BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1674
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 18, 2008
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gene Mullin, Chair
SB 1674 (Torlakson) - As Amended: May 27, 2008
SENATE VOTE : 26-11
SUBJECT : Before and After School Programs
SUMMARY : Authorizes weekend activities in the After School
Education and Safety (ASES) Program and establishes the
California After School Teacher Pipeline (CASTP) pilot program.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes ASES programs to operate on weekends. Specifies
that costs associated with weekend activities shall be paid
from the program's maximum grant or supplemental grant, and
provides that attendance in weekend activities shall not be
included in the program's attendance report for the purpose of
calculating grant funding.
2)Requires an ASES program participant that contracts with
another agency for some or all services to ensure that the
contract includes funds for the contracting agency's
reasonable indirect and administrative costs.
3)Provides definitions for the implementation of the CASTP that
are similar to those provided by the California School
Paraprofessional Teacher Training Program (PTTP). Defines an
"after school instructor" as an employee who meets the minimum
standards of the paraprofessional job classification as
defined by the local education agency (LEA) and who is
employed in an after school program by a school district,
city, county, or nonprofit organization that receives
specified state or federal after school program funds.
Defines "pilot" as the CASTP program, and "pilot participant"
as an after school instructor who elects to participate in the
PTTP and the CASTP.
4)Establishes the CASTP program for the purpose of recruiting
qualified after school instructors to participate on a pilot
basis in the PTTP and requires the Commission on Teacher
Credentialing (CTC) to do the following to implement the
program:
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a) Select up to four LEA applications to participate in the
pilot.
b) In addition to satisfying all of the CASTP requirements,
require LEA applicants for the pilot to demonstrate all of
the following:
i) A screening process to determine the participant's
after school instruction experience ensures readiness for
the CASTP;
ii) How the applicant will ensure professional support
for participants, such as mentor teacher oversight,
classroom experience, and experience providing academic
content instruction;
iii) How the applicant will track CASTP participants
within the PTTP; and
iv) How applicants and CASTP participants will meet all
PTTP requirements, including but not limited to,
participant eligibility and commitments, program design,
and program reporting.
c) Award a grant to each selected applicant, not to exceed
$3,500 per CASTP participant per year. The CTC may award
funding for after school instructors to participate in the
CASTP only to the extent that allocated funds cover all of
the costs associated with instructor participation in the
CASTP and any costs incurred by the CTC.
d) Include information regarding the CASTP and pilot
participants in all existing PTTP reporting requirements.
e) Submit a report before January 1, 2014 to the
Legislature regarding the CASTP, including the ability of
applicants to successfully integrate the pilot into their
existing programs and the number of participants in the
pilot who receive teaching credentials.
5)Requires, beginning with the 2009-10 fiscal year, the
California Department of Education (CDE) to transfer $150,000
from funds used to provide ASES technical assistance,
evaluation, training services, and local assistance to the CTC
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to implement the CASTP program.
6)Provides that the provisions establishing the CASTP program
sunset on July 1, 2015 and are repealed as of January 1, 2016.
7)Expands existing LEA data reporting requirement to the CTC and
the CTC's reporting requirement to the Legislature to include
the number of prospective participants who annually apply for
the PTTP and are not accepted due to program capacity
restraints.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the ASES program through the 2002 voter approved
initiative, Proposition 49. The ASES program funds the
establishment of local after school education and enrichment
programs, which are created through partnerships between
schools and local community resources to provide literacy,
academic enrichment and safe constructive alternatives for
students in kindergarten through ninth grade. Participating
after-school programs are required to have an educational and
literacy component in which tutoring or homework assistance is
provided in one or more of the following areas: language
arts, mathematics, history and social science, computer
training, or sciences; and an educational enrichment
component, which may include, but is not limited to, fine
arts, career technical education, recreation, physical fitness
and prevention activities.
2)Establishes the PTTP for the purpose of helping
paraprofessionals become teachers. The CTC allocates funds to
LEAs based on criteria established in law and adopted by the
CTC. Local programs use the funds to help participants defray
costs associated with completing requirements for a
preliminary teaching credential.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS : The ASES program . The ASES program, passed by
voters as Proposition 49 in 2002, provided almost $550 million
for before and after school programs for students in
kindergarten through grade 9. In 2007-08, 387 predominantly
districts and county offices of education received grants,
although local governments and nonprofit organizations working
in partnership with local educational agencies may also apply.
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After school programs must commence right after school and at
least until 6 p.m. for 15 hours per week. There are two program
requirements as follows:
1)An educational and literacy component in which tutoring and
homework assistance is provided to help students meet state
standards in one or more of the following core academic
subjects: reading/language arts, math, history and social
studies, or science.
2)An educational enrichment component that reinforce and
complement the school's academic program and may include, but
is not limited to, positive youth development strategies,
recreation and prevention strategies. Such activities may
include but is not limited to visual and performing arts,
music, career technical education, recreation, physical
fitness and prevention activities, and other youth development
activities based on student needs and interests.
