BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



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          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
          AB 347 (Nava)
          As Amended September 6, 2007
          2/3 vote.  Urgency
           
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          |ASSEMBLY:  |46-28|(June 5, 2007)  |SENATE: |37-2 |(September 10, |
          |           |     |                |        |     |2007)          |
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           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.








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          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  








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               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  








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            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


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