BILL ANALYSIS AB 1517 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 13, 2009 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Kevin De Leon, Chair AB 1517 (Bill Berryhill) - As Amended: April 29, 2009 Policy Committee: Education Vote:10-0 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No SUMMARY This bill requires the State Department of Education (SDE), subject to an appropriation, to administer a statewide program of grant funding to establish alternative dispute resolution (ADR) programs for special education, as specified. Specifically, this bill: 1)Requires ADR programs to include all of the following: (a) an advisory board; (b) an annual statewide conference for all implementers of these programs; (c) criteria for awarding grants, funding, data collection, and program evaluation; (d) selection of recipients and allocation of funding; and (e) selection of individuals to serve as mentors to support implementers. 2)Requires funding for ADR programs to be first apportioned to special education local plan areas (SELPAs) that received an allocation from the 2009 Budget Act (earmarked for materials and training for ADR programs) before they are apportioned to SELPAs that did not receive this funding. 3)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), by July 1, 2010, to submit to the Legislature a summary report regarding ADR programs, including those SELPAs that received funding from the 2009 Budget Act. FISCAL EFFECT 1)GF/98 costs, likely between $100,000 and $300,000, to make grant funding available to LEAs to establish ADR programs, as specified. The 2009 Budget Act allocates $300,000 in federal AB 1517 Page 2 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for 20 local ADR programs. 2)GF administrative costs, of at least $125,000, to the SPI to complete a summary report of ADR programs, as specified. COMMENTS 1)Background . The federal IDEA delineates rights and services for persons with disabilities. Specifically, IDEA entitles every pupil with disabilities to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE). Special education and related services are provided as specified in a pupil's individualized education program (IEP). The IEP is reviewed periodically between school officials and the pupil's parents. If a dispute arises as to a student's IEP, the state must offer the parents due process, which provides for mediations and hearings before an independent impartial hearing officer to resolve the dispute. Since the 1995-96 fiscal year, the state has allocated federal IDEA funds for ADR programs to be administered at the local level. SDE administers this funding as a pilot program and provides 20 local education agencies (LEAs) with grant funding to establish ADR programs. The pilot program authority is established through the annual budget act in provisional language. As such, there are few requirements for LEAs administering these programs. In February 2009, the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) issued a report entitled: Resolving Special Education Disputes in California (Lipscomb). According to this report, "requests for dispute resolution in California totaled 3.9 per 1,000 special education students in 2007-08, one of the highest rates in the country. Resolving disputes is critical to effectively serving disabled children. Yet pursuing dispute resolution can be costly and time consuming for both parties, raising the possibility that due process is more accessible to some Californians than to others." Also, the report states "Requests for dispute resolution in California are concentrated in less than a third of school districts. Holding constant other observable characteristics, requests initiated by both parents and school districts are more common in larger, densely populated districts." PPIC asserts that "California's pattern of settling most cases AB 1517 Page 3 before hearings suggests that the dispute resolution process operates efficiently. However, its high rate of dispute requests is evidence that more could be done to resolve disputes locally. School districts in many states, including California, are developing ADR strategies that emphasize non-adversarial environments." This bill requires SDE to administer ADR programs, as specified. 2)IDEA reauthorization related to due process hearings . When IDEA was reauthorized in 2006, it required a 30-day resolution period to be held at the school district level for parent-filed cases before a special education hearing. The reauthorization also made it possible for a party to respond to a complaint by challenging the complaint's sufficiency. Additionally, the new law specifies, with limited exceptions, that the complaining party must request a due process hearing within two years of the date that the complaining party knew or should have known about the alleged action that forms the basis of the complaint. The previous version of IDEA contained no time limitation, although prior state law provided a three year deadline for filing complaints. In addition, the new law enables the school district to obtain attorney's fees from parents who file frivolous complaints. 3)SB 63 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review), Chapter 73, Statutes of 2005 , required SDE to contract with an outside organization or state agency to ensure that mediations and due process hearings are conducted impartially. Chapter 73 also established various requirements for the agency with whom SDE enters into an agreement to conduct mediation conferences and hearings, in accordance with state and federal law data requirements. As of January 2006, the Office of Administrative Law (OAL), under contract with SDE, has provided these services for the state. A December 2008 Bureau of State Audit report on the state's mediation and dispute resolution process conducted by OAL finds the following: "We observed that in general, Education oversees Administrative Hearings' execution of its interagency agreement appropriately; however, Education could improve its oversight in a few areas to ensure that Administrative Hearings is meeting Education's established standards." The 2009 Budget Act allocates $10.73 million for the OAL contract. AB 1517 Page 4 Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916) 319-2081