BILL NUMBER: SB 33 CHAPTERED 04/17/02 CHAPTER 25 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE APRIL 17, 2002 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR APRIL 17, 2002 PASSED THE SENATE APRIL 4, 2002 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY MARCH 21, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY FEBRUARY 4, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 28, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 20, 2001 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 12, 2001 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 5, 2001 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 4, 2001 AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 3, 2001 AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 12, 2001 AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 8, 2001 INTRODUCED BY Senator Soto (Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Alquist, Steinberg, and Rod Pacheco) DECEMBER 4, 2000 An act to amend Sections 51121 and 51122 of, and to add Section 51124 to, the Education Code, relating to parental involvement, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 33, Soto. School-parent compacts: Nell Soto Parent/Teacher Involvement Program. Existing law establishes the Nell Soto Parent/Teacher Involvement Program, pursuant to which the Superintendent of Public Instruction allocates one-time grants to schools in accordance with prescribed criteria, for the purpose of strengthening communication between schools and parents. Existing law requires a teacher to be compensated for his or her participation. The bill would delete the limitation that the grants be one-time grants and would authorize the California School for the Blind and the California School for the Deaf to participate in the program. The bill would provide for the allocation of funding pursuant to the Nell Soto Parent/Teacher Involvement Program to the California School for the Deaf, the California School for the Blind, and schools ranked in the bottom 5 deciles on the Academic Performance Index, with priority given to the California School for the Deaf, the California School for the Blind, and schools in the bottom 2 deciles. The bill would require that teaching paraprofessionals also be compensated for their participation. The bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to evaluate the Nell Soto Parent/Teacher Involvement Program and would authorize the superintendent to use up to $75,000 from funds appropriated for the program for administration of the program. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 51121 of the Education Code is amended to read: 51121. (a) The Nell Soto Parent/Teacher Involvement Program is hereby established for the purpose of providing grant awards to schools in which a majority of teachers and parents agree to strengthen the communication between schools and parents as a means of improving pupil academic achievement. (b) Any school district or charter school that maintains kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, the California School for the Deaf, or the California School for the Blind may operate a parent/teacher involvement program at any schoolsite that meets each of the requirements set forth in subdivision (c). (c) The program shall include all of the following elements: (1) At least 50 percent of the teachers employed at the schoolsite voluntarily agree to participate in either periodic visits to the homes of their pupils or in community meetings that are held at times and locations that are convenient to parents. (2) At least 50 percent of the parents or guardians of pupils enrolled at the schoolsite have voluntarily signed a parent/teacher/pupil compact in which parents agree to participate in periodic home visits or community meetings. The compact shall also encompass the elements of the parent involvement policy adopted by the State Board of Education on September 9, 1994. (3) A teacher or teaching paraprofessional who participates in the program shall receive training in strategies for communicating effectively with parents and in conducting periodic home visits or community meetings. These strategies may include providing parents with guidance in how to reinforce educational objectives with their children at home. (4) Teachers and teaching paraprofessionals shall be compensated for their participation in home visits or community meetings at an hourly rate comparable to their regular base salary. (5) A certification that participating teachers or participating teachers paired with teaching paraprofessionals will conduct home visits to a substantial percentage of the enrolled pupils whose parents or guardians have voluntarily signed a parent/teacher/pupil compact at least once annually or that, in the case of high schools or middle schools that participate in the program, will hold at least monthly community-based meetings at various sites located throughout the attendance area of the high school or middle school. (d) For purposes of this article, "teaching paraprofessional" has the same meaning as in Section 44392. (e) For purposes of this section, "community meetings" are periodic public meetings held by participating schools for the purpose of strengthening communication between the schools and parents for the improvement of pupil academic achievement. SEC. 2. Section 51122 of the Education Code is amended to read: 51122. (a) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall allocate funds to school districts and charter schools that have certified to the superintendent that they satisfy the conditions of subdivision (c) of Section 51121. A qualifying school with a pupil enrollment of fewer than 500 pupils shall receive a grant of up to fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000). A qualifying school with pupil enrollment of 500 to 799 pupils, inclusive, shall receive a grant of twenty thousand dollars ($20,000). A qualifying school with pupil enrollment of 800 to 1,499 pupils, inclusive, shall receive a grant of thirty thousand dollars ($30,000). A qualifying school with pupil enrollment of 1,500 or more pupils shall receive a grant of thirty-five thousand dollars ($35,000). (b) The funds received pursuant to this article may be used to compensate teachers and teaching paraprofessionals, to provide training to teachers and teaching paraprofessionals, and to defray other costs associated with the implementation of the Nell Soto Parent/Teacher Involvement Program. A qualifying school shall be funded in the order of receipt of an approval certification until all funds available for the program have been apportioned. (c) The total amount of the grants allocated pursuant to this section shall not exceed the total amount appropriated for the purposes of this section. (d) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall allocate funding appropriated for this program to the California School for the Deaf, the California School for the Blind, and schools ranked in the bottom five deciles on the Academic Performance Index and shall give funding priority to the California School for the Deaf, the California School for the Blind, and schools ranked in the lowest two deciles. (1) For the first year of participation in the program, a school is eligible to receive a full grant award as listed in subdivision (a). (2) For the second year of participation in the program, a school is eligible to receive a grant award not greater than three-fourths of the appropriate amount listed in subdivision (a) and shall provide, from local funds, one-fourth of the appropriate amount listed in subdivision (a). (3) For the third year of participation in the program, a school is eligible to receive a grant award not greater than one-half of the appropriate amount listed in subdivision (a) and shall match state funding with the same amount of local funds. (4) A school is eligible for no more than three grant awards. A school that received a grant during the 2000-01 school year shall be considered to have completed a first year of participation in the program and is eligible to apply as a second year school. (e) Priority for home visits shall be given to low-performing pupils. (f) Schools may be eligible for funding pursuant to this article for each year from funds appropriated therefor in the annual Budget Act or in another enactment. (g) The Superintendent of Public Instruction may use up to seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000), to the extent funds are appropriated in the annual Budget Act or other enactment for purposes of the Nell Soto Parent/Teacher Involvement Program, to administer the program. SEC. 3. Section 51124 is added to the Education Code, to read: 51124. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall evaluate the program established pursuant to this article regarding the impact of the program on improving academic achievement and increasing the involvement of parents in their children's education. The sum of seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) from the appropriation made for the program established pursuant to this article for the 2001-02 fiscal year may be used by the Superintendent of Public Instruction for this evaluation. This evaluation shall be completed on or before January 1, 2003. SEC. 4. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are: In order to implement these program changes during the current school year and use the funds appropriated in the Budget Act of 2001 for the purposes of the Nell Soto Parent/Teacher Involvement Program, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.