BILL NUMBER: AB 2049 CHAPTERED 09/30/08 CHAPTER 589 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 30, 2008 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 30, 2008 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 14, 2008 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 18, 2008 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 12, 2008 AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 1, 2008 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 16, 2008 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 9, 2008 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Saldana FEBRUARY 19, 2008 An act relating to public schools, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2049, Saldana. Public schools: children of military families. Existing law authorizes a school district of choice, as defined, to give priority for attendance to children of military personnel, if the school district elected to accept transfer pupils by a resolution adopted by the governing board of the school district prior to April 1, 2005. This bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to convene and support a task force, with specified membership, to review and make recommendations regarding the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children. The bill would require the task force to review the compact and issue a final report regarding the compact that includes specified content. The bill would require the task force to present its final report of findings and conclusions to the appropriate committees of the Legislature by January 1, 2009. The bill would provide that these provisions become inoperative on June 30, 2009. 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. The Legislature finds and declares both of the following: (a) The purpose of the task force described in subdivision (a) of Section 2 of this act is to review and make recommendations regarding the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children. (b) The intent of the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children is to remove barriers to educational success imposed on children of military families because of the frequent moves and deployment of their parents by doing all of the following: (1) Facilitating the timely enrollment of the children of military families in public schools and ensuring that they are not placed at a disadvantage due to difficulty in the transfer of education records from the previous school district or variations in entrance and age requirements. (2) Facilitating a pupil placement process that ensures that the children of military families are not disadvantaged by variations in attendance requirements, scheduling, sequencing, grading, course content, or assessment. (3) Facilitating the qualification and eligibility of the children of military families for enrollment, educational programs, and participation in extracurricular academic, athletic, and social activities. (4) Facilitating the on-time graduation of the children of military families. (5) Providing for the promulgation and enforcement of administrative rules implementing the provisions of the compact. (6) Providing for the uniform collection and sharing of information between and among states that have adopted the compact, schools, and military families pursuant to the provisions of the compact. (7) Promoting coordination between the compact and other interstate compacts affecting military children. (8) Promoting flexibility and cooperation between the educational system, parents, and pupils in order to achieve educational success for pupils. SEC. 2. (a) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall convene and support a task force to review and make recommendations regarding the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children. Members of the task force may use teleconferencing, phone conferencing, or both to participate in any meeting of the task force. (b) The task force shall review the compact and issue a final report regarding the compact that includes, at a minimum, all of the following: (1) Identification and examination of educational transition and deployment issues that affect military children. (2) The implications of, and interplay between, the compact and applicable federal law regarding public schools. (3) The implications of, and interplay between, the compact and applicable state law regarding public schools. (4) The legal obligations the compact would impose on the state if it were adopted. (5) Discussion of provisions within the compact that raise concerns among the task force members and recommendations on the most effective manner to address those concerns. (c) The task force shall include all of the following members: (1) Two members of the Senate appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules, or their designees, and two members of the Assembly appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly, or their designees, who represent legislative districts with a high concentration of military children. (2) A representative from the United States Department of Defense, at the discretion of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. (3) The Superintendent of Public Instruction or his or her designee. (4) A representative from a county office of education for a county with a high concentration of military children, selected by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. (5) Two school district superintendents or their representatives from school districts with a high concentration of military children, selected by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. (6) The Secretary for Education or his or her designee. (7) A member of the State Board of Education or his or her designee. (8) The commanders from Navy Region Southwest and Marine Corps Installations West, or their designated uniformed representatives. (9) A member of the governing board of a school district with a high concentration of military children, or his or her representative, selected by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. (10) The Director of State Planning and Research or his or her designee. (d) A member of the task force shall not receive compensation for his or her services as a member of the task force or reimbursement for expenses. (e) The task force shall present its final report of findings and conclusions, including recommendations for legislative action, if necessary, to the appropriate committees of the Legislature by January 1, 2009. The report shall be concise and may be produced and submitted solely in electronic format. (f) This section shall become inoperative on June 30, 2009. SEC. 3. 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 for the task force convened by the Superintendent of Public Instruction to prepare and present its final report by January 1, 2009, so the Legislature can act to promote the educational achievement of the children of military families at the earliest possible time, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.