BILL ANALYSIS
AB 796
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 796 (Carter)
As Introduced February 26, 2009
Majority vote
EDUCATION 8-2
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|Ayes:|Brownley, Ammiano, | | |
| |Arambula, Buchanan, | | |
| |Carter, Eng, Solorio, | | |
| |Torlakson | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Garrick, Miller | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Adds participating in civic engagement activities
offered by a non-profit or governmental entity to the list of
justifiable personal reasons for which a pupil is required, upon
approval of the principal or a designated representative
(designee), to be excused from school when absent, and limits
excused absences related to a pupil's participation in civic
engagement activities to no more than 10 days per academic year.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires a school district to treat a student's absence as
excused when that absence is caused by any of a number of
specified reasons, including illness, medical appointments,
funeral services for an immediate family member, jury duty,
service as a member of a precinct board for an election, and
justifiable personal reasons, defined as being a situation
where the pupil's absence has been requested in writing by the
parent or guardian and approved by the principal or a designee
pursuant to uniform standards established by the school
district governing board.
2)Includes, but does not limit, justifiable reasons to be an
appearance in court, observance of a holiday or ceremony of
his/her religion, or attendance at a religious retreat, an
employment conference, a funeral service or an educational
conference on the legislative or judicial process offered by a
nonprofit organization.
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3)Prohibits excused absences from generating average daily
attendance (ADA) for district funding purposes.
4)Requires schools and school districts to allow students to
make up missed examinations and coursework that result from an
excused absence, and requires that excused students, who
complete such make-up work satisfactorily and in a reasonable
time, receive full academic credit for that work.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill is keyed non-fiscal.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "Many young people gain
valuable life skills and experiences in activities outside the
classroom such as participation in a community committee, an
advisory board or task force, attendance at an educational
conference on the legislative or judicial process, or as a
member of a youth commission."
Supporters of the bill state that pupils who wish to benefit
from civic engagement activities outside of the classroom are
currently being penalized for their efforts, in that students
are often not allowed to make up missed exams and coursework.
The author states that, "Ultimately, punitive measures are
preventing students from getting the leadership and civic
experience they need before leaving high school; denying
students learning that needs to take place outside of the
classroom. Often students must make a difficult choice - to
participate in a leadership experience that may be unlike
anything they experience or that is available at their school
and be recorded as truant, or stay in school and miss out on a
unique learning opportunity."
The Tuft's University Center for Information & Research on Civic
Learning & Engagement in a recently released research paper,
"Civic Engagement and the Changing Transition to Adulthood,"
argues that the transition to adulthood has been dramatically
transformed since the 1970s, and is now very different for
people with and without college educations. For example, it
appears that younger generations have delayed voting, in much
the same way that they have delayed marriage and childbearing;
in this and many other ways these changes over the last 35 years
have had a powerful impact on civic engagement. The study goes
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on to conclude that, "Of greater concern, in our view, is the
gulf in civic participation between those who go on to college
and those who do not. Ethnic minorities and new immigrants
(both of which comprise a growing proportion of the U.S.
population), as well as young people from working-class
backgrounds, are less likely to complete high school or attend
college. It is imperative that opportunities be created in the
institutional settings in which these young people exist so that
these groups might be better incorporated into the body politic.
Failing to do so is a disservice not only to our democratic
ideals, but to the future of our society."
Arguments in opposition would include that this proposal creates
an incentive for a reduction in classroom-based instructional
time, that the lack of a clear definition of 'civic engagement
activities' places an ambiguous requirement on schools and
school districts, and that districts currently may decide
locally to allow pupils to make up missed work after being
absent for these reasons. A substantially similar bill was
vetoed by the Governor last year; in his veto message, the
Governor said, "While I recognize that there are many civic and
other educational opportunities outside of the classroom,
nothing under current law prohibits parents from working with a
school to allow their child to participate in civic
opportunities if they choose to do so, even without this
measure."
This bill addresses only the issue of excusing a pupil absence
related to participation in civic engagement activities outside
of the classroom for the purposes of the student making up
missed coursework; this bill does not result in additional ADA
or funding for the pupil's school district. Excused absences do
not count toward ADA for funding purposes. It should also be
noted that, under current law and under this proposal, the
reason for an absence is deemed to be justifiable and the
absence is excused only after the approval of a written parental
request by the pupil's principal, or that principal's designee.
The principal, or the designee, determine both whether the
reason is justifiable under the law and whether to approve the
request. The Assembly Education Committee has asked the author
to consider providing further definition to the term 'civic
engagement activities' as the bill moves forward, in order to
give greater guidance to district governing boards,
administrators and principals.
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Prior legislation: AB 2396 (Carter), vetoed in 2008, was
substantially similar to this bill. AB 750 (Carter), held in
the Assembly Appropriations Committee in 2007, would have added
engaging in leadership or civic engagement activities that
satisfied criteria established by the Superintendent of Public
Instruction (SPI) to the definition of an excused absence; the
bill was amended away from this subject prior to passage out of
this Committee. SB 278 (Lowenthal), Chapter 204, Statutes of
2007, adds to the definition of an excused absence by including
an absence for the purpose of attendance at an educational
conference on the legislative or judicial process offered by a
nonprofit organization. AB 1320 (Carter), held in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee in 2007, would have deemed a pupil
serving as a member of a precinct board for an election or
engaging in other leadership or civic engagement activities to
be participating in independent studies for the purpose of
calculating a school district's ADA for funding purposes, and
added to the definition of excused absence to include an absence
for the purpose of engaging in other leadership or civic
engagement activities. AB 466 (Hancock), vetoed in 2007,
proposed expanding Independent Study and ADA provisions to
include pupils serving as members of a precinct board for an
election, this would have allowed districts to count student
time spent in these activities toward ADA for funding purposes.
Analysis Prepared by : Gerald Shelton / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0000306