BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1238
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Date of Hearing: May 20, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 1238 (Hernandez) - As Amended: May 6, 2009
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:8-3
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill requires school districts maintaining any of grades
9-12 to offer advanced placement (AP) courses in English,
history, foreign language, mathematics, and science at each
school in the district maintaining grades 9-12. Specifically,
this bill:
1)Expresses legislative intent that school districts consider
"alternative means" of providing AP courses, if an AP
certified teacher is not available or fewer than 10 pupils are
enrolled in a course. This measure defines "alternative
means," as, including, but not limited to, a high-quality,
online course, as specified.
2)Defines a "high quality, online course" as meeting specified
requirements, including the approval of the course by the
school district governing board and a requirement that the
teacher of an online course be accessible to the pupil on a
daily basis, as specified.
3)Requires the subject matter content for an online AP course to
be the same as for the traditional classroom-based course and
requires the teacher to hold the appropriate credential.
4)Prohibits a pupil from being assigned an online AP course
unless he or she voluntarily elects to participate and his or
her parent or guardian provides written consent.
5)Requires a school district that offers AP online courses to
maintain records to verify the time a pupil and instructors
spend online, as specified.
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FISCAL EFFECT
1)Annual, significant GF/98 state reimbursable mandated costs,
of approximately $120.4 million, to school districts to offer
specified AP courses to pupils in grades 9-12.
2)One-time GF/98 state reimbursable mandated costs, likely
between $9.1 million and $18.2 million, to school districts to
offer specified AP courses to pupils in grades 9-12.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . AP programs, established over 40 years ago by the
College Board, provide incentives for public comprehensive
high schools to provide access to rigorous, college-level
courses for students. These programs allow pupils to pursue
college-level work while still in secondary school and receive
college credit, advanced academic standing, or both. At the
end of the course, students may opt to sit for the
course-related exam, or may take the exam without having
completed the related course. For a score of 3 or higher (out
of 5) on an AP exam, most colleges and universities will award
college credit for an entry-level course in that discipline,
though policies vary from institution to institution.
According to the 5th Annual AP Report to the Nation completed
by the College Board (February 2009), 3.4% of African
Americans and 31.9% Latino high school seniors in 2008 took an
AP exam. The author cites information in reference to a
lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union in 1999 on
behalf of public school students who were denied access to AP
courses. This lawsuit was in response to discrepancies found
between the number of AP courses offered in Inglewood Unified
School District and the number of courses offered in Beverly
Hills School District. Specifically, the author states "Arvin
High School, located in Inglewood Unified, whose student body
population was 93.2 percent lower-income, African-American and
Latino, only offered two AP classes. Beverly Hills High
School, whose student body population was 76.6 percent white,
offered 45 AP classes. This finding supported ACLU's position
that African-American and Latino students had unequal access
to AP courses."
This bill requires school districts maintaining grades 9-12 to
AB 1238
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offer specified AP courses in each school maintaining these
grade levels.
2)Benefits of AP courses . According to the ED Trust West
report: The A-G Curriculum: College-Prep? Work-Prep? Life
Prep. (2004), "Research shows that students of all skill
levels actually do better when they're enrolled in rigorous
classes [e.g., AP courses]. Even those who enter high school
with few skills and low test scores show greater growth in
challenging classes than they do in the general or low-level
classes into which they are usually tracked. And,
interestingly, research also has shown that students who
failed most in the past, the lowest-performing students,
actually fail less when they are in more challenging classes
and provided with extra support. Evidence suggests this
happens because students are less bored and more engaged in
the more rigorous courses."
According to the College Board, a 2008 study found that AP
students had better four year graduation rates than those who
did not take AP. For example, graduation rates for AP English
Literature students were 62% higher than graduation rates for
those who took other English courses in high school. The
College Board further asserts that students who take longer to
graduate from a public college or university typically pay
between $8,000 and $19,000 for each additional year.
3)The AP test fee reimbursement program , administered by the
State Department of Education, removes the financial barriers
that prevent many low-income students in comprehensive high
schools from taking the AP course test. Funding supports the
payment of AP test fees for eligible students. The 2009
Budget Act allocated a total of $5.1million for this program.
Of this amount $3.7 million is federal funds and $1.4 million
is GF/98, which includes a total reduction of 19.8% from the
2008 Budget Act.
4)Related legislation . AB 837 (Torlakson), pending in this
committee, is similar to this measure with respect to
requirements for online courses.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081