BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  SB 331
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 4, 2010

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                    SB 331 (Romero) - As Amended:  June 23, 2010 

          Policy Committee:                             Education Vote:5-2

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction  
          (SPI), in collaboration with migratory parents, to develop and  
          revise the state migrant education master plan after July 1,  
          2011, as specified.  Specifically, this bill:  

          1)Specifies a child who has been identified as a "migrant child"  
            may be deemed so for a period not to exceed three years,  
            rather than five as stated in current law.  

          2)Requires, as part of the master plan for migrant education,  
            the collection of specified data via the California  
            Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) and the  
            Migrant Student Database (MSD), including preschool  
            participation, academic achievement as measured by the state's  
            assessment system, completion rates of courses required for  
            admission to the state's university systems,  
            suspension/expulsions, dropout and graduation rates, language  
            status, and data related to pupil enrollment in alternative  
            education programs.  

          3)Requires the annual migrant education program report,  
            submitted by the state migrant parent advisory council  
            (SMPAC), to include the following: (a) a program evaluation,  
            (b) a review of annual needs and year-end assessments, (c)  
            policy recommendations, and (d) the most recent data collected  
            pursuant to this measure.  

          4)Requires the SPI to provide the migratory parent advisory  
            council with training and technical assistance, no later than  
            30 days after the annual parent conference, on the preparation  
            of the annual report.  This bill also requires that training  








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            and technical assistance be provided free of charge to  
            parents.  

          5)Requires interpretation be provided at each state and regional  
            migrant parent advisory council meeting, as specified.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)One-time GF administrative cost to the State Department of  
            Education (SDE), likely between $150,000 and $250,000, to  
            revise the state master plan for the MEP, as specified.  This  
            cost may be offset with federal MEP funds.    

          2)Annual GF/98 costs, of at least $144,000, to local education  
            agencies to collect and report the additional data for this  
            program, as specified.

          3)One-time GF administrative costs to SDE, of approximately  
            $100,000 to, to input and report the additional data required  
            under this measure, as specified.  

          4)According to SDE, federal funds support all activities related  
            to migrant education, including the cost of the annual parent  
            conference ($69,000).  Each of the 23 Migrant Education  
            program (MEP) regions utilizes federal funding to support  
            parent activities.  To the extent, the requirements of this  
            bill lead to increased parent training costs, there will be  
            less MEP funds available for direct services to pupils.     

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  .  The federal MEP, authorized by the federal No Child  
            Left Behind Act of 2001, provides supplemental education  
            services to address the educational needs of highly mobile  
            children whose family members are employed doing seasonal  
            agricultural work.   Children are eligible to participate in  
            the MEP if they or their parents or guardians are migrant  
            workers in the agricultural, dairy, lumber, or fishing  
            industries, and their family has moved for the purpose of  
            finding temporary or seasonal employment during the past three  
            years. Migrant students are eligible for program services from  
            age three until they: (a) attain a high school diploma or its  
            equivalent or (b) turn 21. Migrant students who are under age  
            21 but have not yet completed high school and/or do not attend  
            a traditional school are referred to as "out-of-school youth."  








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             According to the State Department of Education (SDE), there  
            were 211,510 migrant children in California in 2008-09.  Of  
            these children, approximately 144,000 received services under  
            the MEP   

            In 2007, federal law required the state to conduct a needs  
            assessment of the MEP.  According to the author, "The  
            assessment points out that the data necessary to fully  
            evaluate migrant students is not available. However, the data  
            available does show that migrant students rate below their  
            peers in nearly every performance indicator including drop out  
            rates, English proficiency and standardized tests."  The  
            author further argues the SPI's statutory obligation to  
            provide training to the SMPAC is not occurring nor is an  
            annual report submitted to the Legislature on the status of  
            the MEP.  

            This bill requires the SPI, in collaboration with migratory  
            parents, to develop and revise the state migrant education  
            master plan after July 1, 2011, including utilizing data to  
            evaluate the MEP, as specified.  

           2)Existing law  establishes the federal MEP and requires the  
            State Board of Education (SBE) to establish a master plan for  
            services to migrant children.  Statute requires the master  
            plan to detail the types of instructional, health, and  
            supportive services, including child care and transportation,  
            provided to migrant children.  In order to implement the  
            master plan, MEP services are delivered through a regional  
            system and each region is required to submit a plan to the SPI  
            for approval.  Currently, there are 23 MEP regions in the  
            state.  

            Current law also requires the SPI to establish a state migrant  
            parent advisory council (SMPC) to participate in the planning,  
            operation, and evaluation of the MEP.  The SMPC is required to  
            meet a minimum of six times a year to provide input on issues  
            related to the program.  The SPI is also required to sponsor  
            an annual spring SMPC conference with the requirement that a  
            report be submitted to the Legislature, SBE, the SPI, and the  
            governor regarding the status of the program.    

           3)In 2006, the Legislative Analyst Office (LAO) completed a  
            report entitled "Improving Services for Migrant Students"  
            (2006)  .  One of the LAO's recommendations was to expand the  








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            current Migrant Student Database (MSD) to include more data  
            elements.  Specifically, the LAO recommended the MSD "contain  
            optional fields for staff to input additional migrant student  
            information, such as participation in bilingual education, and  
            health issues that have been identified or are being treated  
            (such as dental or vision needs)."  

            The LAO stated: "Collecting consistent information on migrant  
            students and sharing it across the state would ease students'  
            transitions when they move to new schools as well as help  
            create more coordinated statewide MEP services. This in turn  
            would help meet the program goal of minimizing disruptions in  
            migrant students' educational programs."  

            This bill requires CALPADS, the state's comprehensive student  
            data system, and MSD to collect specific data on the MEP.  


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081