One bill will overhaul the system used to rate California public schools. It's called the Academic Performance Index, or API. The measure by Democratic Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg will reduce the impact of test scores in the API formula and give more weight to other factors like a school's graduation rate. The governor vetoed a similar bill last year - calling it "yet another siren song of school reform" - but negotiated changes with Steinberg that led to his signature.
Brown has also signed a measure that will ban the use of dogs to hunt bears and bobcats. This bill provoked a lot of heated debate in the legislature, and had hunters in orange vests swarming the Capitol demanding that lawmakers vote no. The measure narrowly passed in the final days of session, and now, the governor has signed it into law.
