BILL ANALYSIS ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 167| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: AB 167 Author: Adams (R), et al Amended: 6/17/09 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 8-0, 6/10/09 AYES: Romero, Huff, Alquist, Hancock, Liu, Maldonado, Padilla, Simitian NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 12-0, 8/27/09 AYES: Kehoe, Cox, Corbett, Denham, Hancock, Leno, Oropeza, Price, Runner, Walters, Wolk, Yee NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 79-0, 5/4/09 (Consent) - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Local high school graduation requirements: foster youth SOURCE : San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors DIGEST : This bill exempts pupils in foster care from district graduation requirements that exceed state requirements if the pupil transfers to the district, or transfers from one high school to another within a district, in the 11th or 12th grade. This bill requires the district to notify the pupil if the exemption granted would affect the pupil's ability to gain admission to CONTINUED AB 167 Page 2 postsecondary institution and to provide information about transfer opportunities available through the California Community Colleges. ANALYSIS : Existing law prescribes the course of study a pupil is required to complete while in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, in order to receive a diploma of graduation. Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to adopt rules specifying additional coursework requirements. Existing law also allows a child who is in foster care and who is attending high school or the equivalent level of vocational or technical training on a full-time basis, or is in the process of pursuing a high school equivalency certificate, prior to his/her 18th birthday, to continue to receive foster care aid beyond his/her 18th birthday so long as the child continues to reside in a foster care placement, continues to attend high school or the equivalent on a full-time basis, and the child is reasonably expected to complete the educational or training program or to receive a high school equivalency certificate, before his/her 19th birthday. Existing law requires schools to allow foster youth to remain in the school of origin for the duration of the school year when the foster youth's residential placement changes and when remaining in the same school is in the child's best interest. Existing law requires school districts to accept for credit full or partial coursework satisfactorily completed by a pupil while attending a public school, juvenile court school, or nonpublic, nonsectarian school or agency. By waiving district-specific requirements, this bill will make it easier for certain pupils in foster care to graduate by age 19 (foster care may extend to age 19 depending on certain circumstances, including educational status). As exemption from these requirements may prevent a pupil from meeting a-g requirements, this bill requires districts to notify pupils who receive exemptions if these exemptions will affect their ability to gain admission to postsecondary educational institutions and to provide information about community college transfer opportunities. Available data indicates that there are 73,000 children in California's foster care system. Typically, these children AB 167 Page 3 will transfer to new homes multiple times before exiting the system, and these transfers will frequently move children to different school districts. A report from the California Education Collaborative for Children in Foster Care suggest that foster youth face significant obstacles toward completing a high school degree, as indicated by the fact that only 46 percent obtain a diploma and less than three percent attend a four-year college. Prior legislation . AB 2138 (Adams), 2007-08 Session, which was vetoed, was nearly identical to this bill. The Governor's veto message read: This bill attempts to create a statewide policy of exempting certain foster care students from district-specific graduation requirements. In doing so, this bill would usurp the authority of local school boards to determine the conditions under which students should be granted diplomas. Beyond the current minimum statewide requirements, local school boards have the ability to waive their own local graduation requirements based on the merit of each student's case. This bill would undermine their ability to judge each individual student's particular circumstances. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: Yes Assuming 2,500 to 5,000 annual notifications are necessitated by this bill, this bill will result in state reimbursable mandated costs of $75,000 to $150,000. SUPPORT : (Verified 8/31/09) San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors (source) SUPPORT All Saints Church Foster Care Project Aspiranet California Peace Officers' Association California Police Chiefs Association California State Association of Counties California State PTA California State University County of San Bernardino AB 167 Page 4 County Welfare Directors Association Junior League of Orange County Los Angeles Unified School District Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, City of Los Angeles Special Education Local Plan Area Administrators ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors writes, "A foster child who is in high school who has taken the required classes in their previous school district may find that their new high school requires additional classes, over and beyond those they have already taken to graduate. Completing these new classes would likely not present a problem to a freshman, who would have the time to take the required classes before they graduate. These additional requirements could present a real problem to a foster child who is a junior or a senior, and who may not have the time to complete these additional classes." ASSEMBLY FLOOR : AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, Bass NO VOTE RECORDED: Huffman DLW:mw 9/1/09 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END ****