BILL ANALYSIS AB 347 Page 1 CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 347 (Nava) As Amended September 6, 2007 2/3 vote. Urgency ----------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |46-28|(June 5, 2007) |SENATE: |37-2 |(September 10, | | | | | | |2007) | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Original Committee Reference: ED . SUMMARY : Creates an urgency statute that requires school districts to provide specific intensive instruction and services for up to two additional years to pupils who have not met the high school exit examination requirement for graduation and have failed one of both parts of that examination by the end of 12th grade; provides such intensive instruction and services in order to allow those students to attain the proficiency necessary to pass the exit examination. Specifically, this bill : 1)Places upon school districts additional administrative requirements related to noticing and complaints, and conditions of apportionment related to the quality and nature of the intensive instruction and services. 2)Requires county superintendents of schools to provide oversight of the program, and authorizes the use of a budget appropriation to cover costs associated with those activities. The Senate amendments : 1)Require each county superintendent of schools to annually verify that pupils who have not passed the high school exit examination by the end of grade 12 are informed that they are entitled to receive intensive instruction and services for up to two consecutive academic years after completion of grade 12 or until the pupil has passed both parts of the exit examination, whichever comes first, and that pupils who have elected to receive intensive instruction and services are being served. 2)Define an "eligible pupil" to be a pupil who has not met the exit examination requirement for high school graduation and who has failed one or both parts of that examination. AB 347 Page 2 3)Include the provision of instruction and services by a public or nonpublic entity, as determined by the local educational agency, in a list of examples of allowable services. 4)Add the appropriate county superintendent of schools as a recipient of a school district's annual report on this program made to the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI). 5)Expand the requirements of the Middle and High School Supplemental Counseling (MHSSC) program to include a review of a pupil's career goals and the availability of academic and Career Technical Education opportunities, and to provide pupils and their parents information on eligibility for admission to a four-year institution of postsecondary education. 6)Provide that a school district participating in the MHSSC program shall require each school within its jurisdiction that enrolls pupils in tenth through twelfth grades to develop a list of coursework and experience necessary in order to assist pupils that have not satisfied or who are not on track to satisfy the curricular requirements for admission to the University of California (UC) and the California State University (CSU). 7)State that school districts participating in the MHSSC program shall require each school within its jurisdiction that enrolls pupils in seventh grade to develop a list of coursework and experience necessary to assist pupils in seventh grade to begin to satisfy the curricular requirements for admission to the UC and the CSU and require this list to be provided to the pupil and his or her parent. 8)Clarify that when counselors, as required in the MHSSC, meet with eligible students to explain the availability of intensive instruction and services, that those services are required of the school district and available options to the pupil. 9)Include language to resolve chaptering out conflicts with SB 405 (Steinberg) such that Senate amendments in this bill related to the MHSSC only become operative if: a) SB 405 and this bill are both enacted and become AB 347 Page 3 effective on or before January 1, 2008, and this bill is enacted first. b) Each bill amends Section 52378 of the Education Code, the MHSSC provision amended by this bill. c) This bill is enacted after SB 405, in which case this bills provisions as related to the MHSSC, without Senate amendments, become operative only until the operative date of SB 405, at which time the MHSSC provisions of SB 405 become operative. 10) Allow up to $1.5 million of existing funds appropriated in Budget Item 6110-266-0001 to be used to provide funding to county offices of education for the required oversight activities, require the county superintendents association to recommend a methodology for allocation of these funds to the SPI by October 1, 2007, and allow the SPI to modify the methodology, with approval by the Department of Finance and 30-day notification to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature. 11) Add an urgency clause, allowing this bill to take effect immediately upon enactment. EXISTING LAW provides for a California student to continue to pursue a high school diploma or equivalent without having passed the exit examination by the end of their regular senior year. Allows students not passing both parts of the exit examination to receive remedial instruction, enroll in additional or alternative programs, obtain a diploma from a community college, or obtain a diploma equivalent. AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was substantially similar to the bill passed by the Senate, with the exception of the Senate inclusion of county office of education oversight of the program. FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee: 1)Annual significant General Fund (GF) Proposition 98 (98) cost pressure, likely between $12.9 million and $24.8 million, to allow pupils who have met the exit examination graduation requirement within two years of completing 12th grade to AB 347 Page 4 receive intensive supplemental services, as specified. As of February 2007, the California Department of Education (CDE) 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 exit examination graduation requirement. 2)GF administrative costs, of approximately $181,500, to the CDE to provide training and hire staff to meet the compliance requirements of this bill. 3)The 2007-08 proposed budget provides $72.4 million GF 98 for the exit examination supplemental intervention services program, including a cost-of-living adjustment. COMMENTS : The Valenzuela v. O'Connell lawsuit, filed in February 2006, challenges the passage of the California High School Exit Examination (CHSEE) as a graduation requirement on constitutional grounds, alleging students who failed the exam, but are otherwise eligible to graduate, were subject to an unequal education system - one that didn't adequately teach them the material on the test. The lawsuit did not stop implementation of the CHSEE as a graduation requirement for the high school graduating class of 2006, however, the core issues of the suit remain. In its decision upholding the graduation requirement for the class of 2006 the State Court of Appeals 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). According to the CDE, this bill intends to facilitate a resolution of the litigation by ensuring that students failing to meet the exit examination graduation requirement by the end of the 12th grade will have additional intensive instruction, services, and resources targeted to them; this includes counseling resources and services provided through the MHSSC. Analysis Prepared by : Gerald Shelton / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN: 0003290 AB 347 Page 5