Among Scott’s 15 bills the governor signed were measures to improve teacher preparation, protect students from sexual predators and maintain California’s pledge to provide a college education for all qualified students.
The signed bills from Scott, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, who plans to retire by the end of the year in favor of leading the state’s community college system, include 10 education-related bills, one public safety accord and four others related to business, adoption laws and real estate fraud.
Scott’s Senate Bill 890 establishes a road map for students and families, beginning in middle school, to prepare for college and continuing education, while SB 1112 helps public schools maintain certain endowment levels by allowing districts to add up to two students per class and still retain partial funding for class-size-reduction measures.
Scott’s SB 1164 gives investigative auditors of the Department of Justice the ability to serve search warrants on financial institutions, Internet service providers and telecommunications companies in order to help investigate elder financial abuse, MediCal fraud and financial crimes. SB 1726 updates the state adoption law in shortening the time period during which a birth parent may revoke consent to the adoption of his or her child by allowing a waiver to be signed.
But Schwarzenegger vetoed five of Scott’s bills — the most of any local legislator — including SB 146, an education bill that would have changed the way schools count each student, for purposes of funding, from the current formula based on average daily attendance to one based on average monthly attendance.