract for an independent evaluation of the program using federal funds appropriated for that purpose and to provide a final evaluation report to the Legislature, the Governor, and the state board on or before October 1, 2014. By requiring school districts to perform additional duties regarding the enrollment of nonresident pupils, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) The federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) , provides $4.3 billion for the State Incentive Grant Fund (Race to the Top Fund) , which is a competitive grant program designed to encourage and reward states that are implementing specified educational objectives. The ARRA requires a governor to apply on behalf of a state seeking a Race to the Top grant, and requires the application to include specified information. The United States Secretary of Education has issued regulations and guidelines regarding state eligibility under the Race to the Top program. This bill would require a local educational agency to implement one of several specified reforms for any other school which, after one full school year, is subject to corrective action pursuant to a specified provision of federal law and continues to fail to make adequate yearly progress, and have an Academic Performance Index score of less than 800, and where at least12 of the parents or legal guardians of pupils attending the school, or a combination of at least12 of the parents or legal guardians of pupils attending the school and the elementary or middle schools that normally matriculate into a middle or high school, as applicable, sign a petition requesting the local educational agency to implement one of the alternative governance arrangements, unless the local educational agency makes a finding in writing why it cannot implement the recommended arrangement and instead designates in writing which of the other alternative governance arrangements it will implement in the subsequent school year. The bill would require the local educational agency to notify the Superintendent and the state board if it decides to implement a different alternative governance option. The bill would limit this procedure to no more than 75 schools. (3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions. (4) The bill would provide that it would become operative only if SB 1 of the 5th Extraordinary Session is also enacted and becomes operative.