Weekend activities . Current law provides that programs may
operate during any combination of summer, intersession or
vacation periods. This bill authorizes ASES programs to also
include activities during the weekend (e.g., for field trips,
special events) and specifies that costs associated with weekend
activities must be paid from within the program's ASES maximum
grant or supplemental grant. According to one of the
co-sponsors, LA's BEST, "It has become unclear recently whether
it is permissible for base grant dollars to be used for weekend
activities, despite the fact that the practice has been ongoing
for many years. Many after school programs schedule weekend
educational and/or enrichment activities and pay for attendant
expenses through their base grant. This does not create an
additional cost to the state as base grants are capped."
According to the CDE, weekend activities are not authorized;
however, CDE staff does not have concerns about incorporating
the authorization in statute if no additional funds will be
provided for this purpose.
Administrative Costs . Current law authorizes an ASES program
provider to expend no more than 15% of funding received on
administrative costs. This bill requires ASES program providers
to pass through an unspecified amount of administrative funds to
subcontractors who provide some or all services on their behalf.
For example, if a county office of education receives an ASES
grant and contracts with a school district to provide services,
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the county office of education must include funds for
administrative costs in the contract.
The CASTP pilot program . This bill establishes a pilot program
to enable after school instructors employed by school district,
city, county, or nonprofit organization that receives state ASES
or federal 21st Century funds to participate in the PTTP. The
PTTP assists paraprofessionals who work in public schools to
become teachers. According to the CTC, more than 1,300
instructional aides have become credentialed teachers as a
result of the financial, academic, and mentoring support
provided through the PTTP. The PTTP was designed as a
"grow-your-own" career ladder program to meet local teacher
supply needs. Programs provide participants with financial
assistance to help defray the cost of meeting credential
requirements. Participants work as instructional aides while
they complete subject matter requirements and continue to
receive assistance in the program through the completion of the
professional preparation requirements (typically completed in an
intern program). The CTC serves as the budgetary and
administrative agent for this program disbursing grant funds to
applicant school districts and county offices of education. In
2006-07, the CTC funded 33 PTTP sites, serving 1,775
participants. The 2007-08 budget allocated $7.850 million for
this program. SB 193 (Scott), Chapter 554, Statutes of 2007,
increased per participant funding from $3,000 to $3,500 per year
to defray the cost of books, fees and tuition associated with
completing credential requirements.
This bill will expand the PTTP to include an estimated 42
after-school instructors who meet the classification of
paraprofessional as established by the LEA. Current law, under
the PTTP, defines a "school paraprofessional" as an educational
aide, instructional aide, special education aide, special
education assistant, teacher associate, teacher assistant,
teacher aide, pupil service aide, library aide, child
development aide, child development assistant, and physical
education aide. The $150,000 allocation for the pilot derives
from the $8.25 million CDE currently receives to administer ASES
and to provide technical assistance, evaluation, and training.
The CDE contracts with various entities such as West Ed and UC
Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science to provide youth training
and develop literacy, math and science programs with those
funds.
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This bill also requires the CTC to submit a report to the
Legislature indicating the ability of LEAs to successfully
integrate the CASTP program into their existing PTTP and the
number of participants who receive teaching credentials. The
pilot sunsets on July 1, 2015.
The author states, "Recent retirement and attrition rates
project that California will have to recruit, train, and retain
over 100,000 new teachers in the next ten years to off-set the
qualified teacher shortage in California's public schools. With
the implementation of Prop 49's $550 million dollar investment
in state after school programs in 2006, California increased
after school offerings statewide from 1,000 to over 4,000 school
sites. Almost 75% of these school sites are in the lowest five
deciles, and all the schools are in high poverty communities.
With this dramatic increase in programs, there has been an
equally dramatic rush to hire qualified individuals to staff
these school site programs.
"Many of these after school program staff are well suited and
well qualified to enter a teacher training program, however, not
all are employed by a Local Education Agency (LEA). Under
current law, only employees of LEA's are eligible to participate
in the PTTP program. This bill would enable after school
program employees of a school's partner agencies, such as a
city, county, or non-profit organization, to receive this
benefit in a pilot. After school employees are more likely to
be representative of the community in which they work. In
keeping with the original intent of the PTTP program, providing
a career ladder for these after school instructors will
diversify the teacher workforce and encourage community members
to work in their local schools. Access to the PTTP program will
also help promote retention in local after school programs,
which suffer from high turn-over, largely due to low pay and a
lack of perceived career ladder options."
Related Legislation . The January 7, 2008 version of SB 43
(Torlakson), would have expanded eligibility for the PTTP by
defining staff that provide academic assistance in specified
after school programs as school paraprofessionals. SB 43 was
not heard in the Senate Education Committee at the request of
the author.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
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Support
Bay Area Partnership for Children and Youth (co-sponsor)
LA's BEST (co-sponsor)
League of California Afterschool Providers (co-sponsor)
After-School All-Stars, Los Angeles
Alameda County Board of Supervisors
Alum Rock Union Elementary School District
California Association for Health, Physical Education,
Recreation and Dance
California Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs
California School-Age Consortium
City and County of San Francisco
Girls Incorporated of Alameda County
Long Beach Unified School District
Sunset Neighborhood Beacon Center
Team-Up for Youth
An individual
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087