BILL ANALYSIS
AB 347
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 23, 2007
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mark Leno, Chair
AB 347 (Nava) - As Amended: May 10, 2007
Policy Committee: EducationVote:6-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill is intended to facilitate the resolution of Valenzuela
v. O'Connell et al. , regarding the California High School Exit
Exam (CAHSEE) graduation requirement. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires a school district to use the uniform complaint
process (complaint process) to identify and resolve any
deficiencies related to intensive instructional services
provided to pupils who have not passed one or both parts of
the CAHSEE (the CAHSEE graduation requirement) after the
completion of grade 12, as specified. This measure also
requires the notice posted in each tenth or twelfth grade
classroom that specified the complaint process to include
information regarding a pupil's ability (after grade 12) to
receive intensive instructional services, as specified above.
2)Expands the current CAHSEE supplemental services intervention
program to allow pupils who have met the CAHSEE graduation
requirement within two years of completing grade 12 to receive
services.
3)Requires a school district, as a condition of receiving CAHSEE
supplemental service funds, to notify all pupils who have not
met the CAHSEE graduation requirement by the end of grade 12
in writing of the availability of these services in sufficient
time to register for them and file a complaint (as specified
above).
4)Requires the intensive supplemental instruction to be
comparable to that provided to pupils in grades 9-12 by
ensuring the following: (a) instructors have comparable levels
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of qualification or experiences, (b) the amount of
instructional time is comparable, and (c) pupils have access
to comparable instructional materials. This measure also
requires English language learner (ELL) pupils who have not
meet the CAHSEE graduation requirement by the end of grade 12
to have services to improve English proficiency, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Annual significant GF/98 cost pressure, likely between $12.9
million and $24.8 million, to allow pupils who have met the
CAHSEE graduation requirement within two years of completing
grade 12 to receive intensive supplemental services, as
specified. As of February 2007, the State Department of
Education (SDE) estimates there are 12,725 students in the
Class of 2006 and 36,930 students in the Class of 2007 who
have not met the CAHSEE graduation requirement.
2)GF administrative costs, of approximately $181,500, to the SDE
to provide training and hire staff to meet the compliance
requirements of this measure.
3)The 2007-08 proposed budget provides $72.4 million (GF/98) for
the CAHSEE supplemental intervention services program,
including a cost-of-living adjustment.
SUMMARY CONTINUED :
5)Requires the State Department of Education (SDE) to use the
Categorical Program Monitoring (CPM) to monitor compliance
with the requirement that pupils who have not met the CAHSEE
graduation requirement by the end of grade 12 be provided with
intensive instruction and services. This bill also requires
the SDE to notify a school district in writing, if it fails to
comply with the requirements specified above.
6)Requires a school district, as a condition of receiving Middle
and High School Supplemental Counseling (MHSSC) program funds,
to ensure that the counselor meeting with each pupil and his
or her parent(s) to explain the availability of intensive
instruction and services options for up to two years after the
completion of grade 12 or until the pupil has met the CAHSEE
graduation requirement, whichever comes first.
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COMMENTS
1)Background . The CAHSEE is an assessment that each public
school pupil must pass, beginning in the 2005-06 school year,
as a condition of high school graduation. This assessment,
established by SB 2 (O'Connell), Chapter 1, Statutes of
1999-2000, has two parts: English language arts (ELA) and
mathematics.
Valenzuela v. O'Connell et al. , a class-action lawsuit, was
filed in February 2006 to challenge the requirement that all
graduating seniors pass the CAHSEE before they receive their
diploma. After Alameda Superior Court Judge Robert Freedman
issued an injunction in favor of Valenzuela (which halted the
exam's graduation requirement for the class of 2006),
O'Connell appealed to the California Supreme Court to stay the
injunction. On May 24, 2006, the California Supreme Court
stayed Judge Freedman's order, thereby reinstating the exam's
graduation requirement for the class of 2006, and sent the
case to the California Court of Appeals for further hearing
and action.
On August 11, 2006, the State Court of Appeals upheld the
CAHSEE as a graduation requirement. However, the court also
stated that "we accept the trial court's conclusion that
plaintiffs (Valenzuela) established a likelihood of success
on the merits as to denial of their fundamental right to
equal educational opportunity." The State Court of Appeals
also recommended that the parties "find the pathways
necessary to provide equal and adequate access to meaningful
remedial assistance to students" under the auspices of the
original trial court (Alameda Superior Court Judge Robert
Freedman).
On January 29, 2007, a stipulation order was issued that
required the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI),
Jack O'Connell, to send a letter to school districts (by
January 31, 2007) explaining the importance of their ability
to reach out and inform members of the Class of 2006 who
have not met the CAHSEE graduation requirement regarding the
availability of remediation instructional programs offered
by the district. In addition to the letter, the SPI agreed
to telephone 30 school districts (identified by Valenzuela)
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to discuss the letter, as specified. In agreement for the
SPI completing these requirements, Valenzuela agreed to not
seek further relief for members of the Class of 2006 in the
current academic year (2006-07).
According to the SPI, the sponsor of this bill, "adoption of
this legislation is intended to facilitate resolution of
Valenzuela v. O'Connell et al. (the CAHSEE litigation)."
2)CAHSEE passage rates . According to the SPI, nearly 40,000
seniors from the class of 2006 did not pass the CAHSEE by the
end of the 2005-06 school year. SPI released data in April
2007 that indicates an additional 4,800 of these students have
passed the exam. This brings the Class of 2006 passage rate
to an estimated 92.3%.
According to the SPI, "For the Class of 2007, the independent
evaluator of the CAHSEE found that as of February of this
year, more than 390,697 students have passed both the ELA and
mathematics portions of the CAHSEE, bringing the cumulative
passing rate to an estimated 91.4 percent. This passage rate
is 2.1 percentage points higher than the passage rate for the
Class of 2006 at the same point in time last year."
According to a UCLA study, soon to be published in the Santa
Clara University Law Review, the percent of tenth graders
graduating three years later dropped dramatically from an
average of 73% over the prior five years to 63% in 2006, most
likely as a result of the CAHSEE graduation requirement.
Specifically, the UCLA report states: "Using data on the Class
of 2006 provided by the State Department of Education, there
are as many as 50,000 students that did not graduate in the
Class of 2006 compared to what would have been expected had
previous years' graduation rates held steady. This means more
students did not graduate after the CAHSEE was implemented
than the total number of students who graduated in each of 30
states, leaving California with one of the lowest graduation
rates in the nation."
3)Related legislation
a) AB 480 (De Leon), pending in this committee, requires
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the SPI to invite providers of innovative programs for ELLs
to submit proposals of programs designed to provide
intensive intervention-focused supplemental instruction to
ELL pupils enrolled in grades 10-12 who have not passed the
CAHSEE.
b) AB 1379 (Brownley), pending in this committee, requires
the SPI to identify additional criteria and measures by
which high school pupils can demonstrate proficiency (other
than passing the CAHSEE) in order to receive a high school
diploma, as specified.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081